1 Thou shalt not see H7200 thy brother's H251 ox H7794 or his sheep H7716 go astray, H5080 and hide H5956 thyself from them: thou shalt in any case H7725 bring them again H7725 unto thy brother. H251
If thou meet H6293 thine enemy's H341 ox H7794 or his ass H2543 going astray, H8582 thou shalt surely H7725 bring it back H7725 to him again. H7725 If thou see H7200 the ass H2543 of him that hateth H8130 thee lying H7257 under his burden, H4853 and wouldest forbear H2308 to help H5800 him, thou shalt surely H5800 help H5800 with him.
In like manner H3651 shalt thou do H6213 with his ass; H2543 and so shalt thou do H6213 with his raiment; H8071 and with all lost thing H9 of thy brother's, H251 which he hath lost, H6 and thou hast found, H4672 shalt thou do H6213 likewise: thou mayest H3201 not hide H5956 thyself. Thou shalt not see H7200 thy brother's H251 ass H2543 or his ox H7794 fall down H5307 by the way, H1870 and hide H5956 thyself from them: thou shalt surely H6965 help him to lift them up again. H6965
How G5101 think G1380 ye? G5213 if G1437 G5100 a man G444 have G1096 an hundred G1540 sheep, G4263 and G2532 one G1520 of G1537 them G846 be gone astray, G4105 doth he G863 not G3780 leave G863 the ninety and nine, G1768 and goeth G4198 into G1909 the mountains, G3735 and seeketh G2212 that which G3588 is gone astray? G4105 And G2532 if so G1437 be G1096 that he find G2147 it, G846 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 G3754 he rejoiceth G5463 more G3123 of G1909 that G846 sheep, than G2228 of G1909 the ninety and nine G1768 which G3588 went G4105 not G3361 astray. G4105
And G1161 by G2596 chance G4795 there came down G2597 a certain G5100 priest G2409 that G1722 G1565 way: G3598 and G2532 when he saw G1492 him, G846 he passed by on the other side. G492 And G1161 likewise G3668 G2532 a Levite, G3019 when he was G1096 at G2596 the place, G5117 came G2064 and G2532 looked G1492 on him, and passed by on the other side. G492
What G5101 man G444 of G1537 you, G5216 having G2192 an hundred G1540 sheep, G4263 if G2532 he lose G622 one G1520 of G1537 them, G846 doth G2641 not G3756 leave G2641 the ninety and nine G1768 in G1722 the wilderness, G2048 and G2532 go G4198 after G1909 that which is lost, G622 until G2193 he find G2147 it? G846 And G2532 when he hath found G2147 it, he layeth G2007 it on G1909 his G1438 shoulders, G5606 rejoicing. G5463 And G2532 when he cometh G2064 G1519 home, G3624 he calleth together G4779 his friends G5384 and G2532 neighbours, G1069 saying G3004 unto them, G846 Rejoice G4796 with me; G3427 for G3754 I have found G2147 my G3450 sheep G4263 which G3588 was lost. G622
Brethren, G80 if G1437 any G5100 of G1722 you G5213 do err G4105 from G575 the truth, G225 and G2532 one G5100 convert G1994 him; G846 Let G1097 him G846 know, G1097 that G3754 he which converteth G1994 the sinner G268 from G1537 the error G4106 of his G846 way G3598 shall save G4982 a soul G5590 from G1537 death, G2288 and G2532 shall hide G2572 a multitude G4128 of sins. G266
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 22
Commentary on Deuteronomy 22 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 22
De 22:1-4. Of Humanity toward Brethren.
1. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them, &c.—"Brother" is a term of extensive application, comprehending persons of every description; not a relative, neighbor, or fellow countryman only, but any human being, known or unknown, a foreigner, and even an enemy (Ex 23:4). The duty inculcated is an act of common justice and charity, which, while it was taught by the law of nature, was more clearly and forcibly enjoined in the law delivered by God to His people. Indifference or dissimulation in the circumstances supposed would not only be cruelty to the dumb animals, but a violation of the common rights of humanity; and therefore the dictates of natural feeling, and still more the authority of the divine law, enjoined that the lost or missing property of another should be taken care of by the finder, till a proper opportunity occurred of restoring it to the owner.
De 22:5-12. The Sex to Be Distinguished by Apparel.
5. The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment—Though disguises were assumed at certain times in heathen temples, it is probable that a reference was made to unbecoming levities practised in common life. They were properly forbidden; for the adoption of the habiliments of the one sex by the other is an outrage on decency, obliterates the distinctions of nature by fostering softness and effeminacy in the man, impudence and boldness in the woman as well as levity and hypocrisy in both; and, in short, it opens the door to an influx of so many evils that all who wear the dress of another sex are pronounced "an abomination unto the Lord."
6, 7. If a bird's nest chance to be before thee—This is a beautiful instance of the humanizing spirit of the Mosaic law, in checking a tendency to wanton destructiveness and encouraging a spirit of kind and compassionate tenderness to the tiniest creatures. But there was wisdom as well as humanity in the precept; for, as birds are well known to serve important uses in the economy of nature, the extirpation of a species, whether of edible or ravenous birds, must in any country be productive of serious evils. But Palestine, in particular, was situated in a climate which produced poisonous snakes and scorpions; and the deserts and mountains would have been overrun with them as well as immense swarms of flies, locusts, mice, and vermin of various kinds if the birds which fed upon them were extirpated [Michaelis]. Accordingly, the counsel given in this passage was wise as well as humane, to leave the hen undisturbed for the propagation of the species, while the taking of the brood occasionally was permitted as a check to too rapid an increase.
8. thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence—The tops of houses in ancient Judea, as in the East still, were flat, being composed of branches or twigs laid across large beams, and covered with a cement of clay or strong plaster. They were surrounded by a parapet breast high. In summer the roof is a favorite resort for coolness, and accidents would frequently happen from persons incautiously approaching the edge and falling into the street or court; hence it was a wise and prudent precaution in the Jewish legislator to provide that a stone balustrade or timber railing round the roof should form an essential part of every new house.
9. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds—(See on Le 19:19).
10. Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together—Whether this association, like the mixture of seeds, had been dictated by superstitious motives and the prohibition was symbolical, designed to teach a moral lesson (2Co 6:14), may or may not have been the case. But the prohibition prevented a great inhumanity still occasionally practised by the poorer sort in Oriental countries. An ox and ass, being of different species and of very different characters, cannot associate comfortably, nor unite cheerfully in drawing a plough or a wagon. The ass being much smaller and his step shorter, there would be an unequal and irregular draft. Besides, the ass, from feeding on coarse and poisonous weeds, has a fetid breath, which its yoke fellow seeks to avoid, not only as poisonous and offensive, but producing leanness, or, if long continued, death; and hence, it has been observed always to hold away its head from the ass and to pull only with one shoulder.
11. thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts—The essence of the crime (Zep 1:8) consisted, not in wearing a woollen and a linen robe, but in the two stuffs being woven together, according to a favorite superstition of ancient idolaters (see on Le 19:19).
12. thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters—or, according to some eminent biblical interpreters, tassels on the coverlet of the bed. The precept is not the same as Nu 15:38.
13-30. If a man take a wife, &c.—The regulations that follow might be imperatively needful in the then situation of the Israelites; and yet, it is not necessary that we should curiously and impertinently inquire into them. So far was it from being unworthy of God to leave such things upon record, that the enactments must heighten our admiration of His wisdom and goodness in the management of a people so perverse and so given to irregular passions. Nor is it a better argument that the Scriptures were not written by inspiration of God to object that this passage, and others of a like nature, tend to corrupt the imagination and will be abused by evil-disposed readers, than it is to say that the sun was not created by God, because its light may be abused by wicked men as an assistant in committing crimes which they have meditated [Horne].