5 The woman H802 shall not wear that which pertaineth H3627 unto a man, H1397 neither shall a man H1397 put H3847 on a woman's H802 garment: H8071 for all that do H6213 so H428 are abomination H8441 unto the LORD H3068 thy God. H430
Every G3956 man G435 praying G4336 or G2228 prophesying, G4395 having G2192 his head G2776 covered, G2596 dishonoureth G2617 his G846 head. G2776 But G1161 every G3956 woman G1135 that prayeth G4336 or G2228 prophesieth G4395 with her head G2776 uncovered G177 dishonoureth G2617 her G1438 head: G2776 for G1063 that is G2076 even G2532 all one G1520 as if G846 she were shaven. G3587 For G1063 if G1487 the woman G1135 be G2619 not G3756 covered, G2619 let her G2751 also G2532 be shorn: G2751 but G1161 if G1487 it be a shame G149 for a woman G1135 to be shorn G2751 or G2228 shaven, G3587 let her be covered. G2619 For G1063 a man G435 indeed G3303 ought G3784 not G3756 to cover G2619 his head, G2776 forasmuch as he is G5225 the image G1504 and G2532 glory G1391 of God: G2316 but G1161 the woman G1135 is G2076 the glory G1391 of the man. G435 For G1063 the man G435 is G2076 not G3756 of G1537 the woman; G1135 but G235 the woman G1135 of G1537 the man. G435 G1063 G2532 Neither G3756 was G2936 the man G435 created G2936 for G1223 the woman; G1135 but G235 the woman G1135 for G1223 the man. G435 For this G5124 cause G1223 ought G3784 the woman G1135 to have G2192 power G1849 on G1909 her head G2776 because G1223 of the angels. G32 Nevertheless G4133 neither G3777 is the man G435 without G5565 the woman, G1135 neither G3777 the woman G1135 without G5565 the man, G435 in G1722 the Lord. G2962 For G1063 as G5618 the woman G1135 is of G1537 the man, G435 even so G3779 is the man G435 also G2532 by G1223 the woman; G1135 but G1161 all things G3956 of G1537 God. G2316 Judge G2919 in G1722 yourselves: G5213 G846 is it G2076 comely G4241 that a woman G1135 pray G4336 unto God G2316 uncovered? G177 Doth G2228 not even G3761 nature G5449 itself G846 teach G1321 you, G5209 that, G3754 if G1437 G3303 a man G435 have long hair, G2863 it is G2076 a shame G819 unto him? G846 But G1161 if G1437 a woman G1135 have long hair, G2863 it is G2076 a glory G1391 to her: G846 for G3754 her hair G2864 is given G1325 her G846 for G473 a covering. G4018
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].