Deuteronomy 22:1-7

Various Laws

1 If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner.
2 If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back.
3 Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it.
4 If you see your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet.
5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.
6 If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.
7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

Deuteronomy 22:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 22

In this chapter are various laws, concerning care of a neighbour's cattle gone astray or in distress, and of anything lost by him, De 22:1-4, forbidding one sex to wear the apparel, of another, De 22:5 and the taking away of the dam with the young found in a bird's nest, De 22:6,7, ordering battlements to be made in a new house, De 22:8, prohibiting mixtures in sowing, ploughing, and in garments, De 22:9-11, requiring fringes on the four quarters of a garment, De 22:12, fining a man that slanders his wife, upon producing the tokens of her virginity, De 22:13-19 but if these cannot be produced, then orders are given that she be put to death, De 22:20-21, then follow other laws, punishing with death the adulterer and adulteress, and one that hath ravished a betrothed damsel, De 22:22-27, amercing a person that lies with a virgin not betrothed and she consenting, and obliging him to marry her, and not suffering him to divorce her, De 22:28-29 and another against a man's lying with his father's wife, De 22:30.

Cross References 6

  • 1. Exodus 23:4-5; Proverbs 27:10; Zechariah 7:9
  • 2. Exodus 23:5
  • 3. 1 Corinthians 9:9
  • 4. Leviticus 22:28
  • 5. S Leviticus 22:28
  • 6. S Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 4:40
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