Deuteronomy 22:5-15

5 "A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, 1for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.
6 "If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, 2you shall not take the mother with the young.
7 You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, 3that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
8 "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.
9 4"You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited,[a] the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.
10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11 You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.
12 5"You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.

Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality

13 "If any man takes a wife and 6goes in to her and then hates her
14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, 'I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,'
15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate.

Deuteronomy 22:5-15 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. [Deuteronomy 18:12; Deuteronomy 25:16]
  • 2. Leviticus 22:28
  • 3. See Deuteronomy 4:40
  • 4. Leviticus 19:19
  • 5. Numbers 15:38; [Matthew 23:5]
  • 6. [2 Samuel 13:15]

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.