Deuteronomy 22:1-9

Listen to Deuteronomy 22:1-9
1 "You shall not watch the ox of your neighbor or his sheep or goat straying and ignore them; certainly you shall return them to your neighbor.
2 And if your countryman [is] not near you or you do not know {who he is}, then you shall bring it {to your household}, and it shall be with you {until your countryman seeks after it}, and you shall return it to him.
3 And thus [also] you shall do regarding his donkey, and thus you shall do concerning his garment, and so you shall do with respect to all [of] the lost property of your countryman that is lost from him and you find it; you are not allowed to withhold help.
4 "You shall not see the donkey of your neighbor or his ox fallen on the road and you ignore them; certainly you must help them [get] up [along] with him.
5 "The apparel of a man shall not be [put] on a woman, and a man shall not wear the clothing of a woman, because everyone who does these things is detestable to Yahweh your God.
6 "If a bird's nest is found {before you} on the road in any tree or on the ground, [and there are] chicks or eggs, and the mother [is] lying down on the chicks or the eggs, you shall not take the mother along with the young;
7 you shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourselves; [do this] {so that it may go well} for you and {you may live long in the land}.
8 "When you build a new house then you shall make a parapet wall for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house {if anyone should fall from it}.
9 "You shall not sow your vineyard [with] differing kinds [of seed], so that you shall not forfeit {the whole harvest}, [both] the seed that you sowed and the yield of the vineyard.

Deuteronomy 22:1-9 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.

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Footnotes 18

  • [a] Or "brother"
  • [b] Literally "him"
  • [c] Literally "to the midst of your house"
  • [d] Or "remain"
  • [e] Literally "the seeking of your countryman after it"
  • [f] Or "to"
  • [g] Or "to"
  • [h] Or "to"
  • [i] Or "brother"
  • [j] Literally "on"
  • [k] Literally "before your face"
  • [l] Hebrew "for you"
  • [m] Literally "he/it is good"
  • [n] Literally "and you may make long/extend days"
  • [o] Hebrew "and"
  • [p] Or "fence/rail"
  • [q] Literally "if should fall the falling from it"
  • [r] Literally "the entire fullness"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.