Deuteronomy 22

1 Yf thou se thy brothers oxe or shepe goo astraye, thou shalt not with drawe thy selfe from them: But shalt brynge them home agayne vnto thy brother.

2 Yf thy brother be not nye vnto the or yf thou knowe him not, then bringe them vnto thine awne housse and lett them be with the, vntyll thy brother axe after them, and then delyuer him them agayne.

3 In like maner shalt thou doo with his asse, with his rayment and with all lost thinges of thy brother which he hath lost and thou hast founde, and thou maist not withdrawe thy selfe.

4 Yf thou se that thy brothers asse or oxe is fallen doune by the waye, thou shalt not withdrawe thy selfe from them: but shalt helpe him to heue them vp agayne.

5 The woman shall not weere that whiche pertayneth vnto the man, nether shall a man put on womans rayment. For all that doo so, are abhomynacyon vnto the Lorde thi God.

6 Yf thou chaunce vppon a byrds nest by the waye, in what soeuer tree it be or on the groude, whether they be younge or egges, ad the dame sittenge vppon the younge or vppo the egges: Thou shalt not take the mother with the younge.

7 But shalt in any wyse let the dame go and take the younge, that thou mayst prospere and prolonge thy dayes.

8 When thou byldest a new housse, thou shalt make a batelmet vnto the roffe, that thou lade not bloude vppon thine housse, yf any ma fall there of.

9 Thou shalt not sowe thy vyneyarde with dyuerse sede: lest thou halowe the sede whiche thou hast sowen with the frute off thy vyneyarde.

10 Thou shalt not plowe with an oxe ad an asse togetherr

11 Thou shalt not weere a garment made of woll and flax together.

12 Thou shalt put rybandes vpo the .iiij. quarters of thy vesture wherewith thou couerest thy selfe.

13 Yf a man take a wyfe and when he hath lyen with her hate her

14 ad leye shamefull thinges vnto hyr charge and brynge vp an euell name vppon her and saye: I toke this wyfe, and whe I came to her, I founde her not a mayde:

15 The let the father of the damsell and the mother brynge forth the tokens of the damsels virginite, vnto the elders of the citie, euen vnto the gate.

16 And let the damsels father saye vnto the elders, I gaue my doughter vnto this man to wife and he hateth her:

17 and loo, he layeth shamefull thinges vnto hir charge saynge, I founde not thy doughter a mayde. And yet these ar the tokens of my doughters virginite. And let them sprede the vesture before the elders off the citie.

18 Then let the elders of that citie take that man and chastyce him

19 and merce him in an hundred sycles of syluer and geue them vnto the father of the damsell, because he hath brought vpp an euell name vppon a mayde in Israel. And she shalbe his wife, and he may not put her awaye all his dayes.

20 But and yf the thinge be of a suertie that the damsell be not founde a virgen,

21 let them brynge her vnto the dore of hir fathers housse, and let the men of that citie stone her with stones to deeth, because she hath wrought folye in Israel, to playe the whore in hir fathers housse. And so thou shalt put euell awaye from the.

22 Yf a man be founde lyenge with a woman, that hath a wedded husbonde, then let the dye etherother of the: both the man that laye with the wife and also the wife: so thou shalt put awaye euell from Israel.

23 Yf a mayde be hanfasted vnto an husbonde, and then a man finde her in the towne and leye with her,

24 then ye shall brynge them both out vnto the gates of that same citie and shall stone them with stones to deeth: The damsell because she cried not beynge in the citie: And the man, because he hath humbled his neyghbours wife, and thou shalt put awaye evell from the.

25 But yf a man finde a betrothed damsell in the felde and force her and leye with her: The the man that laye with her shall dye alone,

26 and vnto the damsell thou shalt doo no harme: because there is in the damsell no cause of deeth. For as when a man ryseth agenste his neyghboure and sleyeth him, eue so is this matter.

27 For he founde her in the feldes and the betrothed damsell cried: but there was no ma to succoure her.

28 Yf a man finde a mayde that is not betrothed ad take her ad lye with her ad be founde:

29 Then the man that laye with her shall geue vnto the damsells father .l. sycles of syluer. And she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her, and he maye not put her awaye all hys dayes.

30 No man shall take his fathers wife, nor vnheale his fathers couerynge.

Deuteronomy 22 Commentary

Chapter 22

Of humanity towards brethren. (1-4) Various precepts. (5-12) Against impurity. (13-30)

Verses 1-4 If we duly regard the golden rule of "doing to others as we would they should do unto us," many particular precepts might be omitted. We can have no property in any thing that we find. Religion teaches us to be neighbourly, and to be ready to do all good offices to all men. We know not how soon we may have occasion for help.

Verses 5-12 God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, and his precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord, as we are under his eye and care. Yet the tendency of these laws, which seem little, is such, that being found among the things of God's law, they are to be accounted great things. If we would prove ourselves to be God's people, we must have respect to his will and to his glory, and not to the vain fashions of the world. Even in putting on our garments, as in eating or in drinking, all must be done with a serious regard to preserve our own and others' purity in heart and actions. Our eye should be single, our heart simple, and our behaviour all of a piece.

Verses 13-30 These and the like regulations might be needful then, and yet it is not necessary that we should curiously examine respecting them. The laws relate to the seventh commandment, laying a restraint upon fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

Chapter Summary

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.