CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Deuteronomy 22
Chapter 22 of 34
Chapter Overview
What happens in Deuteronomy 22
Moses gives various laws about caring for a neighbor's property, keeping proper distinctions, building safety, and sexual morality. These laws promoted a community built on responsibility and faithfulness.
Scripture
Deuteronomy 22
Caring for a Neighbor's Property
Study note
If someone saw a neighbor's animal wandering away, they were required to return it. The same rule applied to clothing and other lost items. If a neighbor's animal fell on the road, they had to help it back up. Ignoring a neighbor's need was not allowed.
1 "If you spot your neighbor's ox or sheep wandering loose, do not pretend you did not see it. Bring it back to your neighbor. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.
2 If the owner lives far away or you have no idea whose animal it is, take it home and care for it. When the owner comes looking, return it. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.
3 Do the same thing for a neighbor's lost donkey, clothing, or anything else. Never walk by and ignore it. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
4 "If you see your neighbor's donkey or ox collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Stop and help get the animal back on its feet. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.
Various Laws of Distinction
Study note
These laws taught Israel to keep proper order. Men and women were not to wear each other's clothing. A mother bird must be let go free if her nest is found. New houses must have a railing on the roof for safety. Vineyards, fields, and clothing were not to have improper mixtures.
5 "Women must not wear men's clothing, and men must not wear women's clothing. The Lord your God finds that behavior revolting. The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
6 "You might find a bird's nest along the road. It could be in a tree or on the ground. The mother bird sits on her chicks or eggs. Do not take the mother with the babies. If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:
7 You may take the young birds, but let the mother go free. If you do this, things will go well for you and you will live a long life. But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.
8 "Whenever you build a new house, install a railing around the roof edge. That way you will not be responsible if someone falls off and gets killed. When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
9 "Do not plant two different types of seed in your vineyard. If you do, the whole crop will be ruined. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
10 "Do not hitch an ox and a donkey together to plow. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
11 "Do not wear clothing that mixes wool and linen threads. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.
12 "Attach tassels to the four corners of the outer garment you wear. Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
Laws About Sexual Morality
Study note
These laws dealt with accusations against a new wife, adultery, and sexual assault. If a husband falsely accused his wife, he was punished and fined. If the accusation was true, the consequences were severe. The law distinguished between consensual sin and assault, showing concern for the protection of vulnerable women.
13 "Suppose a man gets married, sleeps with his wife, and then turns against her. If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,
14 He makes up lies about her. He says she was not a virgin. He claims, 'I married this woman, but when we were together I found out she was not a virgin.' And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:
15 In that case, the young woman's parents must bring proof to the town elders at the gate. They must show that their daughter is innocent. Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
16 The father will tell the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, but now he has turned against her. And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17 He is making up lies, claiming she was not a virgin. But here is the proof of my daughter's innocence.' The parents will then display the evidence before the elders. And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
18 The town elders must then take the husband and punish him. And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;
19 They will fine him a hundred silver coins and give the money to the young woman's father. He shamed an Israelite woman in front of everyone. She will stay his wife, and he can never divorce her. And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20 "But if the accusation turns out to be true and there is no proof of the young woman's innocence, But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
21 she will be taken to the entrance of her father's house, and the men of her town will stone her to death. She brought disgrace on Israel. Root out this evil from your community. Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
22 "If a man is discovered sleeping with another man's wife, both of them must die. Root out this evil from Israel. If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
23 "If a young woman who is engaged to be married meets another man in town, and he sleeps with her, If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24 bring both of them to the town gate and stone them -- the woman because she was in town and did not cry out for help, and the man because he violated someone else's future wife. Root out this evil from your community. Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
25 "But if a man finds an engaged woman out in the countryside and forces her, only the man must be put to death." But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:
26 Do nothing to the young woman -- she has done nothing deserving death. This situation is no different from someone attacking and killing a neighbor. But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
27 It happened out in the countryside. Even if the engaged woman screamed, nobody was around to help her. For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
28 "If a man meets a young woman who is not engaged and forces himself on her, and someone catches them, If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
29 the man must pay the woman's father fifty silver coins. Then he must marry her because of what he did. He can never divorce her. Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.
30 "A man must never marry his father's wife or bring dishonor on his father's marriage." A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.
Key Themes
Themes in Deuteronomy 22
Care for neighbors and their propertyMaintaining proper distinctionsProtecting the vulnerable from exploitationSexual ethics and community standards
Apply This Today
Living Deuteronomy 22
The command to return a neighbor's lost animal shows that love for neighbor is practical, not theoretical. The building code requiring parapets on rooftops demonstrates that we are responsible for preventing foreseeable harm. These diverse laws share a common thread: genuine care for others and respect for the order God has established.
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