Deuteronomy 22

Deuteronomy 12–26 is a collection of laws contained in Moses' second address. Chapter 22 belongs to that collection. Continuing from Deuteronomy 21, it sets out regulations concerning the responsibilities of neighbors toward one another and family life.

Outline

• Verses 1–4: Anyone who sees a brother's ox, sheep, donkey, or garment gone astray must not ignore it but must return it. A fallen animal is to be helped back up together with its owner.
• Verse 5: Men and women are not to wear each other's clothing.
• Verses 6–7: When taking from a bird's nest, one is to let the mother bird go and take only the young or the eggs. The passage promises that one will then prosper and live long.
• Verse 8: A parapet is to be built on the roof of a new house.
• Verses 9–12: A vineyard is not to be sown with two kinds of seed. An ox and a donkey are not to be yoked together for plowing. A garment woven of wool and linen together is not to be worn. Tassels are to be attached to the four corners of the outer garment.
• Verses 13–21: A husband who falsely accuses his wife of not having been a virgin is to be flogged and fined one hundred shekels of silver, and he may never divorce her. If the accusation is true, the woman is to be stoned.
• Verses 22–29: These verses address adultery with a married woman, cases involving a betrothed virgin (distinguishing between an incident in the city and one in the field), and the case of a virgin who is not betrothed. In the last case, the man must pay fifty shekels of silver and take the young woman as his wife.
• Verse 30: A man is not to take his father's wife.

Key Verses

• Deuteronomy 22:4: "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." This verse states the principle that one must not turn away from a neighbor's loss. Exodus 23 extends such help even to an enemy's animal.
• Deuteronomy 22:8: "Thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence." The verse speaks of the responsibility to provide in advance for the safety of others.
• Deuteronomy 22:10: "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together." Plowing "together" here means harnessing two animals under a single yoke to pull a plow. The verse is often read alongside "Be ye not unequally yoked together" in 2 Corinthians 6:14.

People and Places

• No individual is named in the chapter. The one delivering the law is Moses.
• Elders of the city: The town's elders, who judged disputes at the city gate.
• City gate: The area at the city gate where trials and public business took place.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 30 is numbered 23:1 in the Hebrew Masoretic Text. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul rebukes a man who has taken his father's wife.
• Interpretations of verse 5 differ. Some view it as a regulation aimed at ancient pagan cultic practices, while others see it as a general principle of distinction between the sexes. The verse is also cited in present-day discussions of gender.
• Verses 9–12 correspond to Leviticus 19:19 and Numbers 15:37–41. These regulations are still observed in Judaism. The "borders of their garments" in the New Testament (Matthew 23:5) and the "hem of his garment" touched by the woman with the issue of blood are sometimes interpreted as referring to these tassels.
• Verses 13–29 reflect the marriage and family institutions of ancient Israel. Verses 25–27 declare that a betrothed virgin who is raped in the field bears no guilt. Interpreters differ on whether "lay hold on her" in verses 28–29 should be understood as rape or seduction, and the passage is sometimes compared with Exodus 22:16–17.
• The provision that adulterers be put to death connects with the "law of Moses" invoked by the accusers in the account of the woman taken in adultery.
• Traditions also differ on how these laws apply today. Chapter 19 of the Westminster Confession of Faith holds that the judicial laws of Israel expired together with that nation, with only their general equity still binding. Other denominations also generally read these laws from the perspective that the law has been fulfilled in Christ, though they differ in how much continuity of the law they recognize.