Text -- Deuteronomy 22:1-22 (NET)

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

22:1 When you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; you must return it without fail to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner does not live near you or you do not know who the owner is, then you must corral the animal at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 22:3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 22:4 When you see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; instead, you must be sure to help him get the animal on its feet again. 22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord your God. 22:6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them, you must not take the mother from the young. 22:7 You must be sure to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life. 22:8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail around your roof to avoid being culpable in the event someone should fall from it.

Illustrations of the Principle of Purity

22:9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. 22:10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 22:11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together. 22:12 You shall make yourselves tassels for the four corners of the clothing you wear.

Purity in the Marriage Relationship

22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and then rejects her, 22:14 accusing her of impropriety and defaming her reputation by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations with her I discovered she was not a virgin!” 22:15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity for the elders of the city at the gate. 22:16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected her. 22:17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out before the city’s elders. 22:18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish him. 22:19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives. 22:20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge evil from among you. 22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge evil from Israel.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 22:1

¹ tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.

² tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”

³ tn Heb “hide yourself.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:2

¹ tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).

² tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.

³ tn Heb “and you do not know him.”

⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Deu 22:3

¹ tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).

² tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:4

¹ tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.

² tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”

³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”

⁴ tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.

NET Notes: Deu 22:5

¹ tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”

² tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “offense”) speaks of anything that runs counter to ritual or moral order, especially (in the OT) to divine standards. Cross-dressing in this covenant context may suggest homosexuality, fertility cult ritual, or some other forbidden practice.

NET Notes: Deu 22:6

¹ tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”

² tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.

NET Notes: Deu 22:7

¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:8

¹ tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”

² tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:9

¹ tn Heb “set apart.” The verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) in the Qal verbal stem (as here) has the idea of being holy or being treated with special care. Some take the meaning as “be off-limits, forfeited,” i.e., the total produce of the vineyard, both crops and grapes, have to be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Exod 29:37; 30:29; Lev 6:18, 27; Num 16:37-38; Hag 2:12).

NET Notes: Deu 22:11

¹ tn The Hebrew term שַׁעַטְנֵז (sha’atnez) occurs only here and in Lev 19:19. HALOT 1610-11 s.v. takes it to be a contraction of words (שַׁשׁ [shash, “headdress”] + עַטְנַז [’atnaz, “strong”]). BDB 1043 s.v. שַׁעַטְנֵז offers the translation “mixed stuff” (cf. NEB “woven with two kinds of yarn”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “woven together”). The general meaning is clear even if the etymology is not.

NET Notes: Deu 22:12

¹ tn Heb “twisted threads” (גְּדִלִים, gÿdilim) appears to be synonymous with צִיצִת (tsitsit) which, in Num 15:38, occurs in a passage instructing Israel to remember the covenant. Perhaps that is the purpose of the tassels here as well. Cf. KJV, ASV “fringes”; NAB “twisted cords.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:13

¹ tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations.

² tn Heb “hate.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15. Cf. NAB “comes to dislike”; NASB “turns against”; TEV “decides he doesn’t want.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:14

¹ tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”

² tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”

³ tn Heb “drew near to her.” This is another Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.

NET Notes: Deu 22:15

¹ sn In light of v. 17 this would evidently be blood-stained sheets indicative of the first instance of intercourse. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 302-3.

NET Notes: Deu 22:16

¹ tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.

NET Notes: Deu 22:17

¹ tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:18

¹ tn Heb “discipline.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:19

¹ tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.

² tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”

NET Notes: Deu 22:21

¹ tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

² tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

NET Notes: Deu 22:22

¹ tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.

² tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”

³ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.