Deuteronomy 22

If you see a fellow Israelite's ox or sheep wandering off, do not ignore it. Be sure to bring it back to him.

1Thou 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.

2If he does not live near you, or you do not know who he is, take the animal to your own house. Keep it with you until he comes looking for it, and then give it back to him.

2And 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.

3Do the same with his donkey, and the same with his coat, and the same with anything else of his that he lost and you found. You must not ignore it.

3In 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.

4If you see a fellow Israelite's donkey or ox fallen down on the road, do not ignore it. Be sure to help him lift the animal up again.

4Thou 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.

5A woman must not wear what belongs to a man, and a man must not put on a woman's clothing. Anyone who does such things is detestable to the LORD your God.

5The 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.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "what belongs to a man" is broader than clothing: it covers gear, equipment and articles of any kind, and can include weapons, so the law may reach beyond dress. "Detestable" translates to'evah, a term used for things regarded as offensive and unfit to bring near God, the same word applied elsewhere to the ritual practices of Israel's neighbors.

6Suppose you come across a bird's nest along the road, in a tree or on the ground, with chicks or eggs in it. If the mother bird is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother along with the young.

6If 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:

7Be sure to let the mother go, and you may take the young for yourself. Then things will go well for you, and you will live a long time.

7But 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.

Note"Live a long time" is a fixed legal formula in Deuteronomy promising long life in the land; it is attached to only a few commands, among them honoring one's father and mother.

8When you build a new house, put a low wall around the edge of your roof. Then you will not bring the guilt of spilled blood on your house if someone falls off it.

8When 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.

NoteRoofs in this period were flat and were used as living space (for sleeping, drying grain and entertaining), so falls were a real risk. "The guilt of spilled blood" (bloodguilt) is a legal state: a household on whose property someone died bore liability for that death until it was dealt with.

9Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard. If you do, the whole harvest will be defiled: both the crop from the seed you planted and the fruit of the vineyard.

9Thou 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.

NoteThe verb translated "defiled" literally means "become holy" or "set apart", the crop passes out of the owner's use, forfeited rather than made dirty. Verses 9-11 form a set of laws against mixing categories that were understood to belong apart: seeds, work animals, fibers.

10Do not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.

10Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

NoteAn ox and a donkey differ greatly in size, strength and pace, so a shared yoke works badly for both. The law also belongs to the group in verses 9-11 forbidding the mixing of unlike kinds.

11Do not wear clothing made of two kinds of material, that is, wool and linen woven together.

11Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.

NoteThe Hebrew has a single technical term, sha'atnez, for cloth woven of two fibers. Wool-and-linen fabric was not simply strange: it was the material of the priests' garments and the tabernacle hangings, reserved for sacred use.

12Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wrap around yourself.

12Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

NoteThe tassels (Hebrew tzitzit) were twisted cords fastened to the corners of the outer cloak, a large rectangular wrap that also served as a blanket at night. Numbers 15:38-39 describes them as including a blue cord and serving as a visible reminder of God's commands.

13Suppose a man marries a woman, sleeps with her, and then comes to hate her.

13If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,

Note"Comes to hate her" is partly a legal expression: in marriage law of this period "hate" describes a husband repudiating his wife and moving to be rid of her, not merely a change of feeling.

14He accuses her of shameful behavior and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, and when I slept with her, I found that she was not a virgin."

14And 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:

NoteA wife who was not a virgin at marriage was held to have defrauded her husband and her father, who had received a payment for her. The accusation is therefore a public legal charge with property and life at stake, not gossip.

15Then the young woman's father and mother shall bring the proof that she was a virgin to the elders of the town at the gate.

15Then 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:

NoteThe town gate was the open space just inside the wall where legal cases were heard and business witnessed, the community's courtroom. The "proof" refers to a cloth or garment from the wedding night, kept afterwards by the bride's family; its bloodstains were treated as evidence of her virginity.

16The young woman's father shall say to the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, and now he hates her.

16And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;

17He has accused her of shameful behavior, saying, 'I found that your daughter was not a virgin.' But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin." Then they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town.

17And, 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.

NoteThe cloth is the bedding or garment from the wedding night, produced by the bride's parents. The physical evidence itself was understood to be imperfect, but the law makes the parents' possession of it decisive against the husband's word.

18The elders of that town shall take the man and punish him.

18And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;

NoteThe Hebrew verb for "punish" here most likely means flogging, the standard corporal penalty (see Deuteronomy 25:1-3), though the text does not spell out the form or the number of strokes.

19They shall also fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give the money to the young woman's father, because the man gave a bad name to a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

19And 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.

NoteA shekel was a weight of silver, roughly eleven or twelve grams; coins did not yet exist, so silver was weighed out. A hundred shekels is twice the fifty-shekel payment named in verse 29 and represents several years' wages for a laborer. The ban on divorce is part of the penalty: the man loses a right every other husband held, and the woman keeps the support of a household.

20But if the charge is true, and no proof can be found that the young woman was a virgin,

20But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

21then they shall bring her out to the door of her father's house, and the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by sleeping around while still in her father's house. You must remove this evil from among you.

21Then 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.

Note"A disgraceful thing in Israel" translates nebalah, a strong term for an outrage that tears the fabric of the community, not merely shameful behavior. Stoning was carried out by the townsmen together, so that no single executioner bore the death; the location at her father's door marks the household where the offense is held to have occurred.

22If a man is found sleeping with a woman who is married to another man, both of them must die, the man who slept with her and the woman as well. You must remove this evil from Israel.

22If 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.

NoteIn Israelite law adultery was defined by the woman's marital status: a married woman's relations with any man broke a legally binding claim, while a married man's relations with an unmarried woman fell under other laws, such as verses 28-29.

23Suppose a young woman who is a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man meets her in the town and sleeps with her.

23If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

NoteBetrothal was not a modern engagement. It was a legally binding contract, usually sealed by a payment to the woman's family, after which she was already called the man's wife; only death or a formal divorce could end it, though she still lived in her father's house until the marriage was completed.

24Then you shall bring both of them out to the gate of that town and stone them to death. The young woman is stoned because she did not cry out for help, though she was in the town, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. You must remove this evil from among you.

24Then 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.

Note"Violated" here renders a Hebrew verb meaning to humble or bring low, used of forced or illicit sexual relations. The reasoning turns on the setting: within a walled town, houses stood close enough that a cry for help would be heard, so silence is read by the law as consent, a presumption the next verses set aside for the open country.

25But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the open country, and he forces her and sleeps with her, then only the man who slept with her must die.

25But 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:

26Do nothing to the young woman. She has done nothing that deserves death. This case is like one where a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.

26But 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:

27The man found her out in the field, and the engaged woman cried out for help, but there was no one there to save her.

27For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

28Suppose a man meets a young woman who is a virgin and is not engaged, and he grabs her and sleeps with her, and they are found out.

28If 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;

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "grabs" here (tafas, to seize or take hold of) is not the stronger word used in verse 25 (hazaq, to overpower). Interpreters disagree over whether this case describes rape or a seduction the community discovers, and the wording leaves both readings open.

29Then the man who slept with her must pay the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver. She shall become his wife, because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

29Then 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.

NoteFifty shekels of silver matches the standard payment a groom's family made to a bride's father; the man must pay it whether or not the marriage was wanted. A parallel law in Exodus 22:16-17 allows the father to refuse the marriage and keep the payment; this passage does not mention that option.

30A man must not marry his father's wife, and so dishonor his father's marriage bed.

30A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.

Note"His father's wife" means a stepmother, not the man's own mother, who is covered separately (Leviticus 18:7). The King James phrase "uncover his father's skirt" is a Hebrew idiom: to lift the corner or hem of a man's garment over a woman was to claim her, so the expression stands for taking over a father's marriage bed and, with it, his position in the household. In Hebrew Bibles this verse is numbered as the first verse of chapter 23.