Deuteronomy 22

Deuteronomy 22:1

6. Nine Laws of Behavior (22:1-12) 22:1-3 Chapter 22 expands upon Lev_19:18, describing the general command to “Love your neighbor.” Even a man’s enemies were to be treated with neighborly concern (Exo_23:4-5). An Israelite was not allowed to act indifferently toward anything lost by his neighbor (brother). Whether it was an animal, a garment, or anything else, he was obligated to take it to his own house and keep it until it was claimed. 22:4 Israelites were also obligated to assist a neighbor’s animal which had fallen. 22:5 Men were not to wear women’s clothing, or vice versa. God hates transvestism. 22:6, 7 Young birds could be taken from a bird’s nest, but the mother had to be freed, probably so that she could continue reproducing. 22:8 A parapet or railing had to be built around the flat roof of a house to prevent people from falling off. The roof was the place of fellowship. It is important to guard the communion, especially of the young and careless. 22:9-11 The Jews were forbidden to: (1) sow a vineyard with different kinds of seed; (2) plow with an ox (clean) and a donkey (unclean) yoked together; (3) wear clothes made of a mixture of wool and linen. The first prohibition suggests adding to the pure teaching of the Word of God. The second describes the unequal yoke in service. The third speaks of the mixture of righteousness and unrighteousness in the practical life of the believer. 22:12 Jews were supposed to wear tassels on the four corners of their garments as constant reminders to obey the Lord (Num_15:37-41). The reason for these tassels is given in Num_15:37 and following.

Deuteronomy 22:13

7. Offenses Against Chastity (22:13-30)22:13-21 This paragraph deals with a man who married a girl and then suspected that she was not a virgin. Evidence of . . . virginity probably consisted of marks on the linen of the marriage bed after a woman’s first sexual experience. If the father and mother could produce evidence of the young woman’s virginity, the overly suspicious husband was chastised, fined one hundred shekels of silver, and required to live with her. If, however, the young woman had been immoral before her marriage, then she was to be stoned to death. 22:22-30 The remaining verses of this chapter deal with various types of sexual immorality: (1) Both man and woman . . . found in the act of adultery were to be put to death. (2) If a man raped a betrothed . . . woman . . . in the city, and she did not cry out for help, then both were guilty of adultery and were to be put to death. (3) If a man raped a betrothed woman in a field, where her cries for help could not be heard, then the man was to be killed, but the woman was innocent. (4) A man who had sexual relations with a virgin was required to pay fifty shekels of silver to her father and also to marry her. (5) Verse 30 forbids incesti.e., sexual relations with a member of the family.