Deuteronomy 22:1-30

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 22

v1 ‘You may see that your neighbour’s *ox or sheep is loose. If you do, you must not avoid it. Take the animal back to your neighbour. v2 If its owner lives far away, take the animal to your home with you. Also, you must do that if you do not know the animal’s owner. When the owner comes to look for his animal, then give it to him. v3 Do the same if you find your neighbour’s *donkey or his coat or anything else. Do not avoid it.

v4 If your neighbour’s *donkey or *ox has fallen down on the road do not avoid it. Help your neighbour to get the animal up again.

v5 Women must not wear men’s clothes and men must not wear women’s clothes. The *LORD your God hates anyone who does that.

v6 You may find a bird’s nest along the road with young birds or eggs in it. It may be either in a tree or on the ground. If the mother is sitting on the eggs or on her young birds, do not take the mother. v7 You can take the young birds, but you must let the mother go. Then you will have a long life. And you will be rich and successful.

v8 When you build a new house, put a fence round the edge of the roof. Then you will not be responsible for the death of anyone who falls from the roof.

v9 Do not plant two kinds of seed in the place where you grow *grapes. If you do, you must not use the *grapes or the other crop.

v10 Do not plough with an *ox and a *donkey that you have put together with a wooden bar.

v11 Some people make things from two different materials, wool and a material called linen. But you must not wear clothes that someone made from those two materials together.

v12 Make long pieces of cotton and tie them on the 4 corners of your coat.’

People must help their neighbour when their neighbour’s animals were causing trouble. People from other countries and even the enemies of the *Israelites had to obey this law too. Jesus taught the same thing in the story of the Good Samaritan. (See Luke 10:30-37.) A Samaritan was a person from Samaria. He was not a *Jew. In fact, the two were enemies! But the Good Samaritan helped the *Jew who was in trouble. People wore clothes of the opposite sex when they *worshipped foreign gods. The sexes are equal, but they are different. People say that this law opposes transvestism. (Transvestism means to wear clothes that belong to someone of the opposite sex.) Both of those activities hide the difference between the sexes.

The *Israelites should care about animals and birds. The laws about birds and about how to plough with animals show how to use them properly. Luke 12:6 says, ‘People sell 5 birds for 2 small coins. But God does not forget one bird.’ People must not use animals or birds in an unfair and selfish way. It was wrong to use a wooden bar to make strong and weak animals work together. Also, the *ox was a *clean animal that *Israelites could give as a *sacrifice. The *donkey was not a *clean animal and *Israelites could not give it as a *sacrifice.

In *Israel, roofs were usually flat. People often ate and slept on them. The law to put a fence round the roof of a house shows care towards other people.

The *Israelites must not mix different crops in the same field. They must not wear clothes that people had made out of two different materials. We are not sure why they had those laws. Perhaps they showed that the *Israelites should *worship only one God. They should separate themselves from the false gods in other nations. The long pieces of cotton on the edge of their clothes reminded them to *keep God’s law.

v13 ‘A man may marry a girl and have sex with her. Then he decides that he does not like her. v14 He accuses her wrongly and he says this. “She was not a *virgin when I married her.” v15 Then the girl’s parents will prove to the town’s leaders that she was a *virgin. v16 The girl’s father will say this to the leaders. “I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife. But he does not like her. v17 Now he is accusing her falsely. He says this. She was not a *virgin when he married her. But here is the proof that she was.” Then he will show the leaders the evidence on the cloth. v18 The leaders of the town will take the husband and whip him. v19 They will make him pay 100 silver coins and they will give the money to the girl’s father. That is because he has brought shame on an *Israelite girl. She will continue to be his wife. He cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

v20 But the man may accuse the girl. And what the man says is true. There may be no proof that the girl was a *virgin. v21 They must take her to the entrance to her father’s house. There the men from the city must throw stones at her to kill her. She has done a terrible thing in *Israel. She had sex before she was married. She was still living in her father’s house. That is how you will remove the evil thing from among you.’

Women were usually rather young when they agreed to marry a man. But they stayed in their parent’s house until they actually married. In this example, the husband married the girl and he had sex with her. Then he said that she was not a *virgin. If he accused her falsely, the leaders whipped the man. Then he had to pay 100 silver coins as a punishment. That was twice the amount that people usually paid for a bride. He could never divorce his wife. If he were telling the truth, the men from the city would throw stones at the girl to kill her. Most societies today would not kill someone because of this *sin. But the law shows this: It is important to God that his people should not have sex in a wrong way. Strong families are important because they make a strong society. But the man who accused the girl had to produce evidence. If there were none, they would punish the man himself.

v22 ‘If a man has sex with another man’s wife, both the man and the woman shall die. You must remove the evil thing from *Israel.

v23 Suppose that a man in a town has sex with an unmarried girl. She has promised to marry someone else. v24 You will take both of them to the gate of the city. There, you will throw stones at them to kill them. The girl must die for this reason: She was in a town and she did not call for help. The man must die because he had sex with another man’s wife. You must remove the evil thing from among you.

v25 Suppose that a man meets an unmarried girl out in the country. She has promised to marry another man. If he forces her to have sex, only the man must die. v26 You must not do anything to the girl. She has not *sinned. She does not deserve to die. It is the same as when a man murders his neighbour. v27 The man found the unmarried girl in the country. Although she cried for help, there was nobody to help her.

v28 Suppose that a girl had not promised to marry a man. Then a man forces her to have sex with him. If people have caught him, v29 he must pay the girl’s father 50 silver coins. The man must marry the girl because he forced her to have sex with him. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

v30 No man should have sex with his father’s wife. That would bring shame to his father.’

If a man has sex with another man’s wife, both of them must die. Suppose that a man has sex in a town with a girl. She has promised to marry someone else. In those times, the promise to marry was as important as the marriage. The leaders must throw stones at them to kill them both. The man will die because of his *sin. The girl will die because she did not call for help. If this happens in the country, the leaders will not throw stones at the girl. If she called for help, nobody would hear her there. If a girl had not promised to marry someone, the man had to pay the usual price for a bride. Then he had to marry the girl. The law did not allow him to divorce her. The law did not allow a man to marry a wife that belonged to his father. (Absalom did that when he turned against his father David. See 2 Samuel 16:21-22.)

A man should have sex only with his wife. And a wife should have sex only with her husband. Both the *Old Testament and the *New Testament teach that.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
ox ~ a strong farm animal like a bull that can pull the plough.

bull ~ male farm animal; (the female is called a cow). The Israelites made a metal image of a bull, which they worshipped as an idol.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

idol ~ an image of a false god that people give honour to; an object of wood, stone or metal that people worship.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
donkey ~ an animal like a small horse with short legs and long ears.
grape ~ small green or purple soft fruit that people can use to make wine.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
clean ~ good in thought and in action. But, in the Old Testament, many things could make a person not clean towards God. For example, if they touched a dead body, that would make them not clean. And the Israelites must not eat animals that God called not clean.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
virgin ~ someone who has not had sex.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.

'New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible. It tells about Jesus Christ and his followers.