This should be the most extensive examination of Deut. 22 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 22:

Introduction

         Part I:             Guidelines given by Moses to a New Nation

         vv.     1–4           Regard for Private Property is Expected

         vv.     5            Cross-dressing

         vv.     6–7           Conservation in Nature

         v.       8            Building Code

         vv.     9–10         Farming Recommendations

         vv.    11–12         Clothing Recommendations

         Part II:            Morality Laws for a New Nation

         vv.    13–27         Marriage, Adultery, Virginity Laws

         vv.    28–29         Shotgun Marriages

         vv.     30            Incest Restrictions

Addendum

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         The Prequel of Deuteronomy 22

         Introduction         The Principals of Deuteronomy 22

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Deuteronomy 22

         Introduction         The Outline/Summary of Matthew Henry

         Introduction         Things the Bible bans (graphic)

         Introduction         The Law Against J-Walking Invalidates Laws Against Murder

         v.       4              Summary of Being a Good Neighbor

         v.       8              Parapet (graphic)

         v.      11              CGG.org on Wearing Clothing of Mixed Fibers

         v.      11              TMana on mixing materials

         v.      14              The Marriage Interlude

         v.      14              An Overview of Deuteronomy 22:13–21

         v.      19              Reasons why all of the Mosaic Law is not to be applied to our day and time

         v.      21              How to Understand the Mores of the Mosaic Law Today

         v.      21              The Myriad of Ways that 2013 United States is in Trouble

         v.      23              Moral Values in the Time of Moses

         v.      27              The Moses Analogy of Rape and Murder

         v.      27              Consider all pertinent factors in a trial

         v.      28              A dishonest graphic

         v.      28              A Second Dishonest Graphic

         v.      29              Shotgun Wedding (graphic)

         v.      29              Why Deuteronomy 22:28–29 does not Require that a Woman to Marry her Rapist

         Addendum          What We Learn from Deuteronomy 22

         Addendum          Liberal Distortions of the Bible

         Addendum          Another Dishonest Graphic

         Addendum          United States Law is Based upon God’s Covenant with Israel

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Deuteronomy 22

         Addendum          Word Cloud of Deut. 22 from the Kukis “Not So Literal” Translation

         Addendum          Word Cloud of the Exegesis of Deuteronomy 22

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An Introduction to Deuteronomy 22

I ntroduction: Deut. 22 continues with Moses’ very long teachings to his people where he sets up laws for them in addition to the laws found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Some of these laws are new; and some of them are repetitious. However, they carry, for the Jews, the same force as what God said on Mount Sinai to Moses.

Deut. 22 is filled with even more various and sundry laws than chapter 21, as you can see by the outline above. We will find out that we are our brother’s keeper and Moses will explore rape, marriage and pre-marital sex. God’s laws apply to social law as well as to criminal law. One of the reasons for the chapter split between chapters 21 and 22 is that the bulk of Deut. 21 is criminal law; the bulk of Deut. 22 is civil law and social concerns.

The big picture is that the Ten Commandments were reiterated and covered in more detail in Deut. 5–7; the religious and national regulations in Deut. 8–21; and now until Deut. 26, regulations concerning domestic and personal relations are covered. The big picture in this chapter is that Moses will make it very clear that we have a responsibility to our brothers (fellow Israelites in context) and then the remainder of the chapter will illustrate that very thing. That is, we are given ways not to treat our fellow countryman.

Moses deals with a variety of topics in this chapter: how to treat the possessions of fellow Jews with respect and concern, cross-dressing, building codes, farming guidelines; one lengthy discussion of marriage and virginity and the law, which includes one very lengthy example as well as several shorter examples which involve capital punishment; and finally, a reference to incest (which Jewish Bibles place with the next chapter).

Although I can certainly explain most of these passages, one topic at a time, explaining how Moses put these together in his own mind is a whole other thing. Did he come with notes? Remember, not only did people not have iPads back then, but they did not have note cards, pencil and paper. Moses did have writing material, which was probably velum—we know this because God told him to write His words down. But would a person have written down things as we do on note cards prior to giving a presentation? Did Moses simply think about these things over the past 30 or so years, and then just began to teach?

As has been discussed in other places, man did not evolve physically and mentally, but man has devolved, physically, mentally, morally and spiritually. There was a time when those who wanted to could learn the entire books of Job and Genesis, and that was their Bible for their entire life. What I mean by learn is, they memorized both of these books. I, on the other hand, often have trouble remembering what I wrote and studied yesterday. I have re-read writings that I have done and surprised myself on occasion.

Quite obviously, these things that Moses said were written down. Did he write them down? Did Caleb and Joshua compare what they remembered and write them down? Are we getting this exactly as Moses said it, including the order and context of each law?

In any case, if this is how Moses presented the material, his concept of organization and mine are quite different. Or did he put in divers topics side-by-side in order to keep his audience listening and paying attention? The book of Deuteronomy does give us a great deal to speculate about.

Although I have done a short exegetical study of the book of Deuteronomy (about 670 pages), I wanted to go back and cover this particular chapter, as it has become part of a dishonest pro-gay marriage graphic spread across the internet. This graphic says that gay marriage ought to be recognized by the state and the federal government, and one of the reasons is, the Bible allows for a rapist to marry his victim, citing this chapter of the Bible. That is simply false. However, it takes a longer explanation to deal with this assertion of a biased graphic. The reason that this is important is, most of the other examples of alternate types of marriages found in the Bible were simply things which people did—they did not have God’s seal of approval. However, in this example, it appears, in some translations, that a man can wait out in some hiding place for woman and rape her; and, if he likes her, he can demand that she be given to him as his wife. That is a very weird point of view, and the Biblical scholar might be interested in whether or not this is God’s idea of marriage. So, for that reason, this chapter of Deuteronomy is being exegeted long before I even begin work again on this book as a whole.

Included in this chapter are comments about the mixing of different types of cloth in clothing (Deut. 22:11). This is often mentioned in pro-gay and liberal websites. The argument goes something like this: “You don’t believe in gay marriage because of the Bible? Well, do you wear a cotton blend shirt? If you do, you have violated Biblical standards right there, buddy.” The idea is, you either give up on all your old, outmoded ideas about homosexual relations or you clear out 90% of the clothes in your closet.

Superficially, it may appear that these ideas have merit; however, when these passages are carefully examined, that is not the case. However, unlike those who attack the Bible and chapters like this, there is no simple bumper sticker sized answer for the false assertions which are out there.

Or, as the Pulpit Commentary summarizes: Regulations regarding cattle strayed or things lost, the apparel of the sexes, the taking of birds, and the construction of houses. Confusions to be avoided. Fringes to be made on vestments. Punishment of wife-slander, adultery, rape, fornication, incest.

One of the reasons that I exegeted this chapter of Deuteronomy is I have seen two passages in particular distorted by liberals (particularly by the gay political movement). The Bible indicates that homosexual acts are sinful. So those who are against the Bible have searched the Bible out to find anything that the Bible bans or supports which seems silly. In this chapter, it appears to some that God is banning cotton/polyester blend clothing, but that He supports the idea of a rapist getting to marry his victim. These points of view are always expressed in a bumper sticker fashion, so if you simply read the message and take it as being truthful, then you will be caused to question what is in the Bible. “If God doesn’t like cotton/polyester blends shirts, then do I have to burn most of my wardrobe?” Or, “Is the God of the Bible so really anti-female that, if a rapist rapes a women, he can then turn around and negociate a marriage with this woman?” Quite obviously, both ideas seems to be rather extreme, and that is what the anti-Bible person wants you to believe—that the Bible is extreme and irrelevant to today. Two of those topics will be covered in this chapter, and you will see, the claims made by anti-Bible and/or pro-gay websites are not really telling you the whole truth.

The graphic Things the Bible bans was taken from “I am bored’s” selection of photos (accessed August 26, 2013). This particular graphic is found in a different form on many, many websites. The intent of a graphic like this is to make you think that the Bible is capricious and arbitrary. It is as if the writers of the Bible just decided to ban stuff for no reason.

The idea some are trying to get across is, the Bible bans homosexual activity, but then, it also bans cotton and polyester blend clothing. Since the ban of cotton/polyester blend clothing seems pretty silly, then maybe a ban on homosexual acts is silly as well. What they ignore is, there was actually a reason to recommend clothing not be made of cotton and wool (and no one was taken to court or fined or executed for making such a blend of material—see Deut. 22:11); while homosexual acts are taught to be wrong in both the Old and New Testaments; and those caught in a homosexual act in the nation of Israel were to be executed. See the Doctrine of Homosexuality (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Barnes summarizes Deut. 21:10–22:30: The regulations which now follow in the rest of this and throughout the next chapter bring out the sanctity of various personal rights and relations fundamental to human life and society.

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Part I:               Guidelines given by Moses to a New Nation

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Regard for Private Property is Expected

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation ; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. Some of my sources have become dead sites. Currently, this is taken from: http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_deuteronomy.html and first published in 1862.

Ancient texts:

Targum (trans. By Cook)        You will not see your brother”s ox or his lamb going astray, and estrange your knowledge from them; you will certainly restore them to him.

Latin Vulgate                          You will not pass by if you see your brother”s ox, or his sheep go astray: but you will bring them back to your brother.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        You will not see an ox of your brother or his sheep thrust aside and you have hidden yourself from them. Returning, you will return them to your brother.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    YOU shall not see your brothers ox or his sheep go astray, and disregard them; but you shall surely bring them back to your brother.

Septuagint (Greek)                When you see the calf of your brother or his sheep wandering in the way, you shall not overlook them; you shall by all means turn them back to your brother, and you shall restore them to him.

Significant differences:           The Hebrew seems to use an unusual verb here which must have this alternative meaning. The English translation of the Latin, Syriac and Greek translate the second verb to go astray, to wander.

On the third verb, some of the English translations moved the negative from the first verb to the third verb (which I did in my not-so-literal translation). It smooths out the English somewhat.

Both problems suggest some peculiarities in the Hebrew (not necessarily that anything is actually wrong, however).

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Rules for property and mixtures

Don't just watch your fellow Israelite's ox or sheep wandering around and do nothing about it. You must return the animal to its owner.

Contemporary English V.       If you see a cow or sheep wandering around lost, take the animal back to its owner.

Easy English                          Rules for life

You may see the cow or sheep of your brother (another *Israelite) that is running away. Then you must catch it. Do not look away from it. Take it back to him.

Easy-to-Read Version            “If you see that your neighbor’s cow or sheep is loose, you must not ignore it. You must be sure to take it back to its owner.

Good News Bible (TEV)         "If you see an Israelite's cow or sheep running loose, do not ignore it; take it back.

The Message                         If you see your kinsman's ox or sheep wandering off loose, don't look the other way as if you didn't see it. Return it promptly.

New Berkeley Version           “You shall not see the ox or sheep of your brother straying away and do nothing about it; you shall certainly bring it back to your brother.

New Century Version             If you see your fellow Israelite's ox or sheep wandering away, don't ignore it. Take it back to its owner.

New Life Version                    "If you see your brother's bull or sheep walking away, do not pretend that you do not see them. Be sure to return them to your brother.

New Living Translation           "If you see your neighbor's ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don't ignore your responsibility [Hebrew don't hide yourself; similarly in 22:3.]. Take it back to its owner.

Moses: If you see your neighbor's ox or sheep wandering away, don't ignore it. Bring the animal back to its owner.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          'Whenever you see your brother's calf or sheep wandering loose in the road, don't ignore it; you must lead it back to your brother and give it to him.

Beck’s American Translation Lost and Found

“When you see another Israelite’s ox or sheep that’s lost, don’t go away without helping. Be sure to take it back to him.

Christian Community Bible     Give back what you find

If you find the lost ox or sheep of your brother, do not pretend that you did not see it, but bring it back to its owner.

God’s Word™                         If you see another Israelite's ox or sheep out where it doesn't belong, don't pretend that you don't see it. Make sure you take it back.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       If thou seest ox or sheep that belongs to thy fellow-Israelite going astray, do not hurry past; take it back to its owner, if he is a neighbour of thine, and known to thee. If not, shelter it thyself till he enquires, and restore it. V. 2 is included for context.

New American Bible              "You shall not see your kinsman's ox or sheep driven astray without showing concern about it; see to it that it is returned to your kinsman.

New American Bible (R.E.)    Concern for the Neighbor.

You shall not see your neighbor's ox or sheep going astray and ignore it; you must bring it back. Ex 23:4-5.

NIRV                                      Suppose you see your neighbor's ox or sheep wandering away. Then don't act as if you didn't see it. Instead, make sure you take it back to him.

New Jerusalem Bible             'If you see your brother's ox or one of his sheep straying, you must not disregard it: you must take it back to your brother.

Today’s NIV                          If you see someone else's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Never see your brother's bull or his yearling outcast, and evade them: ||Return|| them to your brother.

Bible in Basic English             If you see your brother's ox or his sheep wandering, do not go by without helping, but take them back to your brother.

The Expanded Bible              If you see your ·fellow Israelite's [relative's; brother's] ox or sheep wandering away, don't ignore it. Take it back to ·its owner [your relative/brother; Ex. 23:4-5].

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 You shall not see the ox or sheep of your neighbor straying, and hide it from him. You shall drive them back to your neighbor.

NET Bible®                             Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

When you see [Heb "you must not see," but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.] your neighbor's [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."] ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it [Heb "hide yourself."]; you must return it without fail [The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words "without fail."] to your neighbor. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV, ©2011                             If you see your fellow Israelite's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           "You are not to watch your brother's ox or sheep straying and behave as if you hadn't seen it; you must bring them back to your brother.

exeGeses companion Bible   THE TORAH ON SUNDRY MATTERS

See not the ox or the lamb of your brother driven,

and conceal yourself from them:

in returning, return them to your brother:...

Judaica Press Complete T.    You shall not see your brother's ox or sheep straying, and ignore them. Rather, you shall return them to your brother.

Kaplan Translation                 Returning Lost Articles

If you see your brother's ox or sheep going astray, you must not ignore them. You must return them to your brother. See Exodus 23:4. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Thou shalt not see thy brother's shor or his seh go astray, and ignore them; thou shalt in any case bring them back unto thy brother.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep being driven away or stolen, and hide yourself from [your duty to help] them; you shall surely take them back to your brother.

Concordant Literal Version    You shall not see your brother's bull or his flockling or any domestic beast of his wandering away and then obscure yourself from them. You shall restore, yea restore them to your brother.

English Standard V. – UK       Various Laws

"You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother.

The updated Geneva Bible    You will not see your brothers ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them [As though your did not see it.]: you will in any case bring them again unto your brother.

NASB                                     Sundry Laws

"You shall not see your countryman's [Lit brother, and so through v 4] ox or his sheep straying away, and pay no attention to them [Lit hide yourself from them]; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman.

New RSV                               You shall not watch your neighbour's ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner.

World English Bible                You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother.

Young’s Updated LT             “You will not see the ox of your brother or his sheep driven away, and have hidden thyself from them, you will certainly turn them back to your brother.

The gist of this verse:          If you see the animals of a fellow citizen wandering about, return them to that person; do not ignore them.

Translation: You will not observe your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray... We have an interesting figure of speech here called an anastrophe [pronounced a-NAS-tro-phree]—this is where the word order is unusual or has been transposed. I have translated the verse literally with the negative associated with the word see. However, it is obvious that we are examining the situation where the person does see the animal wandering about loose. What they are not to do is they are not to hide themselves from the incident—i.e., they are not to ignore the escaped beast.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown: "Brother" is a term of extensive application, comprehending persons of every description; not a relative, neighbor, or fellow countryman only, but any human being, known or unknown, a foreigner, and even an enemy (Ex. 23:4).

The second verb, the Niphal participle of nâdach (נָדַח) [pronounced naw-DAHKH] is somewhat of a problem. You will notice that in the definitions, it appears that something has been banished, expelled or thrust out. There is a very helpful tool in situations like this: The Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament, by George V. Wigram. What is does is give me every occurrence of every Niphal use of nâdach (there are 20, and most of these are participles). Given the context, there is no indication that any of his brother’s flock have been driven away from the rest; however, this is the only way that this word is used elsewhere (Deut. 30:4 2Sam. 14:13–14 Neh. 1:2 etc.). This could mean several different things: (1) nâdach has this other rare usage; (2) Moses is suggesting that someone or something drove this animal away from the herd; or (3) there is an error in the text. All of the other words in this verse, with the exception of the next verb, are very common words, occurring hundreds of times in the Old Testament.

The situation is, you are about your daily business, and you come across an ox or a sheep or whatever kind of animal that belongs to a brother. This would not be a person’s literal brother, but it refers to a fellow Israelite (as they all have the genes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob).

Something that ought to be pointed out: what Moses is saying here is not limited to finding exactly one ox or exactly one sheep. You might find two lambs; there may be three wolverines that escape from your friend’s wolverine farm. You might find his wallet on the street. Moses gives but two examples; however, there is no reason to confine it only to those two examples.

Application: Quite obviously, today, the chances of you running across the sheep or oxen of someone who lives two streets over are practically nil. However, finding the wallet of someone else is very possible. Finding another person’s possession will happen to pretty much everyone. It might be a school book, a purse, a DVD, a checkbook, a cellphone; a mishandled delivery of a letter. Therefore, this applies to you. What Moses says about returning this ox or sheep also applies to you as well.

Sheep going astray is actually an important concept at least twice more in Scripture. When speaking prophetically of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant, Isaiah writes, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have each one turned to his own way; and Jehovah made meet in Him the iniquity of all of us (Isa. 53:6; Green’s Literal translation). Peter quotes a portion of this passage, applying it to the Jews who had wandered away from their Savior: For you were "as sheep going astray," but now you turned back to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1Peter 2:25; Isa. 53:6; Green’s Literal translation)

Jesus also uses a sheep going astray in one of His more famous parables: What man of you having a hundred sheep, and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the deserted place and go after the lost one until he finds it? And finding it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And coming to the house, he calls together the friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that had been lost. I say to you that so is joy in Heaven over one sinner repenting, than over ninety nine righteous ones who have no need of repentance (Luke 15:4–7; Green’s Literal translation).

So, even though Moses is just giving a simple example about private property and impersonal love toward one’s neighbor, the idea of a sheep wandering off, and the idea of looking for one’s lost sheep is fundamental in the passages quoted.

Translation: ...while you ignore them. The verb here is ʿâlam (עָלַם) [pronounced ģaw-LAHM], which means to hide, to conceal. In the Hiphil, it is often used in conjunction with eyes or ears, and it can mean to hide one’s eyes from which means to disregard. In hiding the ear, it is similar to our expression to turn a deaf ear (Lam. 3:56). Here, it is found in the Hithpael stem (the intensive, reflexive stem). My guess is that this might be a shorthand idiom meaning essentially the same as turning a deaf ear to or simply disregarding. Strong’s #5956 BDB #761.

Now, you see this animal running loose and you know that it belongs to a fellow Israelite. Now the implication is, you are on your own business; you are doing your own thing; you are on the way to an appointment; you are busy yourself. Because of your own schedule, your first impulse is to be on your way to do what needs to be done, and to ignore the animal (which represents both food and wealth in the ancient world).

Moses does not simply tell you to ignore your first instinct; he is adamant about it.

Translation: You will indeed return them to your brother. The doubling of the verb intensifies or strengthens the meaning of the main verb. We would add the words definitely, surely, indeed.

You are your brother’s keeper. You do not get to ignore a situation like this or act as though you did not see the wandering ox. Moses gives them no choice—they must return the beast to its owner. Here, brother refers to a fellow Jew, which is why the NASB renders this as countryman. Whereas brother in our dispensation means one who is spiritually related to us—that is, they are believers as well; it refers to a fellow Jew in the Age of Israel.

This circumstance does not necessarily mean someone with whom you are on good terms with. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you will without fail, return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its load, you will refrain from leaving it to him. You will, without fail, release [the load] with him.” (Ex. 23:4–5). Fair compassionate treatment from you toward all is expected by God. Personal property under the law is such a fundamental right that Israelites were enjoined by God to protect and preserve the property of others. When they came upon the property of another, they were to act as an conservator of sorts, doing whatever was necessary to protect the property of a fellow Jew. “And just as you want men to do to you, do to them in the same way.” (Luke 6:31). “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, you too do so for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 7:12). Our Lord says that this is a summation of the Law and the Prophets, in terms of our relationship to man. If the missing item was yours, you would want it to be return quickly to you. Therefore, you are to do the same for a fellow Israelite. In our dispensation, we are to do that toward anyone, whether friend or enemy (which does not represent a change from the Age of Israel).

When examining the Mosaic Law, we should bear in mind that, some things which Moses said did not come with a penalty; that he was merely urging one to do the right thing. This is what we find here. One might call this the original Good Samaritan Law, except that there are no penalties attached for disobeying it. Moses is simply saying that this is the right thing to do.

J. Vernon McGee: In my day we have heard a great deal about a good neighbor policy. God had a good neighbor policy for His people in that day. I remember during Franklin Roosevelt’s administration when he came out with the “good neighbor policy,” all the pundits and reporters acclaimed it as something brand new. They hailed Roosevelt as a sort of Messiah and thought he had come up with something wonderful. May I say to you that the good neighbor policy is as old as Moses—actually much older than Moses. It goes back to the very throne of God in eternity. He is the One who says we are to adopt a good neighbor policy, and it is to be demonstrated in our everyday life.

Over and over again, the Bible teaches that life is not just about us; and that we should be cognizant of the situations and circumstances of others. This does not mean that this will prevent us from being cheated or taken advantage of. That will happen from time to time. This does not mean that you make bad business decisions; but this does mean that you take others into consideration when you make a decision. Along these same lines, Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Moses here gives simply a specific instance of following these words of Jesus.

Let me also point out that much of what is found in the book of the Law are things which are good for a nation; things which are good for a people. This ought to be our thinking in dealing with others simply because it is better for our nation that we do this. This might be seen as part of the morality of divine establishment laws.

We have had a recent example of this, which should have drawn people of the United States together. It has been shown that certain groups apply for an official status received poor treatment at the hands of the IRS. These were TEA party type groups and groups which support the intent of the original founders (I write this in 2013). This is a point where liberals, despite the difference of ideology, should have stood up with these conservatives and said, “This is wrong. You cannot ask groups who they associate with, whom they vote for or what do they pray about. We would not want a conservative administration doing this to us, and a liberal administration should not use the government bureaucracy to attack you in this way.” Instead, all of the liberals I knew, first went with the official story that it was just a few rogue agents; then went with the official story that everyone got targeted like this; and then they justified what was being done (stuff they had denied previously). Rather than first consider, maybe the IRS is targeting people with the wrong political ideology; and if so, that is completely wrong.

This is but one example of many where we as a nation are further and further divided by politics, which is the opposite of what Jesus was saying; and the opposite of what Moses is saying here. Moses says here that you look after the interests of your neighbor.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                But if knowledge of your brother is not yours, if you know him not, you will bring it into your house, and it will be supported by you till the time that you have sought out your brother, and you will restore it to him.

Latin Vulgate                          And if your brother be not nigh, or you know him not: you will bring them to your house, and they will be with you until your brother seek them, and receive them.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And if [is] not near your brother, and you do not know him, and you will transport him unto a midst of your house and he is with you until a seeking of your brother [for] him; and you have returned him to him.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks after it, and you shall restore it to him again.

Septuagint (Greek)                And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, you shall bring it into your own house; and it shall be with you until your brother shall seek them, and you shall restore them to him.

Significant differences:           The targum appears to repeat the same thought twice in the two first phrases.

The 4^th phrase is somewhat different in the targum, but that seems to be the implication of the Hebrew.

The final verb ought to be restore rather than receive (as found in the English translation of the Latin).

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           If the owner doesn't live nearby, or you don't know who owns the animal, then you must take care of it. It should stay with you until your fellow Israelite comes looking for it, at which point you must return it to him.

Contemporary English V.       If the owner lives too far away, or if you don't know who the owner is, take the animal home with you and take care of it. The owner will come looking for the animal, and then you can give it back.

Easy English                          Perhaps the man does not live near you. Perhaps you do not know him. Then take the animal to your home and keep it safe. When the man comes to look for it, give it to him.

Easy-to-Read Version            If the owner does not live near you or if you don’t know who it belongs to, then you may take the cow or sheep to your house. And you may keep it with you until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must give it back to him.

Good News Bible (TEV)         But if its owner lives a long way off or if you don't know who owns it, then take it home with you. When its owner comes looking for it, give it to him.

The Message                         If your fellow Israelite is not close by or you don't know whose it is, take the animal home with you and take care of it until your fellow asks about it. Then return it to him.

New Berkeley Version           If your brother does not live in your immediate neighborhood, or if you do not know him, then you must take the ox or sheep to your own place and keep it with you until your brother looks for it; then you must restore it to him.

New Century Version             If the owner does not live close to you, or if you do not know who the owner is, take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it; then give it back.

New Life Bible                        If your brother is not home, or if you do not know who he is, then bring the animal to your house. Keep it there until your brother looks for it. Then return it to him.

New Living Translation           If its owner does not live nearby or you don't know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it.

The Voice                               If the owner lives far from you, or if you don't know whose animal it is, bring it back to your house and take care of it until the owner comes looking for it, and then return it to the Israelite.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          However, if your brother doesn't live near you and you don't know [who owns the animal]; you must take it home with you and keep it until your brother comes searching for it, then give it back to him.

Beck’s American Translation If the other Israelite doesn’t live near you and you don’t know him, take it home with you. It should stay with you until our fellow Israelite comes to claim it; then give it back to him.

Christian Community Bible     If your brother does not live near you, or you do not know to whom the animal belongs, you shall keep it in your house until its owner comes looking for it. Then you shall return it to him.

God’s Word™                         If the owner doesn't live near you or you don't know who owns it, take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back.

New American Bible (R.E.)    If this neighbor does not live near you, or you do not know who the owner may be, take it to your own house and keep it with you until your neighbor claims it; then return it.

NIRV                                      Your neighbor might not live near you. Or you might not know who he is. Then take the animal home with you. Keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back.

New Jerusalem Bible             And if he is not close at hand or you do not know who he is, you must take it home with you and keep it by you until your brother comes to look for it; you will then return it to him.

New Simplified Bible              »If you are not acquainted with your brother, or you just do not know him, then you should bring it home to your house. Keep it with you until your brother looks for it. Then you should give it to him.

Today’s NIV                          If the owner does not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      If your brother is not near to you, and you do not know him, gather it amidst you and your house to be with you until your brother requests it and return it to him.

Bible in Basic English             If their owner is not near, or if you are not certain who he is, then take the beast to your house and keep it till its owner comes in search of it, and then you are to give it back to him.

The Expanded Bible              If ·the owner [your relative/brother] does not live close to you, or if you do not know who the owner is, take the animal home with you. Keep it until ·the owner [your relative/brother] comes looking for it; then give it back.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 But if you cannot find your neighbor in your vicinity, or do not know him, then you shall preserve them in your own premises; but if it occurs afterwards that your neighbor enquires for them from you, then return them to him.

NET Bible®                             If the owner [Heb "your brother" (also later in this verse).] does not live [Heb "is not." The idea of "residing" is implied.] near you or you do not know who the owner is [Heb "and you do not know him."], then you must corral the animal [Heb "it"; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.] at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him.

New Heart English Bible        If your brother isn't near to you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.

NIV – UK                                If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           If your brother is not close by, or you don't know who the owner is, you are to bring it home to your house; and it will remain with you until your brother asks for it; then you are to give it back to him.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and if your brother is not near you

or if you know him not,

then gather it midst your own house

and it is with you until your brother seeks after it:

and restore it to him.

Kaplan Translation                 If your brother is not near you, or if you do not know who [the owner is], you must bring [the animal] home and keep it until your brother identifies it, whereupon you must return it to him.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And if thy brother be not near unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own bais, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And if your brother [the owner] is not near you or if you do not know who he is, you shall bring the animal to your house and it shall be with you until your brother comes looking for it; then you shall restore it to him.

Context Group Version          And if your brother is not near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks after it, and you shall restore it to him.

English Standard Version      And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him.

The updated Geneva Bible    And if your brother [be] not near [Showing that brotherly affection must be shown, not only to those who dwell near to us, but also to those who are far off. ] unto you, or if you know him not, then you will bring it unto your own house, and it will be with you until your brother seek after it, and you will restore it to him again.

Green’s Literal Translation    And if your brother is not near you, and you do not know him, then you shall surely bring it home to your house; and it shall be with you until your brother inquires of it; and you shall restore it to him.

NASB                                     If your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him.

New RSV                               If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it.

World English Bible                If your brother isn't near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.

Young’s Updated LT             And if your brother is not near unto you, and you have not known him, then you have removed it unto the midst of your house, and it has been with you till your brother seek it, and you have given it back to him.

The gist of this verse:          If you do not know to whom the beast belongs, or that person lives too far away, then you bring it back to your own home and take care of it. When the owner looks for it, then you return it to the owner.

Translation: But if your brother [is] not nearby... In the example that Moses gives, there is the problem that your brother is not anywhere nearby. You cannot run up the block, find your brother (i.e., your fellow citizen), and tell him that you have found his sheep (or ox or whatever).

This is a pretty open-ended problem. Your brother, the owner of the sheep, is nowhere nearby. Maybe he is out of town, off the grid; or maybe you do not know exactly where he lives.

Application: You have come across something which clearly belongs to someone else. That person is not right there to return it to.

Translation: ...and you do not know where he is [lit., you do not know him],... In the English, our disjunction or can mean an inclusive or an exclusive disjunction. In an inclusive disjunction, A or B means A could be true, B could be true or A and B could be true. If only A is true or B is true, it is called an exclusive disjunction. The common conjunction of Hebrew here appears to function here as an exclusive disjunction—that is, you either know who the animal belongs to and they do not live anywhere near you, or you have no clue as to who the animal belongs to.

Likely, the intent here is, you have come across something that is not yours, but clearly belongs to someone else, but maybe you do not know who that person is. Or, and this is by way of application, you know who is belongs to, but they are nowhere around.

Not knowing the person or knowing where he lives does not change the response in this situation. The animal belongs to him; minor difficulties in locating the owner do not change that.

Translation: ...then you will transport it [the wandering animal] to the midst of your house... The verb here is ʾâçaph (אָסַף) [pronounced aw-SAHF], and this word means to gather, remove, got. This word appears to be used when things which were in one place have now been moved to another. Therefore, we could also use the words transfer, relocate, transport. Strong's #622 BDB #62.

The animal which you have found cannot be left to just wander. You are told here to take this thing home. That thing which belongs to someone else is now under your care and safekeeping until you can run down the rightful owner to return it.

Taking this animal to the midst of your house does not mean that you determine the exact middle of your home and place the animal there. The idea is, this animal is now under your care, so you must see to its needs and comfort. You feed it and give it water. The midst thing just indicates that you just don’t haul it home and put it in a pen or whatever; you take care of it until the owner is located.

The whole idea is, you treat this animal as if it is yours—although the midst of the house phrase suggests that you might treat this animal even a bit better. And you do for the animal as you would like a neighbor to do for your wandering animal. As Jesus said: Therefore, all things, whatever you desire that men should do to you, so also you should do to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 7:12; Green’s Literal translation).

Translation: ...and it will be with you until your brother seeks [for] it;... If you do not know exactly who the sheep or ox belongs to, you will hold onto it and take care of it; until you see some neighbor post a “Sheep Missing; contact Charley Brown” poster on the nearest telephone pole with his cellphone number.

Here is also a place where you use your head. Let’s say this is someone you know, but they live too far away for you to bring the animal to them. Well, you do not have to wait until they advertise or make it known that they have lost the animal; if you know where the animal should go, then you make arrangements to get the animal to them as quickly as possible. The option spoken of here applies to the owner whom you do not know.

Moses is following up on the possibility that you do not know who the owner is. Again, this might be a cellphone, a checkbook, a misdelivered letter, or whatever. You do what is necessary to figure out who the owner is. If you cannot figure that out, then you wait until you hear about someone looking for that lost item.

I found a cellphone on a golf course once. Having no idea how to determine who the phone belonged to, I simply dialed the last number on the phone and asked them if they knew whose phone was calling them. The owner was located and his wife picked up the phone within an hour.

Quite obviously, you do not use a cellphone which you found to call everyone that you know in Brazil or the Philippines.

Translation: ...then you will return it to him. When you have figured out to whom the missing item belongs, you then return it to them. You don’t ask for a reward; and you do not hint for a reward. There are a few rare instances where a reward is appropriate, but that ought to be initiated only by the person with the lost item. If you return a wallet stuffed with hundred dollar bills, it is up to the owner whether to give you a reward or not—and if they don’t, then you don’t worry about it. It was not yours; it belongs to someone else; and that is the long and short of it.

Here you find the roaming animal; you cannot just allow it to roam because you do not recognize who it belongs to or you know, but they live a tremendous distance away. You must take the animal in as if it were your own and care for it. It does not matter if you know the owner or not. There are certainly minor issues to deal with. If the animal has come from a distance, it would make sense to return the animal whether or not the owner contacted you in particular. Although Moses does not go into any great detail, there is no implication that it is your if the owner does not look for it but you know who the owner is. However, in the case where you do not know the owner, then you don’t have much choice but to wait until someone announces that they are missing one of their animals.

Application: The Bible is very big on personal property. Here, you have come across property which belongs to someone else and you are told by Moses to return that property to its rightful owner. The final commandment says, “You will not covet.” That is, you do not nurture a desire for this or that which your neighbor owns. In your life, more than half the people that you meet have a nicer home, nicer car, nicer boat, larger bank account, a better entertainment system, etc. than you have. That is theirs. You have no rights to it. It is not up to you to try to even things out through some wealth distribution scheme. That is anti-Biblical and anti-establishment.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                So will you do with his ass, with his garment, and with any lost thing of your brother’s. If you find, it is not lawful for you to hide it from him; you will cry it, and restore it.

Jerusalem targum                  And so shalt thou do with his ass, and with his robe.

Latin Vulgate                          You will do in like manner with his ass, and with his raiment, and with every thing that is your brother’s, which is lost: if you find it, neglect it not as pertaining to another.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so you will do to his ass and so you will do to his garment and so you will do to any lost thing of your brother which is lost from him and you have found her. You will not be able to hide yourself.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    In like manner shall you do with his ox and with his ass, and so with his garment; and so shall you do with anything which your brother has lost, and you have found; it is unlawful for you to delay in restoring it.

Septuagint (Greek)                Thus shall you do to his donkey, and thus shall you do to his garment, and thus shall you do to everything that your brother has lost; whatsoever things have been lost by him, and you have found, you shall not have power to overlook.

Significant differences:           The Jerusalem targum is considerably shorter and the Targum of Onkelos has an additional two phrases (common for targums). The Syriac appears to add a few extra words.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Do the same thing in the case of a donkey. Do the same thing in the case of a piece of clothing. Do the same thing in the case of anything that your fellow Israelite loses and you end up finding. You are not allowed to sit back and do nothing about it.

Contemporary English V.       That's what you should do if you find anything that belongs to someone else. Do whatever you can to help, whether you find a cow or sheep or donkey or some clothing.

Easy English                          You must do the same thing if you find a *donkey or some clothes or anything else. Do not look away from it.

Easy-to-Read Version            You must do the same thing when you find your neighbor’s donkey, your neighbor’s clothes or anything else your neighbor loses. You must help your neighbor.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Do the same thing if you find a donkey, a piece of clothing, or anything else that an Israelite may have lost.

The Message                         Do the same if it's his donkey or a piece of clothing or anything else your fellow Israelite loses. Don't look the other way as if you didn't see it.

New Life Bible                        Do the same with his donkey, or his coat, or anything lost by your brother. If you find what he has lost, you must help him.

New Living Translation           Do the same if you find your neighbor's donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don't ignore your responsibility.

The Voice                               Do the same thing with a donkey or a garment or anything else a neighbor might lose. If you find it, don't ignore it; take care of it until the owner comes looking for it.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          That's what you must do for his burro, his clothing, or anything else that your brother has lost. don't overlook anything!

Beck’s American Translation Do the same with his donkey, his clothes, or any article that he loses and you find—you must not refuse to help.

Christian Community Bible     Do the same with his ass, his clothes, or with anything lost by your brother that you happen to find. Do not pretend not to notice them.

God’s Word™                         Do the same if you find a donkey, some clothes, or anything else that another Israelite may have lost. Don't pretend that you don't know what to do.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       And so with an ass or with a garment or any other lost thing that belongs to thy fellow-Israelite; do not leave them where thou findest them, as if it did not concern thee.

New American Bible              You shall do the same with his ass, or his garment, or anything else which your kinsman loses and you happen to find; you may not be unconcerned about them.

NIRV                                      Do the same thing if you find his donkey, coat or anything he loses. Don't act as if you didn't see it.

New Jerusalem Bible             'You must do the same with his donkey, the same with his cloak, the same with anything that your brother loses and that you find; you must not disregard it.

Today’s NIV                          Do the same if you find someone's donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      So do with his ass, and so do with his raiment. So do with any-thing lost by your brother which vanished from him. You find and you do: you can not evade it.

Bible in Basic English             Do the same with his ass or his robe or anything which has gone from your brother's keeping and which you have come across: do not keep it to yourself.

The Expanded Bible              Do the same thing if you find a donkey or ·coat [cloak; garment] or anything someone lost. Don't just ignore it.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 You shall also do the same with his ass, and the same to his clothing, and the same with everything lost by your neighbor, —which he has lost and you have found. You shall not use them secretly.

NET Bible®                             You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor [Heb "your brother" (also in v. 4).] has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved [Heb "you must not hide yourself."].

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           You are to do the same with his donkey, his coat or anything else of your brother's that he loses. If you find something he lost, you must not ignore it.

exeGeses companion Bible   Thus you work with his he burro;

and thus you work with his clothes;

and with all that is lost of your brother

which he lost and you found, work likewise:

you cannot conceal yourself.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               You shall do the same with his ass; you shall do the same with his garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent.

Kaplan Translation                 You must do the same to a donkey, an article of clothing, or anything else that your brother loses and you find. You must not ignore it.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           In like manner shalt thou do with his chamor; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost things of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise; thou mayest not ignore it.

The Scriptures 1998              “And so you do with his donkey, and so you do with his garment, and so you do with whatever your brother loses, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to hide yourself.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And so shall you do with his donkey or his garment or with anything which your brother has lost and you have found. You shall not hide from [your duty concerning] them.

Concordant Literal Version    So shall you do with his donkey, so shall you do with his garment, and so shall you do with every loss of your brother which is being lost by him, when you find it. You shall not be able to obscure yourself.

English Standard Version      And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother's, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it.

The updated Geneva Bible    In like manner will you do with his ass; and so will you do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of your brothers, which he has lost, and you have found, will you do likewise: you may not hide thyself. You are bound to do much more for your neighbour.

NASB                                     Thus you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countryman, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to neglect [Lit hide yourself] them.

New RSV                               You shall do the same with a neighbour's donkey; you shall do the same with a neighbour's garment; and you shall do the same with anything else that your neighbour loses and you find. You may not withhold your help.

Webster’s Bible Translation  In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost things of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.

Young’s Updated LT             And so you will to his ass, and so you will to his garment, and so you will to any lost thing of your brother’s, which is lost by him, and you have found it; you are not able to hide yourself.

The gist of this verse:          The same thing is true of any lost item by a neighbor. You are not allowed to simply ignore it.

Translation: And you will do the same thing for his ass,... I have taken a few liberties with the translation here, but will give the more literal rendering a few sections down.

As I applied earlier, this is not limited to only the things which Moses mentioned earlier. Moses now makes this point himself. This applies to anything that your brother (fellow Israelite) has lost or misplaced.

Translation: ...his outer garment... All things which belong to your neighbor continue to belong to him. The Bible teaches just the exact opposite of finders keepers.

In many ways, this is a further application of the tenth commandment, you will not covet anything which is your neighbor’s. Whatever you happen to find—even if you really, really like it—belongs to the original owner.

Translation: ...or any missing item which your brother has lost,... Moses makes certain that his audience understands that he is speaking of anything which belongs to your neighbor. Although we began with some specific examples, Moses is making it clear that return of property is not limited to those particular items.

It does not matter if you are close to your neighbor, if you like them, dislike them; or don’t know them—what is theirs is theirs.

To state this another way, private property is important in Scripture. We are given the privilege of ownership throughout our lives.

Translation: ...but you have found [lit., And so you will do to his ass and so you will do to his garment and so you will do to any lost thing of your brother which is lost from him and you have found her]. Her refers to the item which you have found—whatever it happens to be.

Translation: You are not allowed [lit., not able] to neglect [any of these things]. When you see anything which apparently has been lost to a neighbor, for whatever reason, it is your duty to restore that to your neighbor (brother is how he is spoken of here).

The phrase you are not able to hid yourself is equivalent to our you will not look the other way. You cannot ignore this and you cannot choose to not become involved. Because you and the personal property have run into one another, you are automatically involved. You do not have a choice. That property becomes your responsibility.

The addition of this verse means that we are talking more than just humane treatment of animals. With only vv. 1–3a, a case could be made that the animal is cared for and returned out of compassion for the animal. The Bible does not teach cruelty to animals. However, the point here is the ownership of the animal, not just the welfare of the beast. Certainly, the animal is to be treated well, but it is also to be returned.

The philosophy of animal rights activists is a logical outgrowth of evolutionary thinking. If we are here by chance accident, man descending eventually from non-organic molecules, with animals being branches of our evolution, then logically we are no better than flies, fleas or monkeys. We have no more value than they. We are simply what we are by random chance; and the same is true for them.

However, the animal rights activists cannot go to God’s Word for support. For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You will not muzzle to ox while he is threshing.” God is not concerned about oxen is He? [No, that is not the point].” (1Cor. 9:9 Deut. 25:4). Early on in man’s history, immediately after the flood, the eating of animals was allowed. We have even seen distinctions made between which animals could be eaten and which could not in the book of Numbers. So, the overriding principle here is personal property, not the care of animals.

Application: We all have more than just a right to own property. Even when our property wanders off, we misplace it, etc., it still belongs to us. Similarly, when you see such items of value which obviously belong to someone else, that is their property. Just because they misplaced it, does not make it any less theirs. And the Israelites were more than required to not steal it—they were required to see that it gets back to its rightful owner.

Application: A sign of the breakdown of society (with regards to the laws of divine establishment) is no longer recognizing private property. Thieves on the street take whatever they like; and thieves in government take as much money as they can, and call you greedy if you think you should hold onto some of it.

In general, you look out for the welfare of those around you. That was in part what the story about the good Samaritan was all about (Luke 10:30–36). You do this in an intelligent way—in the United States, when someone is in trouble, usually several people will stop to give aid. Of course, you allow the person with the proper skills to deliver the proper aid. You may stop for a woman who has a flat tire, but if you have never changed a tire before, then you might use the flashing lights on your parked car to give her cover while someone else actually changes the tire.

In this passage, Moses lays out a specific scenario, but we are to be intelligent to give it a wider application; and to obviously update it to our own time and place. We simply take the principles found here—respect for private property, honesty, concern for other people, treating their property even better than we treat out own—and then use those principles to guide us.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                You will not see your brother’s ass nor his ox thrown on the way, and turn your eyes from them; you will verily lift it up for him.

Jerusalem targum                  You will forgive what may be in your heart against him, you will deliver and lead it.

Latin Vulgate                          If you see your brother’s ass or his ox to be fallen down in the way, you will not slight it, but will lift it up with him.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        You will not see an ass of your brother or his ox fallen in the way and you have hidden yourself from them; but raising up, you will raise with him.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    You shall not see your enemy’s ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and turn away your eyes from them; but you shall surely help him to lift them up again.

Septuagint (Greek)                You shall not see the donkey of your brother, or his calf, fallen in the way; you shall not overlook them, you shall surely help him to raise them up.

Significant differences:           The Jerusalem targum has a completely different thought. The Syriac has the word enemy rather than brother.

The Onkelos targum has a different phrase than to hide yourself from them; but that phrase is probably the idiomatic meaning. We find the same approach in the Syriac and in the Latin.

The Greek and the Latin carry the negative to the third verb, which is reasonable.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Don't just watch your fellow Israelite's donkey or ox fall down in the road and do nothing about it. You must help your fellow Israelite get the animal up again.

Contemporary English V.       Oxen and donkeys that carry heavy loads can stumble and fall, and be unable to get up by themselves. So as you walk along the road, help anyone who is trying to get an ox or donkey back on its feet.

Easy English                          Perhaps you see your brother's animal. It has fallen on the road. Do not look away from it. You must help your brother to lift it up.

Good News Bible (TEV)         "If an Israelite's donkey or cow has fallen down, don't ignore it; help him get the animal to its feet again.

The Message                         If you see your fellow's donkey or ox injured along the road, don't look the other way. Help him get it up and on its way.

New Berkeley Version           You shall not see you’re your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen by the roadside and be unconcerned about it; you will certainly help him lift it up. Injunction to be a good neighbor; we are our brothers’ keepers.

New Century Version             If you see your fellow Israelite's donkey or ox fallen on the road, don't ignore it. Help the owner get it up.

New Life Bible                        If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the road, do not pretend that you do not see them. Be sure to help him lift them up again.

New Living Translation           "If you see that your neighbor's donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!

The Voice                               If you see your neighbor's donkey or ox has fallen down in the roadway, don't ignore it. Help that person get the animal back on its feet.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          And if you see your brother's burro or ox fallen on the road, don't pass it by; be sure to help him get it back on its feet.

Beck’s American Translation “If you see another Israelite’s donkey or ox lying on the road, don’t go away without helping. Be sure to help him lift it up.”

Christian Community Bible     If you see the ass of your brother or his ox fall down by the way, do not pretend not to notice it, but help your brother lift the animal up.

God’s Word™                         If you see another Israelite's donkey or ox lying on the road, don't pretend that you don't see it. Make sure you help him get it back on its feet.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       If his ox or his ass falls down by the wayside, do not hurry past; help him to lift it up again.

New American Bible              You shall not see your kinsman's ass or ox foundering on the road without showing concern about it; see to it that you help him lift it u.

New American Bible (R.E.)    You shall not see your neighbor's donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you must help in lifting it up.

NIRV                                      Suppose you see your neighbor's donkey or ox that has fallen down on the road. Then don't act as if you didn't see it. Help him get it up on its feet again.

New Jerusalem Bible             'If you see your brother's donkey or ox fall over on the road, you must not disregard it, but must help your brother get it on its feet again.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Never evade seeing your brother's ass or his bull fallen by the way. ||Raise|| it!

Bible in Basic English             If you see your brother's ox or his ass falling down on the road, do not go by without giving him help in lifting it up again.

The Expanded Bible              If you see your ·fellow Israelite's [relative's; brother's] donkey or ox fallen on the road, don't ignore it. Help the owner get it up.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 You shall not see the ass or the ox of your neighbor that has fallen on the road, and hide yourself from them. Going to the spot, you shall lift them up for him.

NET Bible®                             When you see [Heb "you must not see." See note at 22:1.] your neighbor's donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it [Heb "and (must not) hide yourself from them."]; instead, you must be sure [The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with "be sure."] to help him get the animal on its feet again [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.].

NIV, ©2011                             If you see your fellow Israelite's donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           "If you see your brother's donkey or ox collapsed on the road, you may not behave as if you hadn't seen it; you must help him get them up on their feet again.

exeGeses companion Bible   See not the he burro of your brother

and his ox fall by the way

and conceal yourself from them:

in raising, raise them.

Judaica Press Complete T.    You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen under its load on the road, and ignore them. Rather, you shall pick up the load with him.

Kaplan Translation                 The Fallen Animal

If you see your brother's donkey or ox fallen [under its load] on the road, you must not ignore it. You must help him pick up [the load].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Thou shalt not see thy brother's chamor or his shor fall down by the road, and ignore them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down by the way, and hide from [your duty concerning] them; you shall surely help him to lift them up again.

Concordant Literal Version    You shall not see your brother's donkey or his bull or any domestic beast of his fallen on the road and obscure yourself from them. You shall raise, yea raise them with him.

NASB                                     You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down on the way, and pay no attention to them [Lit hide yourself from them]; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.

New RSV                               You shall not see your neighbour's donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you shall help to lift it up.

World English Bible                You shall not see your brother's ass or his ox fallen down in the highway, and hide yourself from them. Lifting you shall help him lift it up.

Young’s Updated LT             “You will not see the ass of your brother, or his ox, falling in the way, and have hid yourself from them; you will certainly raise them up with him.

The gist of this verse:          If a neighbor’s beast of burden tups over, or dumps its load, you are to help him take care of the matter.

Translation: [If] you see your brother’s ass or his ox falling along the way,... I’ve added the hypothetical here, and moved the negative to the next phrase, to adhere more closely to the English. This seems to be a related thought to what the previous 3 verses were, but not exactly the same thing. This time, you see one of the animals of a fellow Israelite falling into a ditch of some sort. Or they are carrying a load, and they fall over or get into a ditch. The animals spoken of here are beasts of burden (that is, they are utilized by man to do certain work tasks).

Translation: ...do not neglect them,... I moved the negative for the first phrase to this phrase, which is accurate in the English, but not an exact translation by any means.

Moses says here that you cannot neglect these animals.

Again, think in terms of principle. It is highly unlikely that, in year 2013, you will see an ox or a donkey which has fallen along the way. It is more likely that you come across someone along the road who has lost items out of his truck or off of his trailer; or someone’s shopping cart gets in a rut or has turned on its side.

The principle is, these things belong to your neighbor; they are valuable to your neighbor; and therefore, you treat them with value as well, as if they are yours—but they continue to belong to your neighbor.

The Jews took many of these laws and recommendations and became very specific about them, and added ideas like, “If this happens, then this is the exact action you should take.” However, the idea is, we take the principles that we pick up in these first four verses and apply them in general.

Translation:...[but] you will definitely raise [them] up with him. The doubling of the verb here, as we saw before, indicates that this is something that you will certainly do.

Here is an animal which has fallen, perhaps under a heavy load, or a rut in the road or a combination of the two. This is going to require some work to right the animal. You cannot walk by your brother in these circumstances and ignore the situation. Even if this is your enemy, you cannot ignore the situation. Recall Ex. 23:5: “If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its load, you will refrain from leaving it to him. You will, without fail, release [the load] with him.” God required the Israelite to assist any fellow Israelite.

The Judaica Press Complete Tanach may give a better sense of this verse: You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen under its load on the road, and ignore them. Rather, you shall pick up the load with him. The animals just don’t tup over. However, these are beasts of burden, often carrying a load upon them. They may shift and the load may fall; or they may step on something uneven in the road and possibly fall themselves. So it is not just the animal that the good Samaritan is righting, but the load the beast is carrying as well. Interestingly enough, this is the only translation which seemed to put this spin on the meaning, which seems correct.

There are many instances when our help should be given to others, as well. We find people stranded, with flat tires or dead batteries. This does not mean to be foolish and risk your life; but it means you are to lend a helping hand. This is the gift of some believers and God gives them many opportunities to assist others. You may be in some sort of a service organization or in a bureaucracy, and there are those who are frustrated and come to you for help—you can give them the response, I’m sorry, but that is just our policy and there is nothing I can do to help you; or you can help them (when it is possible and when it does not violate mandates from above). The applications here are endless. There is more help needed in this world than there are hours in a day. However, by application, this is part of our life as a believer in Jesus Christ.

From here to the remainder of this chapter, the information given is almost more illustrative of the principles of vv. 1–4 than a separate set of regulations. The building codes, the strict punishment for adultery and rape, all deal with the Israelite’s treatment of his fellow countryman. God’s Laws illustrate our responsibility toward our fellow believers and fellow countrymen.

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Cross-dressing

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Dead Sea Scrolls                   A woman sh[all] not wear [a man’s clothing], nor shall a man pu[t on] a woman’s garment [4QDeut. And 4QpaleoDeut MT SP have alternate forms of this word], for whoever [does these things] is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Targum of Onkelos                Neither fringed robes nor tephillin which are the ornaments of a man shall be upon a woman; neither shall a man shave himself so as to appear like a woman; for every one who does so is an abomination before the Lord thy God.

Latin Vulgate                          A woman shall not be clothed with man's apparel, neither shall a man use woman's apparel: for he that does these things is abominable before God.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        Is not a manufactured item of a man upon a woman; and will not put on a man a garment of a woman; for an abomination of Y^ehowah your Elohim all doers of these things.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    A woman shall not wear any garment that pertains to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garments; for whosoever does these things is an abomination in the sight of the LORD your God.

Septuagint (Greek)                The clothing of a man shall not be on a woman, neither shall a man put on a woman's dress; for everyone that does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Significant differences:           The Hebrew is rather clunky when given a direct word-for-word translation into the English; so what we find in the English as a translation from the Latin, Greek and Syriac is a smoother version. The targum of Onkelos specifies some male things, which this passage does not specify (the targums did a fair amount of interpretation).

The targum also has a phrase about shaving which is quite different from the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       Women must not pretend to be men, and men must not pretend to be women [Or " wear men’s clothing. . . wear women’s clothing."]. The LORD your God is disgusted with people who do that.

Easy English                          A woman must not wear the clothes of a man. A man must not wear the clothes of a woman. For the *Lord your God hates people who do this.

Easy-to-Read Version            “A woman must not wear men’s clothes. And a man must not wear women’s clothes. That is very disgusting to the Lord your God.

New Berkeley Version           “A woman shall not wear men’s clothing nor shall a man put on a woman’s dress; for anyone doing such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God. This prohibition had religious significance, since pagan practices involved such exchanges.

The Voice                               A woman must not wear men's clothing, and men must not put on women's garments. The Eternal your God is horrified when anyone does this.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          'A woman should never wear men's clothing, nor should a man wear women's clothing. For, through the ages, such a thing has been considered disgusting by Jehovah your God.

Beck’s American Translation Men’s and Women’s Clothes

“A woman shouldn’t wear a man’s things, and a man shouldn’t wear a woman’s clothes, because the LORD your God is disgusted with anyone who does these things.”

Christian Community Bible     A woman must not wear a man’s clothing, nor a man the clothing of a woman, because whoever does such a thing deserves the reprobation of Yahweh.

God’s Word™                         A woman must never wear anything men would wear, and a man must never wear women's clothes. Whoever does this is disgusting to the LORD your God.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       A woman must not wear man's clothes, or a man go clad like a woman; all such doings are hateful to God.

New American Bible              "A woman shall not wear an article proper to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's dress; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, your God.

New American Bible (R.E.)    Various Precepts.

A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, your God. Deut. 7:25-26.

NIRV                                      A woman must not wear men's clothes. And a man must not wear women's clothes. The Lord your God hates it when anyone does that.

New Simplified Bible              »A woman must not wear man's clothing or a man women’s clothing. The person who does these things is an abomination to Jehovah your God.

Revised English Bible            No woman may wear an article of man’s clothing—nor may a man put on woman’s dress; for those who do these things are abominable to the Lord your God.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      A fellow's articles are never over a woman, and no fellow clothes in a woman's raiment, for all that do these are- an abomination to Yahweh your God.

Bible in Basic English             It is not right for a woman to be dressed in man's clothing, or for a man to put on a woman's robe: whoever does such things is disgusting to the Lord your God.

The Expanded Bible              A woman must not wear men's ·clothes [apparel; items], and a man must not wear women's clothes. The Lord your God ·hates [detests] anyone who does that.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 A woman shall not wear a man’s dress; and a man shall not dress like a woman, for your Ever-living God abhors all who do thus.

NET Bible®                             A woman must not wear men's clothing [Heb "a man's clothing."], nor should a man dress up in women's clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive [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.] to the Lord your God.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           "A woman is not to wear men's clothing, and a man is not to put on women's clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI your God.

exeGeses companion Bible   Neither bear the instruments of the mighty

upon a woman,

nor the mighty enrobe that of the woman:

for all who work thus

are abhorrence to Yah Veh your Elohim.

Kaplan Translation                 Transvestism

No male article [Clothing (Septuagint). But this also includes weapons (Nazir 59a), and, according to some, tefillin and tzitzith (Targum Yonathan; cf. Eruvin 96a; Orach Chaim 38:3 in Hagah).] shall be on a woman, and a man shall not wear a woman's garment. Whoever does such practices is revolting to God your Lord.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           The isha shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a gever (man) neither shall a gever put on simlat isha (garment of a woman); for all that do so are to'avat unto Hashem Eloheicha.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    A master's apparel shall neither come to be on a woman, nor shall a master put on a woman's garment, for anyone doing these things is an abhorrence to Yahweh your Elohim.

English Standard Version      "A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.

The updated Geneva Bible    The woman will not wear that which pertains unto a man, neither will a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so [are] abomination unto the LORD your God. For that alters the order of nature, and shows that you despise God.

Green’s Literal Translation    There shall not be the thing of a man on a woman, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment. For whoever does these things is an abomination to Jehovah your God.

NASB                                     "A woman shall not wear man's clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Syndein/Thieme                     The woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment. For all that do so are abomination unto Jehovah/God your Elohiym/Godhead.

World English Bible                A woman shall not wear men's clothing, neither shall a man put on women's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

Young’s Updated LT             “The clothes of a man are not on a woman, nor does a man put on the garment of a woman, for the abomination of Jehovah your God is any one doing these.

The gist of this verse:          Men and women are to remain within their gender boundaries and wearing clothing which is appropriate to their gender.

Translation: An item manufactured for a man is not [to be put] upon a woman;... Articles here is a word that we have studied before: k^elîy (כְּלִי) [pronounced k^elee], and it is an all-purpose word standing for anything which has been finished, made or produced. It could be translated an article, utensil, vessel, object, stuff, load, baggage, implement, apparatus, weapon, furniture, receptacle. It essentially refers to anything which has been manufactured. In this context, it refers to clothing and probably jewelry and accessories; and possibly even to weapons of war. Strong's #3627 BDB #479. In that day and time, the tunics worn by the men and women were almost identical, except that the women’s tunic was longer. This was enough of a difference. However, when a man went to war, he carried a whole host of items which a woman would never carry.

The limitations here are easy to understand and the principle continues even until today. There are things manufactured for men specifically. According to Moses, these items of clothing and accessories are designed specifically for men. These things are therefore not suitable for women.

Styles and fashions change, but this general principle continues to stand. Whatever culture there is, there are things specifically designed for men to wear; and the Bible says that these are to remain with men.