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Deuteronomy 22
New English Translation

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

22 When you see[a] your neighbor’s[b] ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it;[c] you must return it without fail[d] to your neighbor. 2 If the owner[e] does not live near[f] you or you do not know who the owner is,[g] then you must corral the animal[h] at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor[i] has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved.[j] 4 When you see[k] your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it;[l] instead, you must be sure[m] to help him get the animal on its feet again.[n]

5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing,[o] nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive[p] to the Lord your God.

6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them,[q] you must not take the mother from the young.[r] 7 You must be sure[s] to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guardrail[t] around your roof to avoid being culpable[u] in the event someone should fall from it.

Illustrations of the Principle of Purity

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

Purity in the Marriage Relationship

13 Suppose a man marries a woman, sleeps with her,[y] and then rejects[z] her, 14 accusing her of impropriety[aa] and defaming her reputation[ab] by saying, “I married this woman but when I approached her for marital relations[ac] I discovered she was not a virgin!” 15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity[ad] for the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected[ae] her. 17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out[af] before the city’s elders. 18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish[ag] him. 19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation[ah] ruined the reputation[ai] of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing[aj] in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge[ak] the evil from among you.

22 If a man is discovered in bed with[al] a married woman,[am] both the man lying in bed with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge[an] the evil from Israel.

23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets[ao] her in the city and goes to bed with[ap] her, 24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated[aq] his neighbor’s fiancée;[ar] in this way you will purge[as] evil from among you. 25 But if the man came across[at] the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped[au] her, then only the rapist[av] must die. 26 You must not do anything to the young woman—she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person[aw] and murders him, 27 for the man[ax] met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.

28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and takes hold of her[ay] and sleeps with[az] her and they are discovered. 29 The man who has slept with her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife. Because he has humiliated her, he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

30 (23:1)[ba] A man may not marry[bb] his father’s former[bc] wife and in this way dishonor his father.[bd]

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:1 tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.
  2. Deuteronomy 22:1 tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”
  3. Deuteronomy 22:1 tn Heb “hide yourself.”
  4. Deuteronomy 22:1 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”
  5. Deuteronomy 22:2 tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).
  6. Deuteronomy 22:2 tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.
  7. Deuteronomy 22:2 tn Heb “and you do not know him.”
  8. Deuteronomy 22:2 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Deuteronomy 22:3 tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).
  10. Deuteronomy 22:3 tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”
  11. Deuteronomy 22:4 tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.
  12. Deuteronomy 22:4 tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”
  13. Deuteronomy 22:4 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”
  14. Deuteronomy 22:4 tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.
  15. Deuteronomy 22:5 tn Heb “a man’s clothing.”
  16. Deuteronomy 22:5 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (toʿevah, “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.
  17. Deuteronomy 22:6 tn Heb “and the mother sitting upon the chicks or the eggs.”
  18. Deuteronomy 22:6 tn Heb “sons,” used here in a generic sense for offspring.
  19. Deuteronomy 22:7 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
  20. Deuteronomy 22:8 tn Or “a parapet” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “a battlement”; NLT “a barrier.”
  21. Deuteronomy 22:8 tn Heb “that you not place bloodshed in your house.”
  22. Deuteronomy 22:9 tn Heb “set apart.” The verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) in the Qal verbal stem (as here) has the idea of being holy or being treated with special care. Some take the meaning as “be off-limits, forfeited,” i.e., the total produce of the vineyard, both crops and grapes, have to be forfeited to the sanctuary (cf. Exod 29:37; 30:29; Lev 6:18, 27; Num 16:37-38; Hag 2:12).
  23. Deuteronomy 22:11 tn The Hebrew term שַׁעַטְנֵז (shaʿatnez) occurs only here and in Lev 19:19. HALOT 1610-11 s.v. takes it to be a contraction of words (שַׁשׁ [shash, “headdress”] and עַטְנַז [ʿatnaz, “strong”]). BDB 1043 s.v. שַׁעַטְנֵז offers the translation “mixed stuff” (cf. NEB “woven with two kinds of yarn”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “woven together”). The general meaning is clear even if the etymology is not.
  24. Deuteronomy 22:12 tn Heb “twisted threads” (גְּדִלִים, gedilim) appears to be synonymous with צִיצִת (tsitsit) which, in Num 15:38, occurs in a passage instructing Israel to remember the covenant. Perhaps that is the purpose of the tassels here as well. Cf. KJV, ASV “fringes”; NAB “twisted cords.”
  25. Deuteronomy 22:13 tn Heb “goes to her,” a Hebrew euphemistic idiom for sexual relations. See note at Deut 21:13.
  26. Deuteronomy 22:13 tn Heb “hate.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15. Cf. NAB “comes to dislike”; NASB “turns against”; TEV “decides he doesn’t want.”
  27. Deuteronomy 22:14 tn Heb “deeds of things”; NRSV “makes up charges against her”; NIV “slanders her.”
  28. Deuteronomy 22:14 tn Heb “brings against her a bad name”; NIV “gives her a bad name.”
  29. Deuteronomy 22:14 tn The expression קָרַב אֶל (qarav ʾel) means “draw near to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for the intended purpose of sexual relations.
  30. Deuteronomy 22:15 sn In light of v. 17 this would evidently be blood-stained sheets indicative of the first instance of intercourse. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 302-3.
  31. Deuteronomy 22:16 tn Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
  32. Deuteronomy 22:17 tn Heb “they will spread the garment.”
  33. Deuteronomy 22:18 tn Heb “discipline.”
  34. Deuteronomy 22:19 tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.
  35. Deuteronomy 22:19 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
  36. Deuteronomy 22:21 tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nevalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”
  37. Deuteronomy 22:21 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.
  38. Deuteronomy 22:22 tn Heb “lying down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” can be a euphemism for going to bed for sexual relations.
  39. Deuteronomy 22:22 tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”
  40. Deuteronomy 22:22 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
  41. Deuteronomy 22:23 tn Heb “finds.”
  42. Deuteronomy 22:23 tn Heb “lies down with,” a euphemism for going to bed for sexual relations.
  43. Deuteronomy 22:24 tn Heb “humbled.”
  44. Deuteronomy 22:24 tn Heb “wife.”
  45. Deuteronomy 22:24 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
  46. Deuteronomy 22:25 tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.
  47. Deuteronomy 22:25 tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.
  48. Deuteronomy 22:25 tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”
  49. Deuteronomy 22:26 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
  50. Deuteronomy 22:27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who attacked the woman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  51. Deuteronomy 22:28 tn The verb תָּפַשׂ (taphas) means “to sieze, grab.” In all other examples this action is done against another person’s will, as in being captured, arrested, attacked, or grabbed with insistence (e.g. 1 Sam 23:26; 1 Kgs 13:4; 18:40; 2 Kgs 14:13; 25:6; Isa 3:6; Jer 26:8; 34:3; 37:13; 52:9; Ps 71:11; 2 Chr 25:23.) So it may be that the man is forcing himself on her, which is what leads the NIV to translate the next verb as “rape,” although it is a neutral euphemism for sexual relations. However, this is the only case where the object of תָּפַשׂ is a woman and the verb also also refers to holding or handling objects such as musical instruments, weapons, or scrolls. So it possible that it has a specialized, but otherwise unattested nuance regarding sexual or romantic relations, as is true of other expressions. Several contextual clues point away from rape and toward a consensual relationship. (1) The verb which seems to express force is different from the verb of force in the rape case in v. 25. (2) The context distinguishes consequences based on whether the girl cried out, an expression of protest and a basis for distinguishing consent or force. But this case law does not mention her outcry which would have clarified a forcible act. While part of what is unique in this case is that the girl is not engaged, it is reasonable to expect the issue of consent to continue to apply. (3) The penalty is less than that of a man who slanders his new wife and certainly less than the sentence for rape. (4) The expression “and they are discovered” at the end of v. 28 uses the same wording as the expression in v. 22 which involves a consensual act. (5) Although from a separate context, the account of the rape of Dinah seems to express the Pentateuch’s negative attitude toward forcible rape, not in advocating for Simeon and Levi’s actions, but in the condemnation included in the line Gen 34:7 “because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.” This is very like the indictment in v. 21 against the consenting woman, “because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.” (6) The penalty of not being allowed to divorce her sounds like v. 19, where the man is punished for disgracing his wife unfairly. His attempted divorce fails and he must provide for her thereafter (the probable point of not being allowed to divorce her.) Here too, if his holding her is not forced, but instead he has seduced her, he is not allowed to claim that his new wife is not pure (since he is the culprit) and so he must take responsibility for her, cannot divorce her, and must provide for her as a husband thereafter.
  52. Deuteronomy 22:28 tn Heb “lies with.”
  53. Deuteronomy 22:30 sn Beginning with 22:30, the verse numbers through 23:25 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:30 ET = 23:1 HT, 23:1 ET = 23:2 HT, 23:2 ET = 23:3 HT, etc., through 23:25 ET = 23:26 HT. With 24:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
  54. Deuteronomy 22:30 tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
  55. Deuteronomy 22:30 sn This presupposes either the death of the father or their divorce since it would be impossible for one to marry his stepmother while his father was still married to her.
  56. Deuteronomy 22:30 tn Heb “uncover his father’s skirt” (so ASV, NASB). This appears to be a circumlocution for describing the dishonor that would come to a father by having his own son share his wife’s sexuality (cf. NAB, NIV “dishonor his father’s bed”).
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