Lange Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:1 - 22:12

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Lange Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:1 - 22:12


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The Eighth Commandment

Deu_22:1-12

1Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case [rather thou shalt bring them again unto thy brother. 2And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and [then] thou shalt restore it to him again. 3In 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 [canst] not hide thyself. 4Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely [much more shalt thou] help him to lift them up again. 5The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man [a man’s utensils, dress], neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do [every one that does] so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. 6If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting [rests, broods] upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with 7the young: But thou shalt in any wise [Rather shalt thou] let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days. 8When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement [inclosure, railing] for thy roof, that thou bring not blood [blood-guilt] upon thine house, if any man fall from thence. 9Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers [two sorts of] seeds: lest the fruit [marg.: fulness] of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit [ingathering, produce, harvest] of thy vineyard, be defiled. 10Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together. 11Thou shalt not wear [draw, put on] a garment of divers sorts [of mixed textures] as of woolen and linen together. 12Thou shalt make thee fringes [tassels, laces] upon the four quarters of thy vesture [cover, mantle] wherewith thou coverest thyself.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. Deu_22:1-4. How profound is Moses’ comprehension of the command as to the possessions of our neighbor! How thoughtfully he goes down into the very nature of things, into their peculiar properties, which should be preserved among the people of God! Deu_22:1-4. In the first place the property of our neighbor, from which, according to the eighth command, they should remain far off, and yet not far off! Deu_22:1. The case of a stray animal, either great or small, from the herd, even only one, when one might think that the brother could afford the loss, especially when his want of care or neglect might lead to the reflection that it was driven (Deu_4:19) from him (Exo_23:4). Comp. 1Pe_2:25. [Wordsworth connects the following note with this reference; “that as Christ came to seek and save the one that was lost, and laid down His life first, there seems to be a spiritual connection between this precept and that which has just gone before concerning Him who became a curse for us, and so saves us from the curse.”—A. G.] To take is expressly forbidden, but also to see, not merely in order to take, steal with the eye, but more profoundly: see, and not at once lead back ( òìí , to hide, shun). In the circumstances referred to in Deu_22:2, one should even guard it, as if it was his own. No objective distance nor subjective uncertainty (as to whose it is, or to whom it belongs) can be a ground of excuse. àñó , literally, to separate, thus to separate the separated one from that state, to remove his separation, to remove it in any case as quickly as possible—thus to draw to himself, in love to his neighbor, to join it with thine own in the most secure place in thy house (Deu_21:12). The cost of the case should not be counted, although truly the right of use in the mean time was not forbidden, or the final appropriation, if no owner was found. Every thing (Deu_22:3) which could be lost by our neighbor belongs in the same category whether living or dead (Exo_22:8). As with the preservation and return, so also, Deu_22:4, a helping hand with the owner concerned (Exo_23:5). Riding, draft or farm animal.

2. Deu_22:5-7. Passing from the property of his neighbor to the peculiar in nature, we come, 1) Deu_22:5, to the peculiarity of the sexes, and indeed according to the peculiar manner of appearance to that which each has, wears. ëìé ( ëìä ), something prepared, made; raiment, weapons, utensils; not barely clothing, which is emphasized immediately afterward. The concrete expression exemplifies the idea that every invasion of the natural peculiarities of the sexes, every mingling of sexual differences, as it may be rated less in reference to our neighbor than an injury of property, is by so much the more to be regarded in reference to God. It is too narrow a view to regard it as a mere precaution against unchastity, and too wide as an opposition to practices at idolatrous festivals. [The distinction between the sexes is natural and established by God in their creation, and any neglect or violation of that distinction, even in externals, not only leads to impurity, but involves the infraction of the laws of God.—A. G.]—2) Deu_22:6-7, treat with respect to the irrational creation, the peculiar mother-relation, through which the sexual distinction in nature is realized. The casual meeting excludes of course any designed search. The mother with (over) the young. (It speaks in a human way of the young as children.) To take the mother thus, betrays an inhuman feeling in contrast with the sight presented, is in fact a robbery of nature generally, as it is expressed in the relation specified, but specially because it is precisely the bird. Proverbial expression, Gen_32:11; Hos_10:14; comp. Deu_14:21; Lev_22:27-28. Deu_22:7. The significance of the mother in this direction is still more clear from the like promise as Deu_5:16 (Deu_4:40; Deu_5:26; Deu_5:30).

3. Deu_22:8-12. As what is peculiar in nature, appointed by God, is as it were His property, so now finally He considers property in its remaining third relation, namely as the property of the person himself. As to the newly built house, Deu_22:8, he does wrong who makes no enclosing and protecting railing to the flat roof often serving for a residence; he takes away security from the house. It is spoken of nearly as if it were a person. Comp. Deu_7:15; Deu_19:10. [Tradition fixes the height of the battlement as at least two feet.—A. G.] In Deu_22:9 as to the vineyard he robs himself, if he does not respect the nature of things with regard to the seeds sown, since each kind should remain by itself, for in the design of securing a mixed product from the different kinds (Dual from ëìà ) of seeds, the whole profit of the vineyard for the year in question falls to the priest at the sanctuary.—Lest the fruit (fulness) (i.e. the fully matured, as the application shows) of thy seed be defiled; and thus is to be understood as referring peculiarly to the grain-filled granaries of which the seed was indeed the literal cause. It is not only on account of the two kinds of seed, but also because the vineyard, garden, is treated as a tillable field; a supplement to Lev_19:19 (Mat_13:25). The sowing leads to the field, Deu_22:10; also an emphatic supplement to Lev_19:19. The unequal strength and step of the two kinds of animals unfit them for use at one plough, and thus it would be only unprofitable to the owner; the ignoring of the distinction between the clean and the unclean animals avenged itself upon him practically, and hence there is nothing further than the mere prohibition. Others regard as the reason “an abhorrence of violence done to the brutes,” or of the mingling used by the Canaanites. The spiritual application, 2Co_6:14. [Wordsworth is peculiarly rich in the spiritual application of all these directions, finding analogies everywhere, which although sometimes fanciful and forced, are striking and instructive: e.g., in the restoration of the stray, to 1Pe_2:25, and Christ’s seeking and restoring the lost; in the injunction to help, to 1Th_5:14; in the precept as to the clothing of the sexes, a warning against the Church’s usurpation of the place and authority of Christ, Eph_5:2; Eph_5:24; in the law against cruelty to the dam with the young, to Mat_23:37, and the conduct of the Jews toward Christ, and to the fact that the mother bird was taken and the brood left; in the direction as to the battlement, to the obligation as to our Christian walk, in the seeds of the vineyard, to the sowing of truth and error; and here as above, to 2Co_6:14.—A. G.]. Lastly, in Deu_22:11, the law as to our own in property is closed with a reference to raiment. Here also the mere prohibition is sufficient, as Lev_19:19; for the coat makes the man, in this case at least, declares that the Israelite in question does not walk in simplicity, has thus robbed himself of his spiritual character. ùַׁòַèְּðֵæ , according to Leviticus, raiment out of two divers sorts, here more exactly; woolen and linen together; from the plant and animal kingdoms. Sept. êßâäçëïí (unclean, ambiguous, adulterated). Ges.: probably a Hebraized Coptic word. Meier: Semitic word: mingling, double texture. ùòè compact, make firm. Coptic: shontness, i.e. (byssus fimbriatus). Talmud: hetcheled and smoothed, spun and twisted, woven or hooked (upon hooks), stitched. Others: It designates a more costly Egyptian texture decorated with idol figures. Josephus: which only the priest could wear. The foreign and heterogeneous materials—even the strange expression—agree well with the prohibition. (Comp. Keil, Arch. I., p. 80 sq.). Deu_22:12. The direction here joins itself positively to the foregoing prohibition, and at the same time throws light upon its meaning. âְãִìִéí ( âãì Hiph., to make great). The Pharisees may have taken occasion from the meaning of the word to introduce their custom. Mat_23:5.—The öִéöִú , Num_15:38, from öåּõ , the splendid bloom, with which the deuteronomic designation fundamentally agrees, for the blooming is at the same time the increasing. The mantel, or overcloak, formed out of a four-cornered piece of cloth, should have at its wings, i.e., corners, thus as if growing out from it, tassels, symbolizing the one aim of life, reminding the doer of the commands of God, taking himself out of the world, (number four), with heart and eye to have his conversation, his life in heaven, Num_15:39 sq. Comp. the similar ordinances, Deu_6:8 sq. Schultz regards the direction as promoting decency [and holds also that it is a bed coverlet, and not wearing apparel, which is here referred to. His view, however, is hardly consistent either with the passage in Num., or with the actual Jewish usage.—A. G.].

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. “Because the love of our neighbor, the more unavoidably and universally it must be recognized as a duty, on account of our indolence and ease, must be more vividly and persuasively presented, Moses finds it necessary for the true representation to descend to particular circumstances, and the lesser relations of life.” Baumgarten.

2. Since the mine and thine in the world, as to the right, lie in continual perplexity, are very questionable, not seldom want their moral legitimation on account of sin, love, which seeks not her own, and has the same measure and energy to thy neighbor “as to thyself,” is here also the fulfilling of the law.

3. The idea of “brother” is so prevalent among the people of God, that here in Deuteronomy, the reference to the hater, i.e., enemy, is not so much to a natural adversary, but to one who is such through personal acts of hostility (Exo_23:4-5), and indeed is not further regarded here. It is self-evident among the people of God that evil must be overcome with good.

4. Since love to our neighbor is so inculcated, it is clear that from his nature, man would never come to the thought, not to speak of the deed, of love to his neighbor; for this is the natural condition of men through the fall. The inclination in the natural man is to hatred of his neighbor; hence in society the might of the physically strongest is decisive, and through wisdom and will, prudence and activity, this natural enmity becomes potent in hostility, so that the man finds his pleasure and happiness in evil tricks and acts. Schelling, indeed, asserts that the love of an enemy is an irrational love.

5. As a certain angularity, one-sidedness, exaggeration is peculiar to the proverb,which gives it a striking character, so the directions Deu_22:5 sq. have an externality, nearly symbolical, which will allure beyond the mere letter, to the apprehension of the idea, and one not confined to the immediate case. Thus Baumgarten remarks upon Deu_22:5, “that it forbids the manifestation of the primitive unnaturalness and anti-godliness;” “that man (the husband) as the original man (human being) should obey the voice of his wife, the derived man;” thus arose “the first sin.” He says further: “In the measure in which man persists in his estrangement from God, this fundamental error will ever make itself felt. Rom_1:26-27. Such unnatural conduct has found its way in the cultus (Creuzer’s Symbol. II., 34 sq.). But still the wrath of God reveals itself from heaven against every perversion of the sexes, in the perplexing and disturbing results of that wide-spread and ever-spreading female dominion, and male servitude.”

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Deu_22:1. Starke: “Should we not leave the straying animal of our neighbor unrestored, how much less can we leave our neighbor himself to lie in his sins. Jam_5:19-20; Gal_6:1; Rom_15:1.” (1Co_9:9-10). “Love of our neighbor must be practiced on the ground of grace, thus with the needed strength and with all sincerity.” Berl. Bib.: “God appoints us, with respect to His great benefits to us, to show the like to our neighbor in return, since God is neither injured nor profited by us.” “There is no such impelling cause of love, as love.” “Did not the Son of man, and therefore even our brother, come to seek and save that which was lost?” Luk_19:10. Deu_22:5. Luther: “This does not prohibit what may be done to avoid danger, remove pain, or deceive the enemy, but generally requires that a woman should tend to her own concerns, and a man his; in short, that each one should be satisfied with his own.” Berl. Bib.: “But a teacher who does anything which does not become him, is as one who has exchanged his garments. It is also unfit that a man should imitate the ornaments and dress of the woman. 1Pe_3:3.” Tueb. Bib.: “Masks and the changing of dress give occasion to many sins. Eph_5:4.” (1Co_11:4 sq.).

Deu_22:6 sq. Starke: “God cares even for the smallest bird, Mat_6:25. Although man has the use, he enjoys this right only as a loan, and should not abuse it, Pro_12:10.” Deu_22:8. Baumgarten: “Love has a tender conscience.” Berl. Bib.: “God commands us to exercise carefulness in bodily transactions, as otherwise we tempt Him.” Cramer: “To avoid sin, we must avoid the occasion of sin; whoever does injury provokes injury.” Deu_22:9-11. Starke: “Simplicity in thought, word, and act.” Berl. Bib.: “The one fitted for the plough, but not for bearing burdens, the other the reverse: two adverse colleagues, whoever puts them together acts unreasonably. The old and new man do not agree.” Deu_22:11. Osiander: “Not half popish and half evangelical.” Starke: “No unequal marriages.” Berl. Bib.: “The robe of righteousness and the spotted garment of the flesh do not agree with each other.” (Isa_61:10; Judges 13.). [Wordsworth: “We must walk in white, i.e., we must not defile the robe of Christ’s Righteousness, in which we are clothed, by corrupt doctrine or unholy living.”—A. G.].

Footnotes:

[Deu_22:4. Lifting, thou shalt lift. Perhaps the idiom in this case may include the idea of repeated helpings, as the Rabbins explain it.—A. G.]