Bible Commentaries
Deuteronomy 22

Verses 1-30

Now in chapter twenty-two, now in those days they punished people for none involvement.

If you saw your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and you just try to ignore it: [you don't go out and get it and so forth, then you're at fault.] you shall in any case bring them again to your brother. And if your brother is not near to you, and you know him not, then you shalt bring them into your own house, and you shall keep them until your brother seeks after them, and thou shalt restore them again. In like manner shall thou do with his ass; and so with his raiment; and all that is lost of thy brother's, which he has lost, and now has found, you're to do likewise: you may not hide it for yourself (Deu 22:1-3).In other words, if you find something that is lost, you're to seek to restore it to its proper ownership. You're not to try to hide it for yourself.

Now, if you see your brother's ass or ox fall down by the way, and you hide yourself from them: and not turn to help and to lift them again, then you're at fault. Then a woman is not to wear man's apparel, nor is a man to put on a woman's garment: for to do that is an abomination unto the Lord (Deu 22:4-5).

Now, actually we are, you know, living in a weird age, where men are dissatisfied with being men, and having operations to become women. And we have other men who aren't satisfied as being men and are wearing dresses and makeup and that kind of junk, and sometimes I wish I was living under the Old Testament. These things are an abomination unto God. Now, they say, "Oh, but what about a woman wearing a pantsuit, or something. Well, let me tell you something, I never wear one of those pantsuits that the women wear. I don't consider that men's apparel at all. But the whole idea behind it is of lesbianism or homosexuality, where you are affecting to be one of the opposite sex or seeking to be one of the opposite sex, and that is what is actually being, you know, what he's coming down on here. Women who are trying to be men and men who are trying to be women.

Now, it is interesting if you see a bird's nest and a bird is sitting on its eggs or whatever, you're not to really disturb it. If there are little young birds, if you want to take the little, young birds, you're not to take the mother too. But you're not to disturb a mother bird sitting on its nest unless the birds are big enough to make it on their own, you want the little birds, that's fine, but you can't take the mother bird with them. Got to leave her go free.

When you build a new house, and you're putting on the roof, you've got to put supports around so no one falls off the roof and gets hurt while they're working on your house. If you're sowing the vineyards, you're not to sow with divers seeds:... You're not to plow with an ox and an ass together. You're not to wear a garment with different sorts of materials, wool and linen together. You are to make these blue fringes on the quarters of your garments (Deu 22:8-12).

And now the law of marriage.

If any man takes a wife, and goes in unto her and hates her, and gives occasion of speech against her, brings an evil name upon her, and says, I took this woman as my wife, but she wasn't a virgin [and you make these kinds of accusations against her]: then her parents are to bring forth her tokens of virginity (Deu 22:13-16).

Now in those days, when you had your marriage ceremony and you went in for the nuptial rites, actually you would take a cloth and hand it back out to your parents, proving that you were a virgin, and they would save that. Then if the guy you married turned out to be a dirty dog, and he says, she wasn't a virgin when I married her, and starts spreading evil stories, your parents would bring out the tokens of your virginity. Lay them out before the elders and you'd be found to be a dirty dog liar, and the fellow would have to pay your dad a hundred shekels of silver because he had brought an evil name upon a virgin in Israel, but if you couldn't prove your virginity then you would be in trouble. If you be put to death, pretty heavy duty.

[And then the adultery of] a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them be put to death. If a damsel that is a virgin is betrothed to a husband [that is engaged], and a man find her in the city and lies with her; then they are both to be put to death; that is, if he rapes her in the city, she's to be put to death because she should have screamed. But if she is raped out in the field, then only he is put to death, because she perhaps screamed but nobody could hear her. And thus, you are to put the evil away. Now, if you raped a girl, and she is a virgin, and she is not betrothed to someone else, then you're to take her as your wife to pay her father fifty shekels of silver (Deu 22:23-29).