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Deuteronômio 22

ARC · Chapter 22/34

1Vendo extraviado o boi ou ovelha de teu irmão, não te esconderás d'elles: restituil-os-has sem falta a teu irmão.

2E se teu irmão não estiver perto de ti, ou tu o não conheceres, recolhel-os-has na tua casa, para que fiquem comtigo, até que teu irmão os busque, e tu lh'os tornarás a dar

3Assim tambem farás com o seu jumento, e assim farás com os seus vestidos; assim farás tambem com toda a coisa perdida, que se perder de teu irmão, e tu a achares; não te poderás esconder.

4O jumento de teu irmão, ou o seu boi, não verás caidos no caminho, e d'elles te esconderás: com elle os levantarás sem falta.

5Não haverá trajo de homem na mulher, e não vestirá o homem vestido de mulher: porque, qualquer que faz isto, abominação é ao Senhor teu Deus.

6Quando encontrares algum ninho d'ave no caminho em alguma arvore, ou no chão, com passarinhos, ou ovos, e a mãe posta sobre os passarinhos, ou sobre os ovos, não tomarás a mãe com os filhos;

7Deixarás ir livremente a mãe, e os filhos tomarás para ti; para que bem te vá, e para que te prolongue os dias.

8Quando edificares uma casa nova, farás no teu telhado um parapeito, para que não ponhas culpa de sangue na tua casa, se alguem d'alguma maneira cair d'ella.

9Não semearás a tua vinha de differentes especies de semente, para que se não profane o fructo da semente que semeares, e a novidade da vinha.

10Com boi e com jumento juntamente não lavrarás.

11Não te vestirás de diversos estofos de lã e linho juntamente.

12Franjas porás nas quatro bordas da tua manta, com que te cobrires.

13Quando um homem tomar mulher e, entrando a ella, a aborrecer,

14E lhe imputar coisas escandalosas, e contra ella divulgar má fama, dizendo: Tomei esta mulher, e me cheguei a ella, porém não a achei virgem;

15Então o pae da moça e sua mãe tomarão os signaes da virgindade da moça, e leval-os-hão para fóra aos anciãos da cidade á porta

16E o pae da moça dirá aos anciãos; Eu dei minha filha por mulher a este homem, porém elle a aborreceu;

17E eis que lhe imputou coisas escandalosas, dizendo: Não achei virgem tua filha: porém eis aqui os signaes da virgindade de minha filha. E estenderão o lençol diante dos anciãos da cidade.

18Então os anciãos da mesma cidade tomarão aquelle homem, e o castigarão,

19E o condemnarão em cem siclos de prata, e os darão ao pae da moça; porquanto divulgou má fama sobre uma virgem de Israel. E lhe será por mulher, em todos os seus dias não a poderá despedir.

20Porém se este negocio fôr verdade, que a virgindade se não achou na moça,

21Então tirarão a moça á porta da casa de seu pae, e os homens da sua cidade a apedrejarão com pedras, até que morra; pois fez loucura em Israel, fornicando na casa de seu pae: assim tirarás o mal do meio de ti.

22Quando um homem fôr achado deitado com mulher casada com marido, então ambos morrerão, o homem que se deitou com a mulher, e a mulher: assim tirarás o mal d'Israel.

23Quando houver moça virgem, desposada com algum homem, e um homem a achar na cidade, e se deitar com ella,

24Então tirareis ambos á porta d'aquella cidade, e os apedrejareis com pedras, até que morram; a moça, porquanto não gritou na cidade, e o homem, porquanto humilhou a mulher do seu proximo: assim tirarás o mal do meio de ti

25E se algum homem no campo achar uma moça desposada, e o homem a forçar, e se deitar com ella, então morrera só o homem que se deitou com ella;

26Porém á moça não farás nada: a moça não tem culpa de morte; porque, como o homem que se levanta contra o seu proximo, e lhe tira a vida, assim é este negocio

27Pois a achou no campo: a moça desposada gritou, e não houve quem a livrasse.

28Quando um homem achar uma moça virgem, que não fôr desposada, e pegar n'ella, e se deitar com ella, e forem apanhados,

29Então o homem que se deitou com ella dará ao pae da moça cincoenta siclos de prata: e porquanto a humilhou, lhe será por mulher; não a poderá despedir em todos os seus dias.

30Nenhum homem tomará a mulher de seu pae, nem descobrirá a ourela de seu pae.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A varied collection of practical laws: returning lost animals to one's neighbor, a prohibition against cross-dressing between genders, protection of bird nests, safety parapets on rooftops, a prohibition against mixtures (seeds, fabrics), the wearing of fringes on garments, and various laws about chastity and marital faithfulness.

Explanation

The obligation to return lost animals, even those belonging to a stranger, and the requirement of parapets on rooftops (used as gathering spaces in the region's climate) show a practical concern for a neighbor's safety and well-being as a concrete expression of love, not merely an abstract ideal. The laws against forbidden mixtures (different seeds in the same field, mixed fabrics) are generally understood as visible symbols of a created order that Israel was to respect and reflect, avoiding the confusion of categories in daily life as a reflection of its distinct identity as a people set apart for God. The laws about virginity and adultery, though they reflect the harsh standards of an ancient patriarchal society, also include notable protections, such as the presumption of innocence for a woman who cried out for help in the countryside, even with no witnesses available to confirm it.

Fun facts

  • The law against taking 'the dam with the young' when finding a bird's nest (v. 6-7), preserving the mother bird so she could continue to reproduce, is often cited as one of the earliest biblical principles of sustainable conservation of natural resources.
  • The 'fringes upon the four quarters' of the garment (v. 12) is the same instruction given in Numbers 15:38, and represents the same commandment repeated — a constant visual reminder of God's commandments, still practiced today through the Jewish tzitzit.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 22:1It forbids pretending not to see a neighbor’s stray animal: the duty is to bring it back, not to ignore someone else’s problem.
  2. Deuteronômio 22:2If the owner lived far away or was unknown, the animal was to be kept at home until it was claimed.
  3. Deuteronômio 22:3It extends the same rule to any lost item — clothing or any belonging — reinforcing that pretending not to see is not an option.
  4. Deuteronômio 22:4It also forbids ignoring a neighbor’s animal fallen on the road: the command is to help lift it up.
  5. Deuteronômio 22:5It forbids cross-dressing between the sexes, treating it as an abomination — likely tied to Canaanite rituals that involved this practice.
  6. Deuteronômio 22:6On finding a nest, the law commands letting the mother go and taking only the young or the eggs — a rare commandment aimed at sparing a wild animal, tied to the same idea of not exhausting the land’s resources.
  7. Deuteronômio 22:7In sparing the mother bird, the promise is the same one given to those who honor father and mother: long life and well-being.
  8. Deuteronômio 22:8The required parapet on the roof, where people spent a good part of the day since roofs were flat, is a practical safety law: if someone fell for lack of it, the guilt of bloodshed would fall on the owner of the house.
  9. Deuteronômio 22:9It forbids mixing two kinds of seed in the same vineyard, so that the whole harvest would not be considered defiled.
  10. Deuteronômio 22:10It forbids plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together, likely because they are animals of different strength and temperament.
  11. Deuteronômio 22:11It forbids mixing wool and linen in the same garment — another rule of separation without a fully clear reason, still discussed by scholars today.
  12. Deuteronômio 22:12It commands putting fringes on the four corners of the cloak worn, a custom that also appears in other legal texts.
  13. Deuteronômio 22:13When a husband accused his wife of not being a virgin at marriage, her parents could display “the tokens of virginity” — a cloth with evidence from the wedding night — before the elders to disprove the false charge. If the accusation was confirmed true, the penalty for the woman was death, which shows the extreme weight placed on family honor in that society.
  14. Deuteronômio 22:14It describes the serious accusation a husband could bring against his newly married wife: publicly claiming she was not a virgin.
  15. Deuteronômio 22:15Faced with the accusation, the girl’s parents were to present the physical evidence of her virginity to the elders.
  16. Deuteronômio 22:16The father would formally present the case to the elders, stating that the husband had rejected his daughter unjustly.
  17. Deuteronômio 22:17It details the presentation of the evidence: the wedding cloth would be spread out before the elders of the city as proof.
  18. Deuteronômio 22:18Once the accusation was proven false, the elders were to punish the husband for the slander he had raised.
  19. Deuteronômio 22:19The punishment included a heavy fine in silver, paid to the girl’s father, along with a lifelong ban on ever divorcing her.
  20. Deuteronômio 22:20It provides for the opposite scenario: if the husband’s accusation was proven true.
  21. Deuteronômio 22:21In that case, the penalty for the girl would be stoning, for having lied about her own virginity within her father’s house.
  22. Deuteronômio 22:22It establishes the death penalty for both parties involved in proven adultery with a married woman.
  23. Deuteronômio 22:23The difference in penalty between rape in the city and in the countryside hinges on one thing only: whether the woman could have cried out for help and been heard. In the countryside, where no one would hear, she is considered innocent by default; in the city, it is presumed she would have cried out if it were against her will.
  24. Deuteronômio 22:24In the case of relations with a betrothed girl within the city, both would be put to death — she for not crying out for help, he for dishonoring another man’s betrothed.
  25. Deuteronômio 22:25But if the same case happened in the countryside, far from any possible help, only the man would be punished with death.
  26. Deuteronômio 22:26The girl would be considered innocent in that case, compared to someone who suffered an attack through no fault of her own.
  27. Deuteronômio 22:27It justifies the difference in treatment: in the countryside, even if she cried out, there would have been no one to save her.
  28. Deuteronômio 22:28When a man forced a virgin girl who was not engaged to anyone, the law required him to pay her father and marry her forever, with no right to divorce afterward. By modern standards it’s a shocking solution, but within that society it worked as a way to guarantee support for the woman, whose chances of marriage were otherwise compromised by what happened.
  29. Deuteronômio 22:29For the case of relations with an unengaged virgin, the penalty was financial: paying her father and taking on the marriage with no right to divorce.
  30. Deuteronômio 22:30It closes the chapter by forbidding relations with one’s father’s wife, preserving the honor of the family.

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