Deuteronomy

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Deuteronomy 22 – Skeptic's Annotated Bible answered

A response and reply to the notes on Deuteronomy 22 in the Skeptic's Annotated Bible (SAB).

King James Version

SAB comment

My comment

1 Thou shalt not see the brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.

(22:1-4) "Thou shalt surely help him."
Look out for your neighbor's animals and protect them from harm.

2 And 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 thou shalt restore it to him again.

3 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.

4 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

(22:5) "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God."
Women cannot wear men's clothing and vice versa -- it's an "abomination unto the Lord."
What the Bible says about clothing and fashion

Cross dressing is forbidden. We should not try to remove the distinction between the sexes.

6 If 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 upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:

7 But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

8 When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.

(22:8) When building a roof, make sure it is safe.

9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.

10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

(22:10) "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together."

John Gill explains:

Aben Ezra thinks the reason is, because the strength of an ass is not equal to the strength of an ox; and therefore he supposes this law is made from the mercy and commiseration of God extended to all his creatures; though perhaps the better reason is, because the one was a clean creature, and the other an unclean, and this instance is put for all others;

11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.

(22:11) "Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together."
What the Bible says about clothing and fashion

The reason might be that the priests were garments of linen and wool, and that none other were allowed such garments.

12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

(22:12) Thou shalt make fringes on your garments.

See Num. 15:38.

13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,

(22:13-21) If a man marries and then decides that he hates his wife, he can claim she wasn't a virgin when they were married. If her father can't produce the "tokens of her virginity" (bloody sheets), then the woman is to be stoned to death at her father's doorstep. Does God approve of capital punishment?
What the Bible says about stoning, capital punishment, marriage, and divorce
(22:13) "If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her."
(22:14) "And say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:"
(22:15) "Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:"
(22:20) "But if ... the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel,"
(22:21) "Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die."

What the author of the SAB misses here is that this law was to protect people. What happens here is that a woman promises a man she is a virgin and marries him. But it appears she is not, which is the reason why this man “hates” her. So what kind of sexual diseases might she carry? She might even be pregnant! Why would a man support her or her child in this case as he has been deceived?
But it cuts both ways: if a man marries a wife who truly is a virgin, their marriage is to death. He cannot simply slander her that she was not. Nor can unscrupulous man use marriage under false pretences to have intercourse with a virgin and abandon her after.
This verse is as woman-unfriendly as it is man-unfriendly, i.e. it protects both sexes..

14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:

15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:

16 And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;

17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;

19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

(22:22) "If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die."

This is glorified on TV soaps, but a great evil says God.

23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

(22:23-24) City Rape
"If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city."
If a woman is raped in the city and doesn't cry out loud enough, the men of the city must stone her to death.
Does God approve of capital punishment?
What the Bible says about rape, stoning, and capital punishment

This law was great protection for women to be safe in the cities. Every rapist knew she would cry loudly. In those days and in their kind of cities it acted as a great preventative, and made women very safe in the cities.
If the woman did not cry, it probably wasn't rape, but consensual.

24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:

(25:27) Country Rape
"If a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die ... For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her."
If a woman is raped in the country, then only the man shall die (since there was no one to hear her if she cried out.)

Women are not guilty when they are raped, but the Bible declares them innocent in that case. I fail to understand why the author of the SAB claims this verse is woman-unfriendly.

26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

27 For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;

(22:28-29) "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife."
If a man rapes an unbetrothed virgin, he must pay her father 50 shekels of silver and then marry her.

Note that this verse does not describe rape: it describes a situation where a man “lay hold on a damsel that is a virgin.” It is the reading of the author of the SAB that this incorrect. See the previous verses where rape is described by the word force. For an explanation of this verse, read Sunday Study: Does the Bible Teach that a Rape Victim has to Marry her Rapist?
For an alternative reading, that this is indeed rape, and this is a solution (it does not exclude other solutions) to provide for the welfare for a victim in the absence of social security services, and for the rest of his life provide for the victim as a means of reparation, see a talk by George Athas.

29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

30 A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.

(22:30) "A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt."

Doing so would surely be a danger to family values, so why is a law forbidding this an issue for family values?