Deuteronomio 22

VBL · Chapter 22/34

1Si ves a la vaca o a la oveja de alguien deambulando por ahí, no la ignores. Asegúrate de llevársela a su dueño.

2Si su dueño no vive cerca de ti, o si no sabes quién es, llévate el animal a casa y guárdalo hasta que el dueño venga a buscarlo, entonces puedes devolverlo.

3Haz lo mismo con cualquier otra cosa que encuentres que alguien haya perdido: un asno, una capa, cualquier cosa. No lo ignores.

4Si ves un asno o una vaca que se ha caído en el camino, no lo ignores. Ayúdalo a levantarse.

5Una mujer no debe usar ropa de hombre, y un hombre no debe usar ropa de mujer. Cualquiera que haga esto ofende al Señor tu Dios.

6Si encuentras un nido de pájaros con pollos o huevos, ya sea en un árbol o en el suelo al lado del camino, y la madre está sentada sobre los pollos o los huevos, no lleves a la madre con las crías.

7Puedes llevarte a las crías, pero asegúrate de dejar ir a la madre, para que te vaya bien y tengas una buena y larga vida.

8Cuando construyas una casa nueva, asegúrate de instalar una barandilla alrededor del techo, para que no te culpen si alguien muere al caer de él.

9No plantes tu viñedo con otro tipo de cultivo. De lo contrario, todo lo que produzcas, la cosecha que hayas plantado y el fruto de tu viñedo, deben ser dedicados al Señor.

10No se debe unir un buey y un asno cuando se ara.

11No uses ropa hecha de lana y lino tejidas juntas.

12Pon borlas en el dobladillo de la capa que usas para cubrirte.

13Si un hombre se casa con una mujer y se acuesta con ella, pero termina odiándola,

14y la acusa de ser inmoral, dándole un mal nombre, diciendo: “Me casé con esta mujer y me acosté con ella, pero descubrí que no era virgen”.

15Los padres de la mujer llevarán la prueba de su virginidad a los ancianos a la puerta del pueblo,

16y el padre les explicará: “Di mi hija en matrimonio a este hombre, pero él ha acabado odiándola.

17Ahora la ha acusado de ser inmoral, diciendo: ‘Descubrí que su hija no era virgen’. Pero aquí está la prueba de su virginidad”. Los padres extenderán la sábana delante de los ancianos del pueblo.

18Entonces los ancianos de esa ciudad tomarán al hombre y lo castigarán.

19También le multarán con cien siclos de plata y le darán el dinero al padre de la joven, porque este hombre ha dado un mal nombre a una virgen israelita. Ella seguirá siendo su esposa; no se le permite divorciarse de ella mientras viva.

20Pero si la acusación es cierta y no hay pruebas de la virginidad de la mujer,

21ésta será llevada a la puerta de la casa de su padre y allí los hombres de su pueblo la apedrearán hasta matarla. Ella ha hecho algo vergonzoso en Israel al actuar inmoralmente en la casa de su padre. Deben eliminar el mal de entre ustedes.

22Si se encuentra a un hombre durmiendo con la mujer de otro, tanto el hombre como la mujer deben morir. Debes eliminar el mal de Israel.

23Si un hombre encuentra a una joven, una virgen comprometida con otro hombre, y se acuesta con ella allí en el pueblo,

24entonces debes llevarlos a ambos a la puerta del pueblo y apedrearlos hasta la muerte. La joven es culpable porque no gritó por ayuda en el pueblo, y el hombre es culpable porque ha avergonzado a la prometida de otro. Deben eliminar el mal de entre ustedes.

25Sin embargo, si el hombre encuentra por casualidad a una mujer que está comprometida en el campo, y la ataca y la viola, sólo el hombre tiene que morir.

26No le haga nada a la mujer, porque no ha cometido un pecado que se pueda castigar con la muerte. (Esta es la misma situación que cuando un hombre ataca a otra persona y la asesina).

27Cuando el hombre violó a la mujer que estaba comprometida en el campo, ella gritó, pero no había nadie para rescatarla.

28Si un hombre encuentra por casualidad a una virgen no comprometida, y la agarra y la viola, y alguien los ve,

29el hombre debe pagar al padre de la mujer cincuenta siclos de plata, y debe casarse con ella porque la ha avergonzado. No se le permite divorciarse de ella mientras viva.

30El hombre no debe casarse con la mujer de su padre, para no avergonzarlo.

📖 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. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:2If the owner lived far away or was unknown, the animal was to be kept at home until it was claimed.
  3. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:4It also forbids ignoring a neighbor’s animal fallen on the road: the command is to help lift it up.
  5. Deuteronomio 22:5It forbids cross-dressing between the sexes, treating it as an abomination — likely tied to Canaanite rituals that involved this practice.
  6. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:9It forbids mixing two kinds of seed in the same vineyard, so that the whole harvest would not be considered defiled.
  10. Deuteronomio 22:10It forbids plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together, likely because they are animals of different strength and temperament.
  11. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:12It commands putting fringes on the four corners of the cloak worn, a custom that also appears in other legal texts.
  13. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:14It describes the serious accusation a husband could bring against his newly married wife: publicly claiming she was not a virgin.
  15. Deuteronomio 22:15Faced with the accusation, the girl’s parents were to present the physical evidence of her virginity to the elders.
  16. Deuteronomio 22:16The father would formally present the case to the elders, stating that the husband had rejected his daughter unjustly.
  17. Deuteronomio 22:17It details the presentation of the evidence: the wedding cloth would be spread out before the elders of the city as proof.
  18. Deuteronomio 22:18Once the accusation was proven false, the elders were to punish the husband for the slander he had raised.
  19. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:20It provides for the opposite scenario: if the husband’s accusation was proven true.
  21. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:22It establishes the death penalty for both parties involved in proven adultery with a married woman.
  23. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:25But if the same case happened in the countryside, far from any possible help, only the man would be punished with death.
  26. Deuteronomio 22:26The girl would be considered innocent in that case, compared to someone who suffered an attack through no fault of her own.
  27. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 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. Deuteronomio 22:30It closes the chapter by forbidding relations with one’s father’s wife, preserving the honor of the family.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.