Deuteronomy 22:8-10

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:5-12

Here are several laws in these verses which seem to stoop very low, and to take cognizance of things mean and minute. Men's laws commonly do not so: Deut. minimis non curat lex?The law takes no cognizance of little things; but because God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, his precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord, as we are under his eye and care. And yet the significancy and tendency of these statutes, which seem little, are such that,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:8

When thou buildest a new house ,.... Which is to be understood of a house to dwell in, not of a granary, barn, or stable, or such like, and every house that is not four cubits square, as Maimonides observes F6 Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 11. sect. 1. : then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof ; in the Talmud F7 T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 136. 1. So Maimonides, ib. sect. 2. it is asked, what is the meaning of, or why is it said, "thy roof?" to except synagogues and schools; the gloss... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:9

Thou shall not sow thy vineyards with divers seeds ,.... As wheat and barley between the rows of the vines; and this is to be understood only of divers sorts of corn, and of divers sorts of herbs, but not of trees; hence we read of a fig tree in a vineyard, Luke 13:6 , and this only respects what is sown with design, and not what is casual, as the Jews interpret it F5 Misn. Celaim, c. 5. sect. 7. ;"if a man passes through a vineyard, and seeds fall from him, or they are carried out... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:10

Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together ,.... They might be used separately, but not together; nor was it uncommon in some countries for asses to be employed in ploughing as well as oxen. Pliny F8 Nat. Hist. l. 17. c. 5. makes mention of some fruitful land in Africa, which when it was dry weather could not be ploughed by oxen, but after showers of rain might be ploughed by a mean little ass; so Leo Africanus F9 Descriptio Africae, l. 2. p. 104. says, the Africans... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 22:8

A battlement for thy roof - Houses in the East are in general built with flat roofs, and on them men walk to enjoy the fresh air, converse together, sleep, etc.; it was therefore necessary to have a sort of battlement or balustrade to prevent persons from falling off. If a man neglected to make a sufficient defense against such accidents, and the death of another was occasioned by it, the owner of the house must be considered in the light of a murderer. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 22:9

Divers seeds - See the note on Leviticus 19:19 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 22:10

Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass - It is generally supposed that mixtures of different sorts in seed, breed, etc., were employed for superstitious purposes, and therefore prohibited in this law. It is more likely, however, that there was a physical reason for this; two beasts of a different species cannot associate comfortably together, and on this ground never pull pleasantly either in cart or plough; and every farmer knows that it is of considerable consequence to the comfort of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 22:8

Verse 8 This precept also has reference to the preservation of human life. We know that the roofs of the Jewish houses were fiat, so that they might freely walk upon them. If there were no railings round them, a fall would have been fatal; and every house would have often been a house of mourning. God, therefore, commands the edge to be fortified with battlements, or railings, or other inclosure, and accompanies the injunction with a severe denunciation; for He declares that the houses would be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 22:9

Verse 9 Deuteronomy 22:9.Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard. These four precepts, which all condemn strange medleys, I doubt not to be supplements of the First Commandment; and the reason, which is subjoined in Deuteronomy, directs us to this, where God declares that the produce of the seed and of the vineyard is polluted, if there be divers mixtures. Whence it appears that nothing else is demanded but that they should cultivate purity. The word indeed, which Moses uses, means to “sanctify, ” קדש... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:1-30

Divine care for sexual honor. In these, as in so many of the precepts of this book, we find civil precepts invested with religious sanctions. Nothing is more important for the honorable maintenance of social life, than that both men and women should honor each other's sex as well as their own. Those that do otherwise are an abomination to the Lord their God. There are five or six different cases supposed in the verses referred to at the heading of this Homily: Such sins would have been... read more

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