Deuteronomy 22:10
in Deuteronomy 22Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
KJV
Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Compare the marginal reference. The prohibition of Deu 22:10 was also dictated by humanity. The ox and the donkey being of such different size and strength, it would be cruel to the latter to yoke them together. These two animals are named as being those ordinarily employed in agriculture; compare Isa 32:20.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds
on Deuteronomy 22:9-12
Divers seeds in a vineyard, an ox and an ass under one yoke, wool and linen in one garment, and then fringes on the four quarters of the vesture. The first three keep kinds distinct and the text gives no reason for any of them, which is also how Leviticus 19:19 leaves them. Numbers 15:38-40 does explain the fringes, as a reminder of the commandments, and Matthew 9:20 and 14:36 have people reaching for the hem of Jesus' garment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
There it is perhaps guessing at the disparity between the animals. It is at the same time showing clearly that we must not wrong any of those from other races by bringing them under the same yoke when we have nothing against them apart from their foreignness, for which they are not responsible, which is not an immoral trait and does not spring from one.
What does Scripture mean by these riddles? That it is not right for evil and virtue to grow together in the same soul. Nor is it right, dividing one's life between opposites, to reap thorns and grain from the same soul. Nor is it right for the bride of Christ to commit adultery with the enemies of Christ or to bear light in the womb and beget darkness.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
PateriusEXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, DEUTERONOMY 10 · Written before 606.
proposed
Man is forbidden to plow with an ox and an ass at the same time. This is as if to say you should not bring together fools and the wise to hear your teaching. Otherwise you will cause the one who cannot fulfill your words …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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 (h) 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 (i) says, the Africans only use horses and asses in ploughing.
An ox and an ass - Because the one was a clean beast, the other unclean whereby God would teach men to avoid polluting themselves by the touch of unclean persons or things.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There appears not any thing at all of moral evil in these things, and therefore we now make no conscience of sowing wheat and rye together, ploughing with horses and oxen together, and of wearing linsey-woolsey garments; but hereby is forbidden either, 1. A conformity to some idolatrous customs of the heathen. That which is contrary to the plainness and purity of an Israelite.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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 the cattle to put those together that have an affection for each other.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together--Whether this association, like the mixture of seeds, had been dictated by superstitious motives and the prohibition was symbolical, designed to teach a moral lesson (2Co 6:14), may or may not have been the case.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He states, Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. 187 Verse. The same law applies to all diverse species of animals. It is an explanatory commandment of the prohibitions, Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind, 182 Leviticus:19.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַחֲרֹ֥שׁ | tacharosh | you will plow | H2790 → | |
| בְּשׁוֹר־ | beshor- | with an ox | H7794 → | 79 times |
| וּבַחֲמֹ֖ר | uvachamor | and with a donkey | H2543 → | 96 times |
| יַחְדָּֽו׃ ס | yachdav | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַחֲרֹ֥שׁyou will plow
tacharoshH2790 →
בְּשׁוֹר־with an ox
beshor-H7794 →79 times
וּבַחֲמֹ֖רand with a donkey
uvachamorH2543 →96 times
יַחְדָּֽו׃ סtogether
yachdavH3162 →141 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE CHRISTIAN MODE OF LIFE; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Paterius, EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, DEUTERONOMY 10.