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Deuteronomy 22:2

in Deuteronomy 22

If your brother does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, you are to take the animal home to remain with you until your brother comes seeking it; then you can return it to him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 22

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying

on Deuteronomy 22:1-4

The phrase “you must not ignore it” runs through the rule on lost property. Exodus 23:4-5 gave the same duty about an enemy's ox and donkey. Here the animal belongs to a brother, so the duty covers both ends of that range.

This site's exposition

take the animal home to remain

Wesley reads the brother of verse 1 as any man, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown extend the word to a foreigner and even an enemy. The finder takes the animal home and feeds it with his own until the owner comes seeking it. The finder becomes a keeper.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Gregory of Neocaesarea

CANONICAL EPISTLE 4 · Written before 270.

proposed

Let no one deceive himself, nor put forward the pretext of having found such property. For it is not lawful, even for a man who has found anything, to aggrandize himself by it. For Deuteronomy says: "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his …

A commentator

Clement of Alexandria

The Stromata Book 2 · Written before 215.

proposed

Scripture teaches us by means of natural fellowship to treat the object found as a trust and not to hold hatred of an enemy.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This must be done in pity to the very cattle, which, while they wandered, were exposed; and in civility and respect to the owner, nay, and in justice to him, for it was doing as we would be done by, which is one of the fundamental laws of equity.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

This is a commandment explanatory of what He stated in the Torah, If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 122 Exodus:4.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 22:1:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
You may not observe your brother’s ox or his sheep lost and conceal yourself from them; you must surely return them to your brother.
Targum · Onkelos Deuteronomy 22:1, via Sefaria, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]

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

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְאִם־and if

    veim-H518 →1069 times

  • לֹ֨אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • קָר֥וֹב[is] near

    karovH7138 →77 times

  • אָחִ֛יךָcountryman your

    ʾachikhaH251 →630 times

  • אֵלֶ֖יךָto you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • וְלֹ֣אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יְדַעְתּ֑וֹyou know him

    yeda'toH3045 →945 times

  • וַאֲסַפְתּוֹ֙and you will gather it

    vaasaftoH622 →200 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • תּ֣וֹךְ[the] middle of

    tokhH8432 →418 times

  • בֵּיתֶ֔ךָhouse your

    beitekhaH1004 →2046 times

  • וְהָיָ֣הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • עִמְּךָ֗with you

    ʾimekhaH5973 →1050 times

  • עַ֣דuntil

    ʾadH5704 →1261 times

  • דְּרֹ֤שׁseeks

    deroshH1875 →164 times

  • אָחִ֙יךָ֙countryman your

    ʾachikhaH251 →630 times

  • אֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • וַהֲשֵׁבֹת֖וֹand you will return it

    vahashevotoH7725 →1056 times

  • לֽוֹ׃to <the> him

    lo

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 7:12

    In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

    it leads to

    • Luke 6:31

      Do to others as you would have them do to you.

    • Romans 13:8–10

      Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

    • Galatians 5:13–14

      For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

    • Mark 12:29–34

      Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

    • Leviticus 19:18

      Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

  • Through

    1 Thessalonians 4:6

    and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 13:4

      Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

    • Romans 12:19

      Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”

    • Exodus 20:17

      You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 22 →

This page draws on Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; Gregory of Neocaesarea, CANONICAL EPISTLE 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 22 →