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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 22

1 When you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; you must return it without fail to your neighbor.⁠ 2 If the owner does not live near you or you do not know who the owner is, then you must corral the animal at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 4 When you see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; instead, you must be sure to help him get the animal on its feet again.⁠ 5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord your God. 6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them, you must not take away a mother that is with her young. 7 You must be sure to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life. 8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guardrail around your roof to avoid being culpable in the event someone should fall from it.⁠ 9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed;⁠ otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. 10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together. 12 You shall make yourselves tassels for the four corners of the clothing you wear.⁠ 13 Suppose a man marries a woman, sleeps with her, and then rejects her,⁠ 14 accusing her of impropriety and defaming her reputation by saying, “I married this woman but when I approached her for marital relations I discovered she was not a virgin!” 15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity for the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected her. 17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out before the city’s elders. 18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish him. 19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives. 20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin,⁠ 21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge the evil from among you. 22 If a man is discovered in bed with a married woman, both the man lying in bed with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge the evil from Israel.⁠ 23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets her in the city and goes to bed with her, 24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated his neighbor’s fiancée; in this way you will purge evil from among you. 25 But if the man came across the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped her, then only the rapist must die. 26 You must not do anything to the young woman—she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person and murders him, 27 for the man met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her. 28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and takes hold of her and sleeps with her and they are discovered. 29 The man who has slept with her must pay her father 50 shekels of silver and she must become his wife. Because he has humiliated her, he may never divorce her as long as he lives. 30 (23:1) A man may not marry his father’s former wife and in this way uncover his father's cloak.57⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 22:20 and Matthew 1:19 and Protoevangelium of James 14

Hebrew Bible · New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

The Protoevangelium of James expands the story of Matthew by showing Joseph deciding how to respond to Mary’s pregnancy. His struggle draws on the commands in Deuteronomy about accusations and virginity, explaining his hesitation to marry her.

Passages

Deuteronomy 22:20

Hebrew Bible
16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected her. 17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out before the city’s elders. 18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish him. 19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives. 20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Matthew 1:19

New Testament
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. 20 When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Protoevangelium of James 14

Early Christian · Gospel of James
14 Joseph was deeply afraid and withdrew from Mary, thinking about what he should do. He said to himself, “If I cover up her sin, I will be going against the law of the Lord; but if I expose her to the people of Israel, I fear that what’s inside her might be from an angel, and I’ll be responsible for condemning innocent blood to death. What should I do? I’ll quietly divorce her.” As night fell, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Don’t be afraid because of this girl, for what’s conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you will name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Joseph woke from his dream, glorifying the God of Israel for the grace he had been given, and he watched over her.
150–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Protoevangelium of James

References

"... The Matthean materials interrupt the original sequence of the narrative in The Protevangelium of James 14:01a and continue to the end of chapter 14. An intermediary passage occurs between Protevangelium 14:01b and the close parallels with Matthew that begin at Protoevangelium 14:04b. Protoevangelium 14:01b-04a represents an expansion of Matthew 1:19, in which Joseph has made his decision to put Mary away in secret immediately after she was found pregnant in Matthew 1:18. But in Protoevangelium 14:01b-04a, Joseph engages in an internal dialogue considering what he should do about Mary. Joseph pondered two options. In Protoevangelium 14:02, he considered the risk that if he hid her sin, he would violate the law of the Lord. (Compare the marriage laws in Deuteronomy 22:13-30 according to which Mary would be guilty of a capital offense and would be stoned to death.) In Protoevangelium 14:03, he thought of exposing her but feared that if her child was of “angelic” origin, he would be guilty of betraying innocent blood to a judgment of death ..."
George Zervos, The Protevangelium of James: Greek Text and English Translation with a Critical Introduction (Volume 1) (London: T&T Clark, 2019), 64.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 22:20 and Matthew 1:19 and Protoevangelium of James 14

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