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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 Code of Hammurabi §129 and Deuteronomy 22:22

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy follows ancient Near Eastern laws, such as the Code of Hammurabi, that describe punishment specifically for individuals caught in the act of having an affair. Unlike Hammurabi, Deuteronomy does not allow any chance of forgiveness.

Passages

Code of Hammurabi §129

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Babylonian Legal Text
127 If anyone points the finger at a sister of a god or at another man's wife and cannot prove the charge, that man shall be taken before the judges, and his brow shall be marked. 128 If a man takes a woman as his wife but has no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him. 129 If a man's wife is caught lying with another man, both shall be bound and thrown into the water, but the husband may spare his wife, and the king may spare his servant. 130 If a man rapes the betrothed wife of another man, who has never known a man and still lives in her father's house, and he is caught lying with her, that man shall be put to death, but the woman is blameless.
1750 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Code of Hammurabi

Deuteronomy 22:22

Hebrew Bible
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,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

"... Greenberg argues that the fact that every crime is also a sin lays the ground for certain acts to be viewed as absolutely wrong, and transcending the power of humans to forgive. Absolutely wrong and they transcend the power of humans to pardon or forgive. Take for an example, adultery. Deuteronomy 22:22: "If a man is found lying with another man's wife, both of them — the man and the woman with whom he lay — shall die. Thus, you will sweep away evil from Israel." And murder is the other one. Numbers 35:16, "... the murderer must be put to death ..." "You may not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer" [this is now verse 31] "who is guilty of a capital crime; he must be put to death." In the view of the biblical text, adultery and murder are absolutely wrong. They must always be punished regardless of the attitude of the offended parties. So a husband can't say "Oh, that's okay, I don't want to punish my wife; let them have their fun. It's no big deal; I don't mind." (unlike the Code of Hammurabi) ..."
Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (Yale University Open Courses, 2013).

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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Code of Hammurabi §129 and Deuteronomy 22:22

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