Nine Civil Laws

Click here to read Deuteronomy 22.

Chapter 22 deals with statutes covering everyday offenses. Nine Civil Laws are covered in this chapter:

  1. If you find a stray animal, you must try to find the owner. If you cannot, you must keep it until the owner comes looking for it.
  2. If you see someone in need of help, you must not look the other way.
  3. Men should not wear woman's clothing and women should not wear men's clothing. This is an abomination to the Lord.
  4. A person may take the eggs or the young birds from the nest but they cannot take the mother.
  5. A house with a flat roof must have a handrail around the edge of the roof to keep people from falling off.
  6. If you plant a crop in the same field with a crop that is dedicated to the Lord, both become consecrated.
  7. Do not unequally yoke animals together. An ox and a donkey are not compatible.
  8. Do not mix fibers that are not compatible in the making of cloth.
  9. Tassels are to be hung from the four corners of your outer coat. (Num. 15:38)

These last four laws were given to set the Israelite apart from other people. They were to be constant reminders that God's chosen people were to be different as the ox is different from the donkey.


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