Deuteronomy 22:11

22:5-12 God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, and his precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord, as we are under his eye and care. Yet the tendency of these laws, which seem little, is such, that being found among the things of God's law, they are to be accounted great things. If we would prove ourselves to be God's people, we must have respect to his will and to his glory, and not to the vain fashions of the world. Even in putting on our garments, as in eating or in drinking, all must be done with a serious regard to preserve our own and others' purity in heart and actions. Our eye should be single, our heart simple, and our behaviour all of a piece.

Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts,.... The Jews say nothing is forbidden under the name of sorts but what is spun and wove, as it is said, "thou shalt not wear sheatnez", a thing that is carded, spun, and wove (l); which Ainsworth translates "linsie woolsie", and is explained by what follows: as "of woollen and linen together"; of which See Gill on Leviticus 19:19 , whereas Josephus (m) observes, this was granted to the priests only to wear such garments. Bochart (n) affirms it to be false; but that great man is mistaken; the blue, purple, and scarlet, in the priests' garments, were no other than dyed wool; and it is a sentiment in general received by the Jews, that the priests wore no other but woollen and linen in their service; see the note on the above place; otherwise this law is so strictly observed, as not, to sew a woollen garment with linen thread, and so on the contrary (o). (l) Misn. Celaim. c. 9. sect. 8. (m) Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 11. (n) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 45. col. 491. (o) Leo Modena's History of Rites, &c. l. 1. c. 5.

(11) A garment . . . of woollen and linen together. —In Ezekiel 44:17-18 , the priests are altogether forbidden the use of woollen garments during their ministry. “The fine linen is the righteousness of saints” ( Revelation 19:8 ), literally, their requirements. That is what they need. But it is said of the priests in Ezekiel, “They shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat: That which cometh out of the man defileth him.” Again, in God’s dwelling-place, the interior or mishkân, the tabernacle where He abode, was of fine linen. The outer tent and coverings were of hair and skin and wool. The tabernacle where He dwells, and the earthly house of the tabernacle, must be kept distinct, while His tabernacle “remaineth among us in the midst of our uncleanness.” (See Leviticus 16:16 ).

Verse 11. - A garment of diverse sorts ; sha'atnez , a kind of cloth in which threads of linen and threads of woollen were interwoven. The meaning of the word is uncertain. The LXX. render by κίβδηλος , "spurious, bad;" Aquila, by ἀντιδιακείμενον , "variously disposed, diverse." No Semitic etymology can be found for the word, and as the Hebrews derived the textile art from Egypt, the home of that art, the word is probably of Egyptian origin. Deuteronomy 22:11

Compare the marginal reference. The prohibition of Deuteronomy 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 Isaiah 32:20 .

11 . a mingled stuff ] Heb. sha‘aṭnez , a foreign word, and perhaps Egyptian (doubtfully derived from the Coptic saht , ‘woven,’ and nudj , ‘false’), LXX κίβδηλος . Also in Leviticus 19:19 , which has a garment of two kinds for the wool and linen together of D. According to Hosea 2:5 ; Hosea 2:9 , Israel attributed her wool and flax (and other products) to the Baalîm, and if as is probable different products were attributed to different Baals we have a confirmation of the theory stated above in the introd. note. Josephus, IV. Antt. Deuteronomy 8:11 , gives another reason.

5 . and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God ] Love, mentioned in JE as an affection between human beings (father and son, husband and wife, slave and master) and in H as a duty both to neighbour-Israelites and to strangers ( Leviticus 19:18 ; Leviticus 19:34 ), is never in the Hexateuch described as entering into the relation of man to God except in D and deuteronomic passages, where it is enforced with impressive frequency and fulness as the fundamental religious duty; in the deuteronomic expansion of the Decalogue Exodus 20:6 = Deuteronomy 5:10 ; cp. Deuteronomy 7:9 , also Deuteronomy 10:12 ; Deuteronomy 11:1 ; Deuteronomy 11:13 ; Deuteronomy 11:22 ; Deuteronomy 13:3 ; Deuteronomy 19:9 ; Deuteronomy 30:6 ; Deuteronomy 30:16 ; Deuteronomy 30:20 (of which only Deuteronomy 11:13 ; Deuteronomy 11:22 and Deuteronomy 13:3 are Pl.), and the deuteronomic passages Joshua 22:5 ; Joshua 23:11 . It must be noted that prophecy had already used the term ethically ( Amos 5:15 love the good ) and religiously, for Hosea, besides frequently emphasising God’s love to Israel ( Deuteronomy 3:1 , Deuteronomy 9:15 , Deuteronomy 11:1 ; Deuteronomy 11:4 , Deuteronomy 14:4 ), and in terms so warm as to inevitably excite their love to God, describes also the relation of men to their gods as one of love and calls Jehovah the husband of Israel ( Deuteronomy 2:7 ; Deuteronomy 2:13 , Deuteronomy 9:10 ).

Still less were they to expose human life to danger through carelessness. "If thou build a new house, make a rim (maakeh) - i.e., a balustrade - to thy roof, that thou bring not blood-guiltiness upon thy house, if any one fall from it." The roofs of the Israelitish houses were flat, as they mostly are in the East, so that the inhabitants often lived upon them ( Joshua 2:6 ; 2 Samuel 11:2 ; Matthew 10:27 ). - In Deuteronomy 22:9-11 , there follow several prohibitions against mixing together the things which are separated in God's creation, consisting partly of a verbal repetition of Leviticus 19:19 (see the explanation of this passage). - To this there is appended in Deuteronomy 22:12 the law concerning the tassels upon the hem of the upper garment ( Numbers 15:37 .), which were to remind the Israelites of their calling, to walk before the Lord in faithful fulfilment of the commandments of God (see the commentary upon this passage).