Text: Deuteronomy 22:1
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 23:4
Subject: tending neighbor's animal
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Exodus 23:4 commands returning a straying animal even if it belongs to an enemy (אֹיְבְךָ, oyevkha, "your enemy"), while Deuteronomy 22:1 broadens this to any "brother's" (אָחִיךָ, achikha) wandering animal: "You must not see your brother's ox or sheep going astray and ignore it; you must surely return it to your brother." The shift from "enemy" in Exodus to "brother" in Deuteronomy may reflect different rhetorical emphases—Exodus makes the hardest case (even your enemy's animal), while Deuteronomy emphasizes fraternal obligation within the covenant community. Both laws prohibit indifference to a neighbor's property loss and require active intervention to restore straying animals.