Text: Deuteronomy 22:1-4
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 23:4-5
Subject: stray animal and fallen donkey laws — parallel legislation
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Exodus 23:4-5 commands returning a straying animal (even an enemy's) and helping an overburdened donkey, while Deuteronomy 22:1-4 restates both laws with expanded scope and emphasis on the prohibition against indifference: "You must not hide yourself" (לֹא תוּכַל לְהִתְעַלֵּם, lo tukhal lehit'allem). Deuteronomy's version replaces "enemy" with "brother," adds lost garments and other possessions to the categories requiring return, and uses the emphatic double verb construction (הָשֵׁב תְּשִׁיבֵם, hashev teshivem) to underscore the obligation. Both legal collections establish active neighborly responsibility rather than passive non-interference as the ethical standard.