Deuteronomy 22:6

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4 ^a“You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.

5 “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are¹ an abomination to the Lord your God.

6 “If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, ^ayou shall not take the mother with the young;

7 you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, ^athat it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

8 “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

9 ^a“You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Deuteronomy 22:6.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

Is God pleading the cause of the weak? It would be very easy to take the whole kit and caboodle, would it not? God says, "Oh no, you can't do that. You shouldn't do it. You can take the young, but you can't take the mother." There might be several reasons for that. One might be to be sure that the species is preserved, so that the breed, or whatever, it is not wiped out and that reproduction will surely follow.

There is also the possible implication that the adult animal, the mother, has known only a life as living free, and that it should not be brought into captivity. That is an interesting one to pursue. Does an animal have feelings? The proverb indicates it. "He knows his animal's feelings." They feel a sense of being deprived of liberty. Do they have a feeling of frustration, or are they capable of the feeling of frustration at being caged in when they have only known being free?

I cannot feel like an animal can feel, but God gives me enough of an indication to know that there is some ability to feel those things that we are so familiar with, and that they are weak, they are able to be taken advantage of, and God says, "Don't you dare," because He is going to plead their cause. They cannot fight back the way we can fight back.

Excerpted from Lessons From the Animals

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