Deuteronomy 22:2
And if thy brother be not nigh, or thou know him not: thou shalt bring them to thy house, and they shall be with thee until thy brother seek them, and receive them.
Open Deuteronomy 22:2 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- etiamsi non est propinquus frater tuus, nec nosti eum : duces in domum tuam, et erunt apud te quamdiu quærat ea frater tuus, et recipiat.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἐγγίζῃ ὁ ἀδελφός σου πρὸς σὲ μηδὲ ἐπίστῃ αὐτόν, συνάξεις αὐτὸν ἔνδον εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν σου, καὶ ἔσται μετὰ σοῦ ἕως ἂν ζητήσῃ αὐτὰ ὁ ἀδελφός σου, καὶ ἀποδώσεις αὐτῷ.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וְאִם לֹ֨א קָר֥וֹב אָחִ֛יךָ אֵלֶ֖יךָ וְלֹ֣א יְדַעְתּ֑וֹ וַאֲסַפְתּוֹ֙ אֶל תּ֣וֹךְ בֵּיתֶ֔ךָ וְהָיָ֣ה עִמְּךָ֗ עַ֣ד דְּרֹ֤שׁ אָחִ֨יךָ֙ אֹת֔וֹ וַהֲשֵׁבֹת֖וֹ לֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Not nigh, either in blood or in place, (Calmet) though the latter signification seems more applicable; as, if the person lived at too great a distance, it would suffice to inform him where he might find what he had lost; and, if the owner was unknown, the thing must be taken care of by him who finds it, till he be discovered. (Du Hamel)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Gregory Thaumaturgus Canonical Epistle, Canon IV
Let no one deceive himself, nor put forward the pretext of having found such property. For it is not lawful, even for a man who has found anything, to aggrandize himself by it. For Deuteronomy says: “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray in the way, and pay no heed to them; but thou shalt in any wise bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother come not nigh thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring them together, and they shall be with thee until thy brother seek after them, and thou shalt restore them to him again. And in like manner shalt thou do with his ass, and so shalt thou do with his raiment, and so shalt thou do with all lost things of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou mayest find.” Thus much in Deuteronomy. …