Deuteronomy 22:11














What was, in primitive days, matter for direct revelation from God, is now ascertained by scientific observation. Herein we learn that revelation and science spring from one origin and subserve one end - the good of men. And herein we may learn God's fatherly care for his children in the days of their infancy.

I. GREATEST FERTILITY IN NATURE IS TO BE SOUGHT. It is man's province to bring out the greatest productiveness in fields and fruit trees. Pruning, manuring, and grafting are essential. The vine needs especial care, and is susceptible of great increase of fruitfulness. So delicate is the blossom of the vine that the pollen of other plants in the vicinity, coming into contact, injures the formation of the fruit. It is a joy to God to see the trees of the field fruitful; how much more to see abundant fruitfulness in us! "Herein is our Father glorified." The least of God's commandments is profitable to observe.

II. NEEDLESS BURDENS ON ANIMALS FORBIDDEN. Every beast is appointed to be the servant of man; but man is required to act towards the inferior creation in God's stead. The burden of service laid upon oxen and asses is heavy enough; let it not be wantonly increased. Both the ox and the ass suffered from an unequal yoking in the plough. God saw the painful effect, and felt grieved. Animal feeling is a gift from God, and is intended to be for enjoyment. We may act in harmony with God, and increase that enjoyment; or we may, in part, frustrate his plan. In every act of man God takes lively interest. All day long he is approving or censuring.

III. OUR PIETY IS TO BE SEEN IN OUR RAIMENT. It is very probable that this prohibition about dress was to counteract a custom among idolaters - a custom which led to superstitious feeling. Some solid reason was at the root of the counsel, whether we can discover that reason or not. Our raiment is in some measure the exponent of our religion. If "Holiness to the Lord" is predicted as the motto to be found on the bells of the horses, so, and much more, should consecration to God be conspicuous on our dress and demeanor. Our raiment often serves as an ensign, and denotes to what party we belong - the Church or the world. If simplicity, modesty, beauty, sterling quality, be in our dress, these are ornaments of our holy faith. Whatever we do, or however we dress, be this our aim, to please God. A child will never be ashamed to acknowledge its father. - D.

Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts.
I. THAT THIS PRECEPT EXHIBITS A "POSITIVE" DUTY. The ground of this ordinance is to be sought for, not in the nature of things, but in the will of God.

II. THAT AS THE INCULCATION OF A POSITIVE DUTY THE PRECEPT OF THE TEXT WAS NOT SO BINDING UPON THE JEWS AS THOSE DUTIES WHICH WERE WHOLLY MORAL. A Jew might be reduced to the alternative either of wearing no garment at all, or of wearing one woven of woollen and linen together. The preservation of health is a moral duty, and therefore more important than the observance of a ritual precept.

III. THAT WE, WHO LIVE UNDER THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION, ARE NOT BOUND TO OBSERVE THIS PRECEPT AT ALL. Neither sowing your fields with wheat and rye together, nor ploughing with horses and oxen together, nor wearing a garment of wool, or of linen, or of divers sorts, availeth anything, "but a new creature."

IV. THAT WHILE WE ARE UNDER NO MANNER OF OBLIGATION TO OBSERVE THIS PRECEPT IN ITS LITERAL MEANING, STILL THE MORAL PRINCIPLE WHICH UNDERLIES THAT MEANING, AND WHICH IT WAS INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATE, IS AS BINDING NOW AS EVER — AS BINDING UPON US AS IT WAS UPON THE JEWS. This prohibition, in its primary application to the Israelites, was doubtless intended to show that they were not to mingle themselves with the heathen, nor to weave any of the usages of the Gentiles into the ordinances of God. This is the spirit of the precept, and it is as binding upon us as it was upon them. We are to avoid an accommodating way of dealing with the Divine law. We are not to alter its sacred principles to suit the temper of the times, and the habits of the world.

(R. Harley.)

I. THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH ALL GOD'S PEOPLE MUST WEAR. It may perhaps be said, that as the text merely forbids our interweaving woollen and linen together, it leaves it at our choice whether the garment of our salvation shall be woollen or linen. But it is not so. It must be of linen, and of fine linen only (Revelation 19:7, 8). This robe of righteousness is for two purposes.

1. For their justification. The robe of righteousness must not only be such as Jehovah can accept, but it must be such as He cannot reject — it must be the pure, perfect, supernatural, Divine righteousness of an incarnate God.

2. And this robe of righteousness is not only for our justification, but for our sanctification also. The man who has the robe of Christ's righteousness upon him, must have the influences of Christ's Spirit within him, for it is only by our sanctification that we can prove the reality of our justification. There is a renewing process as well as a reconciling one.

II. THE OFFENSIVENESS OF ALL ATTEMPTS TO WEAVE ANYTHING WITH IT.

1. It is an insult to God the Father, who has determined that every child of His family shall be habited in the one robe of the family — the perfect spotless garment of His only begotten Son, "unto and upon all them that believe." How, then, must that man expect to be dealt with, who, in the wantonness of his resistance to God's method of salvation, shall refuse to rest solely on the righteousness of God's own Son, or shall dream of adding thereto his own imperfect and perishable doings? The consequence can only be, that all the sanctions and severities of God's unchanging law will be let loose upon him in all their force, if he ventures either on his own merits only, in a woollen garment, or conjointly on his own and on the Saviour's in a garment of linen and woollen together, and thus refuse his undivided reliance on Him alone, who magnified the law and made it honourable.

2. Nor, assuredly, is there less insult offered to God the Son, in this attempt to combine works and grace in the matter of salvation. For what purpose was His mission to our world? Did He not pour out His soul an offering for sin, and by His obedience unto death bring in everlasting righteousness? Think you, then, that this great and gracious Saviour will consent to be insulted by men's attempts to join their works with His, and to "wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together," when the fine linen only of His finished work — dyed in His precious blood — is the righteousness of the saints? Know ye not that He lays an absolute claim to all the honour of our salvation? That He will suffer no righteousness to be put in competition with His? That He will not give His glory, nor the least degree of it, to another?

(R. C. Dillon, D. D.)

The woollen garment in the text is a shadow of the righteousness of the law or the righteousness of works; the linen also is a shadow of the righteousness of faith, or Christ's righteousness. To speak after the manner of the Gospel, the text teacheth us not to blend both together. There are three sorts of preachers who receive the Scripture and confess the God of Abraham.

1. The first are such as preach the law alone, and these are generally Jews, and men of their spirit.

2. The second sort are evangelists or true Gospel preachers, ministers of the New Testament, who preach only the Lord our righteousness, and who will know nothing among their congregations, and souls committed to their charge, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

3. There are others who sin against the law, and against the Gospel, blending both together, and teaching the people to wear the garment of linen and woollen, of all which I intend to speak freely. I do not wonder that St. Peter calls the law a yoke, which neither they nor their fathers could bear, because it must have been so to them who heard not plainly of Jesus and His salvation. Who, under the law, could have any comfort when he knew he was under the curse as long as he continued not in all things of the book of the law to do them? The more sincere the more unhappy such were who served under the law, and heard of no way to heaven but a perfect obedience to all the ordinances of God. The true Christian preacher is one whom the God of the whole earth, the Lord who gave the law, has taught, and who is convinced that the law was given to make sin known, and to make it more exceedingly sinful, and that righteousness comes not by that means, but by Christ Jesus, who is become righteousness to everyone that believeth; and having heard the Gospel with ears to hear, and having understood the gracious sayings of Jesus, and been a witness himself both of the deplorable estate under the law and the deliverance by the merits and Cross of the Lamb, determines only to know and preach Him crucified everywhere. This is the only white linen, the only righteousness which the saints wear above, and which can make them beautiful and fair in the eyes of God Almighty, and in the sight of His holy angels. There are yet other preachers who, in a measure, preach the law, and seem as if they believed morality and obedience were the only cause of our being accepted with God. They insist upon the necessity of making ourselves righteous, but lest they should awaken the consciences of those who hear them, they tell them, When you have done all you can, Christ will do the rest; He will make perfect your good works with His righteousness; you must begin and set about the work by repenting and living a religious life; and if that is not sufficient, when you come to die He will supply the deficiency and make it up with His merits. This is the device of man entirely, and cannot be found in all the Scripture. This is crying peace when there is no peace, and healing the wound slightly. This is mingling the woollen and linen together, and making the commandment of God void by the traditions of men. However the Lord approves of the faithfulness of His people, and will greatly reward their good works and labours of love which have been done for HIS name's sake, and blames such whose works were faulty; yet that righteousness which saves the soul, and is the only proper righteousness, is the obedience, sufferings, and merits of our crucified God and Lord Jesus Christ; and this is imputed to us by believing in Him. This was the way in which the father of the faithful found righteousness, and was justified in the eight of God, and in this only a soul can be clothed at the great day. Have you never made any show of religion, but have lived altogether without seeking righteousness hitherto? Now let it be so no more; come now to Jesus, the Friend of publicans and sinners, and He who hanged naked on the Cross will hide your shame. Or, are you devout and religious? Have you attempted by the law and striven by works to become righteous, and when ye failed patched up your rags with Christ's merits, God's mercy, and the like? Have ye, to quiet your conscience, mingled the woollen and linen together? Now, then, throw away the linsey-woolsey cloth, the forbidden garment, the unclean and illegal dress, and approach naked to Him who clothes the lilies of the field, and He will be your covering, and you shall appear at His wedding in linen clean and white.

(John Cennick.)

1. Such a command may seem very strange to us — that they were not to mix wool and linen in the same garment; but after mature reflection, we are led to see the infinite care God has over the smallest interests of His people; it shows, also, that God sees an infinite fitness of things which is too fine for our gross apprehension.

2. Scripture has its only true and preeminent meaning when applied to the inner moral robing of Christians. We are not to have our soul's garniture mixed, partly of the wool of carnality and partly of the linen of spirituality. Grant that the great majority of believers, or more strictly half-believers, are sadly mixed in their religious character and experience; grant also that every Christian is mixed — partly spiritual and partly carnal — in the first stage of grace, yet the only and universal standard in the Scriptures of Divine truth is unmixedness of moral character.

(H. Daniel.).

People
Hen, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor
Topics
Cloth, Clothes, Clothing, Divers, Garment, Linen, Material, Mingled, Mixed, Sorts, Stuff, Thread, Wear, Wool, Woolen, Woven
Outline
1. Of humanity toward brothers
5. The sex is to be distinguished by apparel
6. The bird is not to be taken with her young ones
8. The house must have battlements
9. Confusion is to be avoided
12. Tassels upon the vesture
13. The punishment of him who slanders his wife
22. of adultery
23. of rape
28. of fornication
30. of incest

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 22:11

     4693   wool
     5392   linen

Deuteronomy 22:11-12

     5145   clothing

Library
Spiritual Farming. --No. 2 Ploughing.
There have been during the last few years great improvements in the construction of the plough, but no one dreams of any substitute for it. Ploughing is as necessary as sowing; that is to say, the land must be stirred and prepared for the seed. In heavenly husbandry there are some well-meaning folk who would dispense with the plough, and preach faith without repentance, but only to find that the birds of the air get most of the seed! If there is to be an abiding work there must be conviction of
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

If any Woman, under Pretence of Asceticism, Shall Change Her Apparel And...
If any woman, under pretence of asceticism, shall change her apparel and, instead of a woman's accustomed clothing, shall put on that of a man, let her be anathema. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XIII. Whatever women wear men's clothes, anathema to them. Hefele. The synodal letter in its sixth article also speaks of this. Exchange of dress, or the adoption by one sex of the dress of the other, was forbidden in the Pentateuch (Deut. xxii. 5), and was therefore most strictly interdicted by the whole
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Excursus on the Word Theotokos .
There have been some who have tried to reduce all the great theological controversies on the Trinity and on the Incarnation to mere logomachies, and have jeered at those who could waste their time and energies over such trivialities. For example, it has been said that the real difference between Arius and Athanasius was nothing more nor less than an iota, and that even Athanasius himself, in his more placid, and therefore presumably more rational moods, was willing to hold communion with those who
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

The Story of the Adulteress.
(Jerusalem.) ^D John VII. 53-VIII. 11. [This section is wanting in nearly all older manuscripts, but Jerome (a.d. 346-420) says that in his time it was contained in "many Greek and Latin manuscripts," and these must have been as good or better than the best manuscripts we now possess. But whether we regard it as part of John's narrative or not, scholars very generally accept it as a genuine piece of history.] ^d 53 And they went every man unto his own house [confused by the question of Nicodemus,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

List of Abbreviations Used in Reference to Rabbinic Writings Quoted in this Work.
THE Mishnah is always quoted according to Tractate, Chapter (Pereq) and Paragraph (Mishnah), the Chapter being marked in Roman, the paragraph in ordinary Numerals. Thus Ber. ii. 4 means the Mishnic Tractate Berakhoth, second Chapter, fourth Paragraph. The Jerusalem Talmud is distinguished by the abbreviation Jer. before the name of the Tractate. Thus, Jer. Ber. is the Jer. Gemara, or Talmud, of the Tractate Berakhoth. The edition, from which quotations are made, is that commonly used, Krotoschin,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Whether There is to be a Resurrection of the Body?
Objection 1: It would seem that there is not to be a resurrection of the body: for it is written (Job 14:12): "Man, when he is fallen asleep, shall not rise again till the heavens be broken." But the heavens shall never be broken, since the earth, to which seemingly this is still less applicable, "standeth for ever" (Eccles. 1:4). Therefore the man that is dead shall never rise again. Objection 2: Further, Our Lord proves the resurrection by quoting the words: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Annunciation to Joseph of the Birth of Jesus.
(at Nazareth, b.c. 5.) ^A Matt. I. 18-25. ^a 18 Now the birth [The birth of Jesus is to handled with reverential awe. We are not to probe into its mysteries with presumptuous curiosity. The birth of common persons is mysterious enough (Eccl. ix. 5; Ps. cxxxix. 13-16), and we do not well, therefore, if we seek to be wise above what is written as to the birth of the Son of God] of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed [The Jews were usually betrothed ten or twelve months
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Parable of the Good Samaritan.
(Probably Judæa.) ^C Luke X. 25-37. ^c 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? [For the term lawyer see pp. 313, 314, The lawyer wished to make trial of the skill of Jesus in solving the intricate and difficult question as to how to obtain salvation. Jesus was probably teaching in some house or courtyard, and his habit of giving local color to his parables suggests that he was probably in or near Bethany, through
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Healing of the Woman - Christ's Personal Appearance - the Raising of Jairus' Daughter
THERE seems remarkable correspondence between the two miracles which Jesus had wrought on leaving Capernaum and those which He did on His return. In one sense they are complementary to each other. The stilling of the storm and the healing of the demonised were manifestations of the absolute power inherent in Christ; the recovery of the woman and the raising of Jairus' daughter, evidence of the absolute efficacy of faith. The unlikeliness of dominion over the storm, and of command over a legion of
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Among the People, and with the Pharisees
It would have been difficult to proceed far either in Galilee or in Judaea without coming into contact with an altogether peculiar and striking individuality, differing from all around, and which would at once arrest attention. This was the Pharisee. Courted or feared, shunned or flattered, reverently looked up to or laughed at, he was equally a power everywhere, both ecclesiastically and politically, as belonging to the most influential, the most zealous, and the most closely-connected religions
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Barren Fig-Tree. Temple Cleansed.
(Road from Bethany and Jerusalem. Monday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXI. 18, 19, 12, 13; ^B Mark XI. 12-18; ^C Luke XIX. 45-48. ^b 12 And ^a 18 Now ^b on the morrow [on the Monday following the triumphal entry], ^a in the morning ^b when they were come out from Bethany, ^a as he returned to the city [Jerusalem], he hungered. [Breakfast with the Jews came late in the forenoon, and these closing days of our Lord's ministry were full of activity that did not have time to tarry at Bethany for it. Our
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
In order accurately to understand the position of woman in Israel, it is only necessary carefully to peruse the New Testament. The picture of social life there presented gives a full view of the place which she held in private and in public life. Here we do not find that separation, so common among Orientals at all times, but a woman mingles freely with others both at home and abroad. So far from suffering under social inferiority, she takes influential and often leading part in all movements, specially
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

How Does it Come?
How does the Filling of the Spirit come? "Does it come once for all? or is it always coming, as it were?" was a question addressed to me once by a young candidate for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. There are many asking the same question. We have considered how the Fullness is obtained, but now we proceed to consider, How does the Fullness come? In speaking of the blessing of being filled with the Spirit, the New Testament writers use three tenses in the Greek--the Aorist, the Imperfect, and the
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

The Development of the Earlier Old Testament Laws
[Sidenote: First the principle, and then the detailed laws] If the canon of the New Testament had remained open as long as did that of the Old, there is little doubt that it also would have contained many laws, legal precedents, and ecclesiastical histories. From the writings of the Church Fathers and the records of the Catholic Church it is possible to conjecture what these in general would have been. The early history of Christianity illustrates the universal fact that the broad principles are
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf.
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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