the Third Week after Easter
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
Русский синодальный перевод
Левит 22:28
Bible Study Resources
Dictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalBible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
ewe: or, she goat
ye shall not kill it: This law was certainly intended to inculcate mercy and tenderness of heart; and so the Jews have understood it. Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21, Deuteronomy 22:6, Deuteronomy 22:7
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And [whether it be] cow or ewe,.... Or "an ox or sheep" f, for this law, as Aben Ezra says, respects both male and female, and neither the one nor the other with their young might be slain; though Jarchi says, the custom is concerning the female, for it is forbidden to slay the dam and its son, or daughter; but it is not the custom concerning males, wherefore it is lawful to slay the father and the son:
ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day; or, "it and its son" g, the young, whether of a cow or ewe, and whether it be male or female; though Gersom observes, that this law takes place only in the dam and its female young, and not in the father and the son; for it is not manifest, in many animals, who is their father, wherefore he is not guilty of stripes, if the father and his son are slain in one day, even though it is known it is its father: the reason of the law seems to be, to encourage mercy and pity, and to discourage cruelty: hence the Targum of Jonathan is,
"and my people, the children of Israel, as our Father is merciful in heaven, so be ye merciful on earth: a cow, or a sheep, &c.''
f שור או שה "bovem vel pecus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. g אתו ואת בנו "ipsum et filium ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
A law intended to remind the Israelites of the sacredness of the relation between the parent and its offspring. Compare Exodus 23:19 note.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Leviticus 22:28. Ye shall not kill it and her young in one day — This precept was certainly intended to inculcate mercy and tenderness of heart; and so the Jews understood it. When it is necessary to take away the lives of innocent animals for the support of our own, we should do it in such a way as not to blunt our moral feelings; and deplore the necessity, while we feel an express gratitude to God for permission, to do it.