◄ Deuteronomy 22:6 ►
If you come across a bird's nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young.
Study Bible
If you come across
The phrase suggests an incidental encounter, emphasizing the providential nature of life’s journey. In Hebrew, the word "come across" (מִקְרֶה, miqreh) implies chance or happenstance, reminding us of the divine orchestration in seemingly random events. This highlights the importance of mindfulness and ethical behavior in everyday situations.

a bird’s nest
The nest symbolizes a place of life and nurturing. In ancient Israel, birds were common and their nests were often found in trees or on the ground. The nest represents the delicate balance of nature and the responsibility humans have to protect and preserve it. This imagery calls believers to respect God’s creation and the sanctity of life.

along the way
This phrase indicates the journey of life, where one might encounter various situations requiring moral decisions. The Hebrew term "דרך" (derekh) means road or path, symbolizing life’s journey. It serves as a reminder that ethical living is not confined to specific times or places but is a constant requirement.

in any tree or on the ground
This specifies the common locations of nests, emphasizing that the command applies universally, regardless of the nest’s location. It reflects the omnipresence of God’s creation and the need for consistent ethical behavior. The mention of both tree and ground underscores the inclusivity of God’s laws.

with chicks or eggs
The presence of chicks or eggs signifies potential life and the future generation. In Hebrew culture, this represents the continuity of life and the importance of nurturing and protecting the young. It underscores the value of life at all stages and the responsibility to safeguard it.

and the mother sitting on the chicks or eggs
This image of the mother bird caring for her young highlights the natural order and maternal instinct. It reflects God’s design for creation, where the mother’s role is to protect and nurture. This serves as a metaphor for God’s care for His people and the importance of respecting familial bonds.

you must not take the mother with the young
This commandment is a call to compassion and ethical treatment of animals. The Hebrew verb "take" (לָקַח, laqach) implies seizing or capturing, which is prohibited here to prevent cruelty and ensure the survival of the species. It teaches the principle of mercy and the importance of allowing life to flourish.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Bird's Nest
Represents a natural setting where birds reproduce and nurture their young. It is a symbol of God's creation and the care He has for all living things.

2. Mother Bird
The adult bird caring for its young, symbolizing parental care and the importance of preserving life.

3. Chicks or Eggs
The offspring or potential offspring, representing the future generation and the continuity of life.

4. The Road
A common place where one might encounter a bird's nest, symbolizing the everyday journey of life and the encounters we have with God's creation.

5. The Command
A directive from God to show compassion and respect for life, reflecting His character and the value He places on all creatures.
Teaching Points
Compassionate Stewardship
God calls us to be compassionate stewards of His creation, reflecting His love and care in our treatment of animals and the environment.

Respect for Life
This command teaches us to respect life in all its forms, recognizing the interconnectedness of creation and our role in preserving it.

Balance of Use and Conservation
While we may use natural resources, we must do so responsibly, ensuring that we do not exploit or harm the potential for future life.

Reflection of God's Character
Our actions towards creation should mirror God's character, demonstrating kindness, mercy, and respect for all living things.

Practical Compassion
This law encourages us to practice compassion in practical ways, even in seemingly small actions, as a reflection of our faith and obedience to God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the command in Deuteronomy 22:6 reflect God's character and His care for creation?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of compassionate stewardship in our daily lives?

3. How does respecting life in all its forms influence our relationship with God and others?

4. What are some modern examples of balancing the use and conservation of natural resources?

5. How can we ensure that our actions towards the environment reflect the teachings of Jesus and the broader biblical account?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1:28
This verse speaks of humanity's dominion over the earth, which includes a responsibility to care for God's creation, aligning with the compassionate treatment of animals in Deuteronomy 22:6.

Proverbs 12:10
This verse highlights the righteous care for animals, reinforcing the principle of kindness and stewardship found in Deuteronomy 22:6.

Matthew 6:26
Jesus speaks of God's care for the birds, reminding us of His provision and the value He places on all His creatures, which is echoed in the compassionate command of Deuteronomy 22:6.
Sermons
Bird's NestJ. Parker, D. D.Deuteronomy 22:6-7
Birds' NestsR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 22:6, 7
God's Care for BirdsD. Davies Deuteronomy 22:6, 7
How to Take a Bird's NestS. Cox, D. D.Deuteronomy 22:6-7
The Bird's NestH. Melvill, B. D.Deuteronomy 22:6-7
The Law of the Bird's NestT. Champness.Deuteronomy 22:6-7
The Minutiae of ConductJ. Orr Deuteronomy 22:6-12
People
Hen, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor
Topics
Across, Along, Beside, Bird, Bird's, Brood, Chance, Dam, Eggs, Either, Ground, Hen, Itself, Nest, Ones, Road, Seated, Sitting, Tree, Whether
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 22:6

     5972   unkindness

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

     4029   world, human beings in
     4612   birds
     4675   nest
     5023   image of God
     5025   killing
     5053   responsibility, for world
     8472   respect, for environment

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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