Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
The command forbids hitching together for plowing an ox, a clean animal, and an ass or donkey, an unclean animal, even though both animals were useful and were not to be joined in the same work. The prohibition shows care for animals and requires consideration for working beasts, because their different harnesses or yokes would cause discomfort. The yoking would be cruel to both animals because their different dispositions and temperaments would subject them to an unequal and painful restraint, and for that reason the command is merciful. The same principle is illustrated by yoking a camel with an ox.
The rule about how the soil was to be cultivated shows that ordinary work and the practical details of daily life were meant to educate in holiness and to point to the Redeemer who takes away the sins of the world. The rule illustrates the principle that unlike things should not be joined in a way that dulls moral sensibility. It teaches avoidance of incongruous, unholy mixtures and alliances, since as the animals differ in nature so God's people differ from the world in nature and motive, and neither side benefits from such a union. It teaches that God's people may use what the world offers without joining themselves to its evil. The verse stands among the ritual requirements about sowing, harvesting, tithes, and offerings that burdened the people.
The command forbids hitching together for plowing an ox, a clean animal, and an ass or donkey, an unclean animal, even though both animals were useful and were not to be joined in the same work. The prohibition shows care for animals and requires consideration for working beasts, because their different harnesses or yokes would cause discomfort. The yoking would be cruel to both animals because their different dispositions and temperaments would subject them to an unequal and painful restraint, and for that reason the command is merciful. The same principle is illustrated by yoking a camel with an ox.
The rule about how the soil was to be cultivated shows that ordinary work and the practical details of daily life were meant to educate in holiness and to point to the Redeemer who takes away the sins of the world. The rule illustrates the principle that unlike things should not be joined in a way that dulls moral sensibility. It teaches avoidance of incongruous, unholy mixtures and alliances, since as the animals differ in nature so God's people differ from the world in nature and motive, and neither side benefits from such a union. It teaches that God's people may use what the world offers without joining themselves to its evil. The verse stands among the ritual requirements about sowing, harvesting, tithes, and offerings that burdened the people.