Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Luke 14:5
• Matthew 6:26

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 22:4
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 22:6-7
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 22:10
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 25:4
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 20:9-10
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:5
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:10-12
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:19
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 34:26
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 1:26-28
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 22:28
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 12:10
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 27:23
  Jewish Commentary
• Psalms 145:9
  Jewish Commentary

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

This Mitzvah is derived from the above Scriptures that teach (specifically or impliedly) that we must have humane compassion for the animals of God's creation. Since acting cruelly is the opposite of acting humanely, this Mitzvah could have been expressed as "We are not to cruelly treat God's creatures over which we have dominion." The emphasis on "dominion" (KJV and NKJV) is important in order to clarify that our rule over God's created animals (as expressed in Genesis 1:26-28 ) is not without limits. We can use animals for our benefit (and may even slay them for appropriate and permitted reasons) but we are not to abuse them since they, as we, have feelings on varying levels of complexity. The most primitive of these feelings are pain, hunger, and procreative urges, but the higher forms of animals have other feelings as well that we call emotions. Although the relevance of each Scripture referenced above is, for the most part, clear on its face, I nevertheless offer the following explanatory comments: Exodus 20:9-10 and 23:12 compassionately extend Sabbath rest to our livestock. Exodus 23:5 requires that we help an enemy with his fallen animal, thereby showing compassion for both our enemy and for his animal. Deuteronomy 22:4 is similar and broader in applying, as well, to those who are not our enemies. Exodus 23:10-11 commands that we not cultivate or harvest our land during the Sabbatical Year, so that those who are poor among us (as well as the wild animals in the countryside) can eat from that which grows of its own accord. Exodus 23:19 and 34:26 both state that we must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Interpreting these Scriptures literally leads to the traditional rabbinic prohibition against mixing dairy foods with meat which, I contend, is not their intended meaning. Boiling (perhaps killing in the process) a baby animal using its mother's milk - milk intended for giving the young animal nourishment and life - is so perverted and inherently cruel a use of mother's milk as to cry out to us: "Do not treat the animals of God's creation inhumanely as do the heathens." Leviticus 22:28 teaches that slaughtering an animal and her young on the same day is wrong. Why is it wrong? I believe it is because it shows a callous disregard of the parental relationship that is holy even among animals. Deuteronomy 22:6-7 recognizes the probable maternal pain that a mother bird experiences when she sees her eggs or her young taken for our consumption. Releasing the mother bird first, spares her from witnessing the fate of her offspring, and frees her to bear other young to replace those that are lost. Deuteronomy 22:10 reminds us that it is inhumane to yoke together, animals that pull with different strengths, because the stronger of them inevitably drag the weaker. Deuteronomy 25:4 reminds us that it is inhumane to keep an animal from eating in a place where there is a visible and tempting abundance of food. Although human beings are among God's "creatures", this Mitzvah is not intended to apply to human beings because humans do not have dominion over each other.

Classical commentators

Notwithstanding the several mitzvot that are presented in support of this Mitzvah , "Being Humane in Our Dominion over God's Creatures" is not among the mitzvot published by Maimonides, Meir, or HaChinuch.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

Drawings

Artist: Jenske Visser

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

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Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2