ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Pulelulu ‘Aokosi 18, 2021

‘Oku ‘i ai ‘a e fakaʻofoʻofa makehe ‘i hotau faikehekehe´

there is a special beauty in our distinction

Teutalōnome 22 (Deuteronomy 22)

(v. 5) ‘E ‘ikai ‘ai ki ha fefine ‘a e teunga ‘o ha tangata, pea ‘e ‘ikai tui ‘e ha tangata ‘a e kofu fakafefine; he ‘oku fakalielia‘ia ‘e Sihova ko ho ‘Otua ‘i ha taha ‘oku fai pehē.

(v. 5) A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

 

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

Here we have the record of the laws conditioning life in love and neighborliness. Every man was enjoined to take care of his brother's lost things if he found them; and he was also to help the hurt animals of his brethren in the hour of their distress.

All unseemliness in dress was forbidden. Men were charged to act in kindness even toward the birds. In building their houses they were to think of others who later might have to use them, and protect them against the possibility of accident by erecting a parapet around the roof.

Three commandments were uttered forbidding admixture. The land must not be sown with two seeds. Plowing must not be done with an ass and ox together Garments were not to be made of an admixture of wool and linen.

Continuing, the stringency of the Mosaic economy in the matter of chastity is revealed. It may well be carefully studied even today. It may be summarized by declaring that it demands that at all costs the man must be chaste and the woman pure. Moreover, it is made perfectly clear that in the mind of God the sacredness of betrothal is as great as that of the marriage relationship.

 

David Guzik :: Study Guide for Deuteronomy 22 (v. 5)

In Old Testament times, men and women wore clothing that was superficially similar - long robes and wrapping garments were common for both sexes. Yet, the specific types of garments and the way in which they were worn made a clear distinction between the sexes, and this command instructs God's people to respect those distinctions.

Some have taken this command to be the "proof-text" against women wearing pants and some Christian groups command that women wear only dresses. Yet, this is not a command against women wearing a garment that in some ways might be common between men and women; it is a command against dressing in a manner which deliberately blurs the lines between the sexes.

Nor shall a man put on a woman's garment: This does not prohibit a man from wearing a kilt; yet it clearly prohibits a man dressing like a woman, as is all too common - and all too accepted - in our modern culture.

The dramatic rise in cross-dressing, transvestitism, androgynous behavior, and "gender-bender" behavior in our culture is a shocking trampling of this command, and will reap a bitter harvest in more perversion and more gender confusion in our culture.

All who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God: This command to observe the distinction between the sexes is so important, those who fail to observe it are called an abomination to the LORD. This was not only because cross-dressing was a feature of pagan, idolatrous worship in the ancient world, but also because of the terrible cultural price that is paid when it is pretended that there is no difference between men and women.

"Later writers, such as Lucian of Samosata and Eusebius, speak of the practice of masquerading in the worship of Astarte. Apparently women appeared in men's garments and men in women's garments." (Thompson)