Ki Seitzei 22:01 · unit 4

TT #106 · Parashas Ki Seitzei · Second Aliyah · Passuk 22:01

The Complete Passuk

לֹא־תִרְאֶה אֶת־שׁוֹר אָחִיךָ אוֹ אֶת־שֵׂיוֹ נִדָּחִים וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ מֵהֶם הָשֵׁב תְּשִׁיבֵם לְאָחִיךָ׃

You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep straying and hide yourself from them; you shall surely return them to your brother.

Chabad.org — 22:01

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Bava Metzia 31a.

Sefaria — Bava Metzia 31a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
נִדָּחִים – פְּרָט לְאוֹבְדִים.

English: “Straying” — excluding those that are [already] lost [in the sense of having been abandoned].

On the daf / in context: The term “niddachim” is taken to refer to animals that have wandered off but are still recoverable, as opposed to those that have become completely ownerless.

Type of Learning

Limiting derash on the word “niddachim”.

What Is Learned

The biblical obligation of returning applies to animals that have strayed but are still identifiable as belonging to someone, not to property that has become ownerless.