Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.
Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox ... "Brother" is a term of extensive application, comprehending persons of every description-not a relative, neighbour, or fellow-countryman only, but any human being known or unknown, a foreigner, and even an enemy (Exodus 23:4).
The duty inculcated is an act of common justice and charity, which, while it was taught by the law of nature, was more clearly and forcibly enjoined in the law delivered by God to His people. Indifference or dissimulation in the circumstances supposed would not only be cruelty to the mute animals, but a violation of the common rights of humanity; and therefore the dictates of natural feeling, and still more the authority of the divine law, enjoined that the lost or missing property of another should be taken care of by the finder, until a proper opportunity occurred of restoring it to the owner.