Tafsiran Ulangan 22:2: Rashi, Ramban, Kli Yakar & Tur HaArokh

עד דרש אחיך [AND IT SHALL BE WITH THEE] UNTIL THY BROTHER ENQUIRES [FOR IT] — But would it ever enter your mind that one could give it back before he enquires for it (Scripture distinctly states that you do not know to whom the animal belongs)?! But the meaning of the verse is: Thou shalt make diligent enquiries of him that he should not be a fraudulent claimant (Bava Metzia 27b. 28a; cf. Sifrei Devarim 223:4).

AND IF THY BROTHER BE NOT NIGH UNTO THEE — meaning that he does not reside near you, for it is not your duty to go to another land with the lost article in order to restore it to him, or that you do not know him at all. In the Sifre we find:¹²⁹Sifre, Ki Theitzei 223. “I know only that one is obligated to restore lost property if the loser lives nearby. Whence do I know that he must also do so if he lives far away? From what Scripture states, and thou know him not.”¹³⁰In Verse 2 before us. This indicates that if you do know the rightful owner, you are bound to restore it to him even though he lives far away. And if so, the phrase and if thy brother be not nigh unto thee means that he is “not near you” in your city that you may inquire about him and identify him [as the rightful claimant], then it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it.

“And if your brother is not near, etc., and it shall be with you until your brother inquires for it.” The Rabbis said (Bava Metzia 27b) “inquire about him if he is a deceiver,” and nevertheless, it refers to the ox or sheep. [The Rabbis said this] because otherwise it should have said “until your brother seeks it.” Rather, your brother will come and inquire with examination and investigation, that is, through identifying marks, until it is clear to you that they are truly seeking that specific ox and not another. From this we automatically learn that one must inquire whether they are a deceiver or not.
But the verse does not depart from its simple meaning [even according to the Rabbis], as explained by the Re’em, that it refers to your brother. And what is meant by You cannot ignore it after saying and you find it, which implies that it has come into your possession (ibid. 27a), is that because the matter is entrusted to the heart, for if your brother comes and inquires, saying “an ox with such and such markings was lost to me,” and your inclination persuades you to ignore it and to justify yourself that perhaps they saw it with someone else, or you wish to cast doubt on their identifying marks in order to exempt yourself from obligation in human law, nevertheless, You cannot ignore it because of the Eye above that sees and recognizes your schemes.

והשבתו לו AND THOU SHALT RESTORE IT TO HIM — it is necessary that there be some restoration — that it (the animal) should not eat in your house to its own value, and you claim this from him (in which case there is no actual restoration of what has been lost). From here, they (the Rabbis) derived the law: Whatever works and requires food (as, for instance, oxen, etc., the cost of whose food is set off by the value of its labour) should work and eat; whatever does not work but requires feeding (as, for instance, sheep) should be sold and the money restored to the man who lost it (Bava Metzia 28b).