LEV162 From this seemingly arid verse the Rabbis deduced that even the most trifling article belonging to another must be spared. Why should a man about to be pronounced unclean be deprived of his possessions? So strong was the conviction that inherent in every Biblical command is a moral purpose that even failure to discern it did not affect their attitude toward that law. They contended that the disciplinary value of implicit obedience is in itself a means to the acquisition of virtue. It Is not relevant whether the rabbis forced their ethical teachings into the Biblical commands. What we are concerned with is that the Rabbis approached the study of the Torah ethically.