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Selected Verse: Deuteronomy 25:5 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
De 25:5	Strong Concordance	If brethren [0251] dwell [03427] together [03162], and one [0259] of them die [04191], and have no child [01121], the wife [0802] of the dead [04191] shall not marry without [02351] unto a stranger [0376] [02114]: her husband's brother [02993] shall go in [0935] unto her, and take [03947] her to him to wife [0802], and perform the duty of an husband's brother [02992] unto her.
	King James	If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother . . . shall take her to him to wife--This usage existed before the age of Moses (Gen 38:8). But the Mosaic law rendered the custom obligatory (Mat 22:25) on younger brothers, or the nearest kinsman, to marry the widow (Rut 4:4), by associating the natural desire of perpetuating a brother's name with the preservation of property in the Hebrew families and tribes. If the younger brother declined to comply with the law, the widow brought her claim before the authorities of the place at a public assembly (the gate of the city); and he having declared his refusal, she was ordered to loose the thong of his shoe--a sign of degradation--following up that act by spitting on the ground-- the strongest expression of ignominy and contempt among Eastern people. The shoe was kept by the magistrate as an evidence of the transaction, and the parties separated.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother . . . shall take her to him to wife--This usage existed before the age of Moses (Gen 38:8). But the Mosaic law rendered the custom obligatory (Mat 22:25) on younger brothers, or the nearest kinsman, to marry the widow (Rut 4:4), by associating the natural desire of perpetuating a brother's name with the preservation of property in the Hebrew families and tribes. If the younger brother declined to comply with the law, the widow brought her claim before the authorities of the place at a public assembly (the gate of the city); and he having declared his refusal, she was ordered to loose the thong of his shoe--a sign of degradation--following up that act by spitting on the ground-- the strongest expression of ignominy and contempt among Eastern people. The shoe was kept by the magistrate as an evidence of the transaction, and the parties separated.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The law of levirate marriage. The law on this subject is not unique to the Jews, but is found (see Gen 38:8) in all essential respects the same among various Oriental nations, ancient and modern. The rules in these verses, like those upon divorce, do but incorporate existing immemorial usages, and introduce various wise and politic limitations and mitigations of them. The root of the obligation here imposed upon the brother of the deceased husband lies in the primitive idea of childlessness being a great calamity (compare Gen 16:4; and note), and extinction of name and family one of the greatest that could happen (compare Deu 9:14; Psa 109:12-15). To avert this the ordinary rules as to intermarriage are in the case in question (compare Lev 18:16) set aside. The obligation was onerous (compare Rut 4:6), and might be repugnant; and it is accordingly considerably reduced and restricted by Moses. The duty is recognized as one of affection for the memory of the deceased; it is not one which could be enforced at law. That it continued down to the Christian era is apparent from the question on this point put to Jesus by the Sadducees (see the marginal references). Deu 25:5 No child - literally, "no son." The existence of a daughter would clearly suffice. The daughter would inherit the name and property of the father; compare Num 27:1-11. Deu 25:9 Loose his shoe from off his foot - In token of taking from the unwilling brother all right over the wife and property of the deceased. Planting the foot on a thing was an usual symbol of lordship and of taking possession (compare Gen 13:17; Jos 10:24), and loosing the shoe and handing it to another in like manner signified a renunciation and transfer of right and title (compare Rut 4:7-8; Psa 60:8, and Psa 108:9). The widow here is directed herself, as the party slighted and injured, to deprive her brother-law of his shoe, and spit in his face (compare Num 12:14). The action was intended to aggravate the disgrace conceived to attach to the conduct of the man. Deu 25:10 The house ... - Equivalent to "the house of the barefooted one." To go barefoot was a sign of the most abject condition; compare Sa2 15:30.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
On Levirate Marriages. - Deu 25:5, Deu 25:6. If brothers lived together, and one of them died childless, the wife of the deceased was not to be married outside (i.e., away from the family) to a strange man (one not belonging to her kindred); her brother-in-law was to come to her and take her for his wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her. יבּם, denom. from יבם, a brother-in-law, husband's brother, lit., to act the brother-in-law, i.e., perform the duty of a brother-in-law, which consisted in his marrying his deceased brother's widow, and begetting a son of children with her, the first-born of whom was "to stand upon the name of his deceased brother," i.e., be placed in the family of the deceased, and be recognised as the heir of his property, that his name (the name of the man who had died childless) might not be wiped out or vanish out of Israel. The provision, "without having a son" (ben), has been correctly interpreted by the lxx, Vulg., Josephus (Ant. iv. 8, 23), and the Rabbins, as signifying childless (having no seed, Mat 22:25); for if the deceased had simply a daughter, according to Num 27:4., the perpetuation of his house and name was to be ensured through her. The obligation of a brother-in-law's marriage only existed in cases where the brothers had lived together, i.e., in one and the same place, not necessarily in one house or with a common domestic establishment and home (vid., Gen 13:6; Gen 36:7). - This custom of a brother-in-law's (Levirate) marriage, which is met with in different nations, and as an old traditional custom among the Israelites (see at Gen 38:8.), had its natural roots in the desire inherent in man, who is formed for immortality, and connected with the hitherto undeveloped belief in an eternal life, to secure a continued personal existence for himself and immorality for his name, through the perpetuation of his family and in the life of the son who took his place. This desire was not suppressed in Israel by divine revelation, but rather increased, inasmuch as the promises given to the patriarchs were bound up with the preservation and propagation of their seed and name. The promise given to Abraham for his seed would of necessity not only raise the begetting of children in the religious views of the Israelites into the work desired by God and well-pleasing to Him, but would also give this significance to the traditional custom of preserving the name and family by the substitution of a marriage of duty, that they would thereby secure to themselves and their family a share in the blessing of promise. Moses therefore recognised this custom as perfectly justifiable; but he sought to restrain it within such limits, that it should not present any impediment to the sanctification of marriage aimed at by the law. He took away the compulsory character, which it hitherto possessed, by prescribing in Deu 25:7., that if the surviving brother refused to marry his widowed sister-in-law, she was to bring the matter into the gate before the elders of the town (vid., Deu 21:19), i.e., before the magistrates; and if the brother-in-law still persisted in his refusal, she was to take his shoe from off his foot and spit in his face, with these words: "So let it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house." The taking off of the shoe was an ancient custom in Israel, adopted, according to Rut 4:7, in cases of redemption and exchange, for the purpose of confirming commercial transactions. The usage arose from the fact, that when any one took possession of landed property he did so by treading upon the soil, and asserting his right of possession by standing upon it in his shoes. In this way the taking off of the shoe and handing it to another became a symbol of the renunciation of a man's position and property, - a symbol which was also common among the Indians and the ancient Germans (see my Archologie, ii. p. 66). But the custom was an ignominious one in such a case as this, when the shoe was publicly taken off the foot of the brother-in-law by the widow whom he refused to marry. He was thus deprived of the position which he ought to have occupied in relation to her and to his deceased brother, or to his paternal house; and the disgrace involved in this was still further heightened by the fact that his sister-in-law spat in his face. This is the meaning of the words (cf. Num 12:14), and not merely spit on the ground before his eyes, as Saalschtz and others as well as the Talmudists (tr. Jebam. xii. 6) render it, for the purpose of diminishing the disgrace. "Build up his brother's house," i.e., lay the foundation of a family or posterity for him (cf. Gen 16:2). - In addition to this, the unwilling brother-in-law was to receive a name of ridicule in Israel: "House of the shoe taken off" (הנּעל חלוּץ, taken off as to his shoe; cf. Ewald, 288, b.), i.e., of the barefooted man, equivalent to "the miserable fellow;" for it was only in miserable circumstances that the Hebrews went barefoot (vid., Isa 20:2-3;

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

On Levirate Marriages. - Deu 25:5, Deu 25:6. If brothers lived together, and one of them died childless, the wife of the deceased was not to be married outside (i.e., away from the family) to a strange man (one not belonging to her kindred); her brother-in-law was to come to her and take her for his wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her. יבּם, denom. from יבם, a brother-in-law, husband's brother, lit., to act the brother-in-law, i.e., perform the duty of a brother-in-law, which consisted in his marrying his deceased brother's widow, and begetting a son of children with her, the first-born of whom was "to stand upon the name of his deceased brother," i.e., be placed in the family of the deceased, and be recognised as the heir of his property, that his name (the name of the man who had died childless) might not be wiped out or vanish out of Israel. The provision, "without having a son" (ben), has been correctly interpreted by the lxx, Vulg., Josephus (Ant. iv. 8, 23), and the Rabbins, as signifying childless (having no seed, Mat 22:25); for if the deceased had simply a daughter, according to Num 27:4., the perpetuation of his house and name was to be ensured through her. The obligation of a brother-in-law's marriage only existed in cases where the brothers had lived together, i.e., in one and the same place, not necessarily in one house or with a common domestic establishment and home (vid., Gen 13:6; Gen 36:7). - This custom of a brother-in-law's (Levirate) marriage, which is met with in different nations, and as an old traditional custom among the Israelites (see at Gen 38:8.), had its natural roots in the desire inherent in man, who is formed for immortality, and connected with the hitherto undeveloped belief in an eternal life, to secure a continued personal existence for himself and immorality for his name, through the perpetuation of his family and in the life of the son who took his place. This desire was not suppressed in Israel by divine revelation, but rather increased, inasmuch as the promises given to the patriarchs were bound up with the preservation and propagation of their seed and name. The promise given to Abraham for his seed would of necessity not only raise the begetting of children in the religious views of the Israelites into the work desired by God and well-pleasing to Him, but would also give this significance to the traditional custom of preserving the name and family by the substitution of a marriage of duty, that they would thereby secure to themselves and their family a share in the blessing of promise. Moses therefore recognised this custom as perfectly justifiable; but he sought to restrain it within such limits, that it should not present any impediment to the sanctification of marriage aimed at by the law. He took away the compulsory character, which it hitherto possessed, by prescribing in Deu 25:7., that if the surviving brother refused to marry his widowed sister-in-law, she was to bring the matter into the gate before the elders of the town (vid., Deu 21:19), i.e., before the magistrates; and if the brother-in-law still persisted in his refusal, she was to take his shoe from off his foot and spit in his face, with these words: "So let it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house."

The taking off of the shoe was an ancient custom in Israel, adopted, according to Rut 4:7, in cases of redemption and exchange, for the purpose of confirming commercial transactions. The usage arose from the fact, that when any one took possession of landed property he did so by treading upon the soil, and asserting his right of possession by standing upon it in his shoes. In this way the taking off of the shoe and handing it to another became a symbol of the renunciation of a man's position and property, - a symbol which was also common among the Indians and the ancient Germans (see my Archologie, ii. p. 66). But the custom was an ignominious one in such a case as this, when the shoe was publicly taken off the foot of the brother-in-law by the widow whom he refused to marry. He was thus deprived of the position which he ought to have occupied in relation to her and to his deceased brother, or to his paternal house; and the disgrace involved in this was still further heightened by the fact that his sister-in-law spat in his face. This is the meaning of the words (cf. Num 12:14), and not merely spit on the ground before his eyes, as Saalschtz and others as well as the Talmudists (tr. Jebam. xii. 6) render it, for the purpose of diminishing the disgrace. "Build up his brother's house," i.e., lay the foundation of a family or posterity for him (cf. Gen 16:2). - In addition to this, the unwilling brother-in-law was to receive a name of ridicule in Israel: "House of the shoe taken off" (הנּעל חלוּץ, taken off as to his shoe; cf. Ewald, 288, b.), i.e., of the barefooted man, equivalent to "the miserable fellow;" for it was only in miserable circumstances that the Hebrews went barefoot (vid., Isa 20:2-3;

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Together - In the same town, or at least country. For if the next brother had removed his habitation into remote parts, on were carried thither into captivity, then the wife of the dead had her liberty to marry the next kinsman that lived in the same place with her. One - Any of them, for the words are general, and the reason of the law was to keep up the distinction of tribes and families, that so the Messiah might be discovered by the family from which he was appointed to proceed; and also of inheritances, which were divided among all the brethren, the first - born having only a double portion. A stranger - To one of another family.

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⁴ And I thought [0559] to advertise [01540] [0241] thee, saying [0559], Buy [07069] it before the inhabitants [03427], and before the elders [02205] of my people [05971]. If thou wilt redeem [01350] it, redeem [01350] it: but if thou wilt not redeem [01350] it, then tell [05046] me, that I may know [03045]: for there is none to redeem [01350] it beside [02108] thee; and I am after [0310] thee. And he said [0559], I will redeem [01350] it.

²⁵ Now [1161] there were [2258] with [3844] us [2254] seven [2033] brethren [80]: and [2532] the first [4413], when he had married a wife [1060], deceased [5053], and [2532], having [2192] no [3361] issue [4690], left [863] his [846] wife [1135] unto his [846] brother [80]:

⁸ And Judah [03063] said [0559] unto Onan [0209], Go in [0935] unto thy brother's [0251] wife [0802], and marry [02992] her, and raise up [06965] seed [02233] to thy brother [0251].

³⁰ And David [01732] went up [05927] by the ascent [04608] of mount Olivet [02132], and wept [01058] as he went up [05927], and had his head [07218] covered [02645], and he went [01980] barefoot [03182]: and all the people [05971] that was with him covered [02645] every man [0376] his head [07218], and they went up [05927], weeping [01058] as they went up [05927].

¹⁰ And his name [08034] shall be called [07121] in Israel [03478], The house [01004] of him that hath his shoe [05275] loosed [02502].

¹⁴ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Moses [04872], If her father [01] had but [03417] spit [03417] in her face [06440], should she not be ashamed [03637] seven [07651] days [03117]? let her be shut [05462] out [02351] from the camp [04264] seven [07651] days [03117], and after [0310] that let her be received [0622] in again.

⁹ Moab [04124] is my washpot [07366] [05518]; over Edom [0123] will I cast out [07993] my shoe [05275]; over Philistia [06429] will I triumph [07321].

⁸ Moab [04124] is my washpot [05518] [07366]; over Edom [0123] will I cast out [07993] my shoe [05275]: Philistia [06429], triumph [07321] thou because of me.

⁷ Now this was the manner in former time [06440] in Israel [03478] concerning redeeming [01353] and concerning changing [08545], for to confirm [06965] all things [01697]; a man [0376] plucked off [08025] his shoe [05275], and gave [05414] it to his neighbour [07453]: and this was a testimony [08584] in Israel [03478].
⁸ Therefore the kinsman [01350] said [0559] unto Boaz [01162], Buy [07069] it for thee. So he drew off [08025] his shoe [05275].

²⁴ And it came to pass, when they brought out [03318] those kings [04428] unto Joshua [03091], that Joshua [03091] called [07121] for all the men [0376] of Israel [03478], and said [0559] unto the captains [07101] of the men [0582] of war [04421] which went [01980] with him, Come near [07126], put [07760] your feet [07272] upon the necks [06677] of these kings [04428]. And they came near [07126], and put [07760] their feet [07272] upon the necks [06677] of them.

¹⁷ Arise [06965], walk [01980] through the land [0776] in the length [0753] of it and in the breadth [07341] of it; for I will give [05414] it unto thee.

⁹ Then shall his brother's wife [02994] come [05066] unto him in the presence [05869] of the elders [02205], and loose [02502] his shoe [05275] from off his foot [07272], and spit [03417] in his face [06440], and shall answer [06030] and say [0559], So shall it be done [06213] unto that man [0376] that will not build up [01129] his brother's [0251] house [01004].

¹ Then came [07126] the daughters [01323] of Zelophehad [06765], the son [01121] of Hepher [02660], the son [01121] of Gilead [01568], the son [01121] of Machir [04353], the son [01121] of Manasseh [04519], of the families [04940] of Manasseh [04519] the son [01121] of Joseph [03130]: and these are the names [08034] of his daughters [01323]; Mahlah [04244], Noah [05270], and Hoglah [02295], and Milcah [04435], and Tirzah [08656].
² And they stood [05975] before [06440] Moses [04872], and before [06440] Eleazar [0499] the priest [03548], and before [06440] the princes [05387] and all the congregation [05712], by the door [06607] of the tabernacle [0168] of the congregation [04150], saying [0559],
³ Our father [01] died [04191] in the wilderness [04057], and he was not in [08432] the company [05712] of them that gathered themselves together [03259] against the LORD [03068] in the company [05712] of Korah [07141]; but died [04191] in his own sin [02399], and had no sons [01121].
⁴ Why should the name [08034] of our father [01] be done away [01639] from among [08432] his family [04940], because he hath no son [01121]? Give [05414] unto us therefore a possession [0272] among [08432] the brethren [0251] of our father [01].
⁵ And Moses [04872] brought [07126] their cause [04941] before [06440] the LORD [03068].
⁶ And the LORD [03068] spake [0559] unto Moses [04872], saying [0559],
⁷ The daughters [01323] of Zelophehad [06765] speak [01696] right [03651]: thou shalt surely [05414] give [05414] them a possession [0272] of an inheritance [05159] among [08432] their father's [01] brethren [0251]; and thou shalt cause the inheritance [05159] of their father [01] to pass [05674] unto them.
⁸ And thou shalt speak [01696] unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478], saying [0559], If a man [0376] die [04191], and have no son [01121], then ye shall cause his inheritance [05159] to pass [05674] unto his daughter [01323].
⁹ And if he have no daughter [01323], then ye shall give [05414] his inheritance [05159] unto his brethren [0251].
¹⁰ And if he have no brethren [0251], then ye shall give [05414] his inheritance [05159] unto his father's [01] brethren [0251].
¹¹ And if his father [01] have no brethren [0251], then ye shall give [05414] his inheritance [05159] unto his kinsman [07607] that is next [07138] to him of his family [04940], and he shall possess [03423] it: and it shall be unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478] a statute [02708] of judgment [04941], as the LORD [03068] commanded [06680] Moses [04872].

⁵ If brethren [0251] dwell [03427] together [03162], and one [0259] of them die [04191], and have no child [01121], the wife [0802] of the dead [04191] shall not marry without [02351] unto a stranger [0376] [02114]: her husband's brother [02993] shall go in [0935] unto her, and take [03947] her to him to wife [0802], and perform the duty of an husband's brother [02992] unto her.

⁶ And the kinsman [01350] said [0559], I cannot [03201] redeem [01350] it for myself, lest I mar [07843] mine own inheritance [05159]: redeem [01350] thou my right [01353] to thyself; for I cannot [03201] redeem [01350] it.

¹⁶ Thou shalt not uncover [01540] the nakedness [06172] of thy brother's [0251] wife [0802]: it is thy brother's [0251] nakedness [06172].

¹² Let there be none to extend [04900] mercy [02617] unto him: neither let there be any to favour [02603] his fatherless children [03490].
¹³ Let his posterity [0319] be cut off [03772]; and in the generation [01755] following [0312] let their name [08034] be blotted out [04229].
¹⁴ Let the iniquity [05771] of his fathers [01] be remembered [02142] with the LORD [03068]; and let not the sin [02403] of his mother [0517] be blotted out [04229].
¹⁵ Let them be before the LORD [03068] continually [08548], that he may cut off [03772] the memory [02143] of them from the earth [0776].

¹⁴ Let me alone [07503], that I may destroy [08045] them, and blot out [04229] their name [08034] from under heaven [08064]: and I will make [06213] of [0854] thee a nation [01471] mightier [06099] and greater [07227] than they.

⁴ And he went in [0935] unto Hagar [01904], and she conceived [02029]: and when she saw [07200] that she had conceived [02029], her mistress [01404] was despised [07043] in her eyes [05869].

⁸ And Judah [03063] said [0559] unto Onan [0209], Go in [0935] unto thy brother's [0251] wife [0802], and marry [02992] her, and raise up [06965] seed [02233] to thy brother [0251].