If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.”
Parallel Translations
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If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.”
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And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.
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And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders, and say: 'My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother unto me.'
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 25:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ruth 4:1-2 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down. Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here,” and they sat down.
- Ruth 4:5-6 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.” The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To raise up unto his brother a name; to…
To raise up unto his brother a name; to revive his brother’s name and memory.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the man like not to take his brother's…
And the man like not to take his brother's wife,.... The provision here made by this law, when this was the case, is such as did not take place before it became a law; for then Onan would have taken the advantage of it, and refused marrying his brother's wife, which it is plain was not agreeable to him, Gen 38:9; as many do now on one account or another. Leo of Modena (l) says,"it was anciently accounted the more laudable thing to take her, than to release her; but now the corruption of the times, and the hardness of men's hearts, are such, as that they only look after worldly ends, either of riches, or of the beauty of the woman; so that there are very few that in this case will marry a brother's widow, especially among the Dutch and Italian Jews, but they always release her:"
then let his brother's wife go up to the gate; to the gate of the city, where the judges sit for public affairs; to the gate of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this affair was cognizable by the bench of three judges, and might be dispatched by them; for so it is said (m),"the plucking off the shoe, and the refusal of marriage, are by three:''i.e. three judges, which was the lowest court of judicature with the Jews:
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unto the elders, and say; which according to the above Targum were to be five wise men, of which three were to be judges, and two witnesses; and she was to say in the Hebrew language, in which, according to the Misnah (n), she was to pronounce what follows:
my husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother; that is, in a few words, he will not marry her.
(l) Ut supra, sect. 3. (Leo Modena's History of Rites, &c. l. 1 sect. 3.) (m) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3. (n) Sotah, c. 7. sect. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. If the man like not — If the…
7. If the man like not — If the brother-in-law was unwilling to marry the widow of his deceased brother, then she was to bring the matter before the elders for their adjudication. For an illustration see the case of Boaz and Ruth, Ruth chapters 4 and 5.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. shall go up to the gate] Rth_4:1, only…
7. shall go up to the gate] Rth_4:1, only here, in D; so also the terms like not and refuseth (see introd. note).
elders] Deu_21:19, Deu_22:15. See on Deu_16:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 7-10. If the man refused to marry the…
Vers. 7-10. If the man refused to marry the widow of his deceased brother, he was free to do so; but the woman had her redress. She was to bring the matter before the eiders of the town, sitting as magistrates at the gate, and they were to summon the man and speak to him, and if he persisted in his refusal, the woman was to take his shoe from off his foot, and spit before his face, and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother"s house. The taking off of the shoe of the man by the woman was an act of indignity to him; it amounted to a declaration that he was not worthy to stand in his brother"s place, and was scornfully rejected by the woman herself. As the planting of the shod foot on a piece of property, or the casting of the shoe over a field, was emblematical of taking possession of it with satisfaction; (Psa_60:8 Psa_108:9) and as the voluntary handing of one"s shoe to another betokened the giving up to that other of some property or right; so, contrariwise, the forcible removal from one of his shoe and the casting of it aside indicated contemptuous rejection of the owner, and repudiation of all his rights and claims in the matter. To walk barefooted was regarded by the Jews as ignominious and miserable. (cf. Isa_20:2, Isa_20:4; 2Sa_15:30) The spitting before the face of the man (wynpB in front of him) is by the Jewish interpreters understood of spitting on the ground in his presence (Talmud, "Jebam.," 106; Madmen., "In Jibbum.," 4:6-8). This seems to be what the words express (cf. Deu_4:37 Deu_7:24 Deu_11:25; Jos_10:8; Eze_10:8, for the rendering of ynpb) and this, according to Oriental notions, would be insult enough (cf. Num_12:14; Isa_1:6; Niebuhr, "Description de l"Arabie," 1:49).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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must go up to the gate to the elders
The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "must go up to the city gate where the elders judge cases" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
refuses to raise up for his brother a name
Here "name" refers to the memory of someone through his descendants. AT: "refuses to give his brother a son" (See: Metonymy)
he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me
"he will not do what a husband's brother is supposed to do and marry me"
I do not wish to take her
"I do not wish to marry her"
translationWords
brother
gate
elder
name
Israel
call
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.