Deuteronomy 25:9
in Deuteronomy 25his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother’s house.
KJV
Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd loose his shoe - It is difficult to find the reason of these ceremonies of degradation. Perhaps the shoe was the emblem of power; and by stripping it off, deprivation of that power and authority was represented. Spitting in the face was a mark of the utmost ignominy; but the Jews, who are legitimate judges in this case, say that the spitting was not in his face, but before his face on the ground.
This site's exposition
If brethren dwell together
on Deuteronomy 25:5-10
The statute exists so that a dead man's name be not put out of Israel, and Genesis 38 shows the duty already assumed in Judah's house before there was a law for it. A brother who refuses is not compelled but shamed, since the widow looses his shoe before the elders and spits, and his house carries the name of the shoe loosed from then on. Ruth 4:7-8 is the ceremony being performed, though there the shoe passes between the nearer kinsman and Boaz rather than from the widow's own hand. The Sadducees build their resurrection puzzle out of this law at Matthew 22:24, taking seven brothers and one wife in turn.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The role of holy women was different in the times of the prophets. Obedience, not concupiscence, impelled women to marry for the propagation of the people of God, among whom the forerunners of Christ were sent in advance. For this people, by the things that happened to them as a type, whether they recognized these types or not, were indeed prophetic of Christ, from whom Christ was to take flesh. Hence, in order that this race might be multiplied, the man who did not raise up seed in Israel was held accursed by sentence of the law. That is why holy women were animated by the pious desire of offspring rather than by desire. We may rightly believe that they would not have sought the marriage union if children could have been obtained in any other way.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In the case of Ruth we find this law executed ( Ruth iv. 7 ), but because, upon the refusal of the next kinsman, there was another ready to perform the duty of a husband's brother, it was that other that plucked off the shoe, and not the widow--Boaz, and not Ruth.
Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But the Mosaic law rendered the custom obligatory (Mt 22:25) on younger brothers, or the nearest kinsman, to marry the widow (Ru 4:4), by associating the natural desire of perpetuating a brother's name with the preservation of property in the Hebrew families and tribes.
How the passage was read
On Deuteronomy 25:5-10On Deuteronomy 25:5-10
The law behind Ruth, and behind a famous riddle
This is levirate marriage (from Latin levir, “husband's brother”; in Hebrew yibbum): when a man dies childless, his brother marries the widow, and the first son “shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead.” The same passage provides the release ceremony (chalitzah, the loosing of the sandal) for a brother who refuses. The book of Ruth turns on this family duty, and the tradition built a whole tractate of the Mishnah, Yevamot, on its cases.
This law is the machinery of the Sadducees' riddle in Matthew 22:23-33: seven brothers, one widow, “in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be?” The riddle only works because the duty was real law. Jesus answers the question behind the question, proving the resurrection from the Torah itself (Exodus 3:6), the one canon His questioners fully granted.
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And it will be entitled in Yisroel, the house of the divestiture of the shoe.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Yevamot 1:1 (the tractate built on this law)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִגְּשָׁ֨ה | venigeshah | and she will draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| יְבִמְתּ֣וֹ | yevimto | brother's wife his | H2994 → | 5 times |
| אֵלָיו֮ | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לְעֵינֵ֣י | leeinei | to [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| הַזְּקֵנִים֒ | hazekenim | the elders | H2205 → | 178 times |
| וְחָלְצָ֤ה | vechaltzah | and she will draw off | H2502 → | 44 times |
| נַעֲלוֹ֙ | naalo | sandal his | H5275 → | 22 times |
| מֵעַ֣ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רַגְל֔וֹ | raglo | foot his | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וְיָרְקָ֖ה | veyarekah | and she will spit | H3417 → | |
| בְּפָנָ֑יו | befanav | in face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְעָֽנְתָה֙ | veanetah | and she will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְאָ֣מְרָ֔ה | veamerah | and she will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּ֚כָה | kakhah | thus | H3602 → | |
| יֵעָשֶׂ֣ה | yeaseh | let it be done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָאִ֔ישׁ | laish | to the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִבְנֶ֖ה | yivneh | he will build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אָחִֽיו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
וְנִגְּשָׁ֨הand she will draw near
venigeshahH5066 →125 times
יְבִמְתּ֣וֹbrother's wife his
yevimtoH2994 →5 times
אֵלָיו֮to him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
לְעֵינֵ֣יto [the] eyes of
leeineiH5869 →887 times
הַזְּקֵנִים֒the elders
hazekenimH2205 →178 times
וְחָלְצָ֤הand she will draw off
vechaltzahH2502 →44 times
נַעֲלוֹ֙sandal his
naaloH5275 →22 times
מֵעַ֣לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
רַגְל֔וֹfoot his
ragloH7272 →247 times
וְיָרְקָ֖הand she will spit
veyarekahH3417 →
בְּפָנָ֑יוin face his
befanavH6440 →2123 times
וְעָֽנְתָה֙and she will answer
veanetahH6030 →331 times
וְאָ֣מְרָ֔הand she will say
veamerahH559 →5305 times
כָּ֚כָהthus
kakhahH3602 →
יֵעָשֶׂ֣הlet it be done
yeasehH6213 →2628 times
לָאִ֔ישׁto the man
laishH376 →1663 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִבְנֶ֖הhe will build
yivnehH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
אָחִֽיוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 50:6I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:67
Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
- Mark 14:65
Then some of them began to spit on Him. They blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in His face.
- Mark 15:19
They kept striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him. And they knelt down and bowed before Him.
- Luke 22:63–64
The men who were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him.
- Matthew 27:30
Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.
- Matthew 26:67
Through
John 1:27He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
it leads to
- Luke 3:16
John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with…
- Matthew 3:11
I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and…
- John 1:30
This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’
- Luke 3:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE GOOD OF WIDOWHOOD 6.10; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.