Deuteronomy 25:5
in Deuteronomy 25When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married 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 a husband’s brother unto her.
KJV
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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This verse in Deuteronomy 25
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
When brothers dwell together
on Deuteronomy 25:5-10
The duty exists so that the dead man's “name will not be blotted out from Israel”. Genesis 38 shows it already assumed in Judah's house.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
In the third book, then, when I was solving the question of how it was possible for Joseph to have two fathers, I indeed said that "he was begotten by one and adopted by the other." But I should have mentioned too the kind of adoption, for what I said sounds as if another living father had adopted him. The law, however, also adopted the children of the deceased by ordering that "a brother marry the wife" of his childless, deceased brother and "raise up seed" by the same woman "for his deceased brother." In this way the explanation of this matter of the two fathers of one man is indeed made clearer.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
The Sadducees put a case to our Saviour upon this law, with a design to perplex the doctrine of the resurrection by it ( Matt. xxii. 24 , &c.), perhaps insinuating that there was no need of maintaining the immortality of the soul and a future state, since the law had so well provided for the perpetuating of men's names and families in the world.
If brethren dwell together,....
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.
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)
The words behind it
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֵשְׁב֨וּ | yeshevu | they will dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אַחִ֜ים | ʾachim | brothers | H251 → | 630 times |
| יַחְדָּ֗ו | yachdav | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| וּמֵ֨ת | umet | and he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אַחַ֤ד | ʾachad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| מֵהֶם֙ | mehem | from <the> them | ||
| וּבֵ֣ן | uven | and a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | [belongs] to <the> him | ||
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִהְיֶ֧ה | tihyeh | she will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אֵֽשֶׁת־ | ʾeshet- | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| הַמֵּ֛ת | hamet | the dead [man] | H4191 → | 839 times |
| הַח֖וּצָה | hachutzah | the outside towards | H2351 → | 164 times |
| לְאִ֣ישׁ | leish | to a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| זָ֑ר | zar | strange | H2114 → | |
| יְבָמָהּ֙ | yevamah | husband's brother her | H2993 → | |
| יָבֹ֣א | yavo' | he will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עָלֶ֔יהָ | ʾaleiha | on her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וּלְקָחָ֥הּ | ulekachah | and he will take her | H3947 → | 966 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| לְאִשָּׁ֖ה | leishah | to a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
| וְיִבְּמָֽהּ׃ | veyibemah | and he will act as a husband's brother for her | H2992 → |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יֵשְׁב֨וּthey will dwell
yeshevuH3427 →1079 times
אַחִ֜יםbrothers
ʾachimH251 →630 times
יַחְדָּ֗וtogether
yachdavH3162 →141 times
וּמֵ֨תand he will die
umetH4191 →839 times
אַחַ֤דone
ʾachadH259 →971 times
מֵהֶם֙from <the> them
mehem
וּבֵ֣ןand a son
uvenH1121 →4930 times
אֵֽין־not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
ל֔וֹ[belongs] to <the> him
lo
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִהְיֶ֧הshe will belong
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
אֵֽשֶׁת־[the] wife of
ʾeshet-H802 →781 times
הַמֵּ֛תthe dead [man]
hametH4191 →839 times
הַח֖וּצָהthe outside towards
hachutzahH2351 →164 times
לְאִ֣ישׁto a man
leishH376 →1663 times
זָ֑רstrange
zarH2114 →
יְבָמָהּ֙husband's brother her
yevamahH2993 →
יָבֹ֣אhe will go
yavo'H935 →2568 times
עָלֶ֔יהָon her
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
וּלְקָחָ֥הּand he will take her
ulekachahH3947 →966 times
ל֛וֹfor <the> himself
lo
לְאִשָּׁ֖הto a wife
leishahH802 →781 times
וְיִבְּמָֽהּ׃and he will act as a husband's brother for her
veyibemahH2992 →
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
Matthew 22:24“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 25:5–10
When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Luke 20:28
“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
- Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
- Ruth 1:11
But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
- Matthew 22:16
They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek…
- Deuteronomy 25:5–10
Through
Luke 20:28“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
it leads to
- Genesis 38:8
Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 38:11
Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went…
- Genesis 38:8
Through
Mark 12:19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
it leads to
- Ruth 1:11–13
But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
- Ruth 1:11–13
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, RECONSIDERATIONS 2.33.2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.