Deuteronomy 25:6
in Deuteronomy 25The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be, that the first-born that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel.
KJV
And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 25
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA 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.
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.
This site's exposition
The first son she bears
Only the first son takes the dead brother's name. Henry says he was entered in the genealogy of his tribe as the dead man's child.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
And it shall be that the firstborn that she beareth,....
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֗ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַבְּכוֹר֙ | habekhor | the firstborn | H1060 → | 122 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תֵּלֵ֔ד | teled | she will bear | H3205 → | 496 times |
| יָק֕וּם | yakum | he will stand | H6965 → | 628 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שֵׁ֥ם | shem | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| אָחִ֖יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| הַמֵּ֑ת | hamet | <the> dead | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמָּחֶ֥ה | yimacheh | it will be wiped out | H4229 → | 36 times |
| שְׁמ֖וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | miyisrael | from Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וְהָיָ֗הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
הַבְּכוֹר֙the firstborn
habekhorH1060 →122 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תֵּלֵ֔דshe will bear
teledH3205 →496 times
יָק֕וּםhe will stand
yakumH6965 →628 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שֵׁ֥ם[the] name of
shemH8034 →864 times
אָחִ֖יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
הַמֵּ֑ת<the> dead
hametH4191 →839 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִמָּחֶ֥הit will be wiped out
yimachehH4229 →36 times
שְׁמ֖וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃from Israel
miyisraelH3478 →2507 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
Psalms 9:5You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath…
- Malachi 4:3
Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Proverbs 13:9
The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
- Proverbs 10:7
Through
Psalms 109:13May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Job 18:19
He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.
- Psalms 37:28
Through
Deuteronomy 21:19his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 25:7
But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name…
- Deuteronomy 25:7
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on 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.