Deuteronomy 25:3-5
New English Translation
3 The judge[a] may sentence him to forty blows,[b] but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite[c] with contempt.
4 You must not muzzle your[d] ox when it is treading grain.
Respect for the Sanctity of Others
5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her,[e] and perform the duty of a brother-in-law.[f]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
- Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
- Deuteronomy 25:4 tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
- Deuteronomy 25:5 tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
- Deuteronomy 25:5 sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6).
Deuteronomy 25:3-5
New International Version
3 but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes.(A) If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.(B)
4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.(C)
5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.(D)
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