Deuteronomy25
New International Version
1When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.
2If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves,
3but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.
4Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
5If 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.
6The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
7However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”
8Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,”
9his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.”
10That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.
11If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts,
12you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.
13Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light.
14Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small.
15You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
16For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
17Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.
18When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.
19When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 25.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Extent of punishment. (1–3). The ox that treadeth the corn. (4). Marriage of a brother's wife. (5–12). Of unjust weights. (13–16). War against Amalek. (17–19).
vv1-3
Every punishment should be with solemnity, that those who see it may be filled with dread, and be warned not to offend in like manner. And though the criminals must be shamed as well as put to pain, for their warning and disgrace, yet care should be taken that they do not appear totally vile. Happy those who are chastened of the Lord to humble them, that they should not be condemned with the world to destruction.
v4
This is a charge to husbandmen. It teaches us to make much of the animals that serve us. But we must learn, not only to be just, but kind to all who are employed for the good of our better part, our souls, 1Co 9:9.
vv5-12
The custom here regulated seems to have been in the Jewish law in order to keep inheritances distinct; now it is unlawful.
Key Words
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
רִיב: a contest (personal or legal)
בֶּזֶק: Bezek, a place in Palestine
אֱנוֹשׁ: a man in general (singly or collectively)
נָגַשׁ: to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; religious to worship; causatively, to present; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back
מִשְׁפָּט: properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
שָׁפַט: to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication, to vindicate or punish; by extenssion, to govern; passively, to litigate (literally or figuratively)
צָדַק: to be (causatively, make) right (in a moral or forensic sense)
צַדִּיק: just
רָשַׁע: to be (causatively, do or declare) wrong; by implication, to disturb, violate
Cross References
Deuteronomy 25Paul relates his receiving of 'forty stripes save one' to keep strictly within this law's limit.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Paul explicitly quotes this verse to argue that ministers deserve material support for their labors.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Paul cites the law of the treading ox alongside Christ's words to command support for elders.
Supported by JFB
The Sadducees cite this levirate marriage law to challenge Jesus regarding the resurrection.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Saul is commissioned to execute God's decree here to completely destroy the memory of Amalek.
Supported by JFB
God's original oath to utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek, here recalled and enjoined.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Demonstrates the pre-Mosaic existence of the levirate custom with Judah's instruction to Onan.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Condemns divers weights and divers measures as an abomination, echoing Deuteronomy's exact wording.
Supported by JFB
Declares that a just weight and balance are the Lord's, directly reflecting Deuteronomy's standard.
Supported by JFB
The original historical account of Amalek's unprovoked attack on Israel at Rephidim.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Prophetic allusion to Ephraim being trained and loving to tread out the corn.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Levitical parallel commanding absolute honesty in meteyard, weight, and measure.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Shows Amalek was Esau's grandson, making their attack on Israel a betrayal of kindred.
Supported by John Calvin