Deuteronomy 25

1 "If there is a ¹dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, ²acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,

2 then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense.

3 ³Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.

4 ⁴"You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.

Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage

5 ⁵"If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her ⁶husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.

6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ⁷his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall ⁸go up to the gate to the elders and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.'

8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ⁹'I do not wish to take her,'

9 then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and ¹⁰pull his sandal off his foot and ¹¹spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man who does not ¹²build up his brother's house.'

10 And the name of his house^[a] shall be called in Israel, 'The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.'

Miscellaneous Laws

11 "When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts,

12 then you shall cut off her hand. ¹³Your eye shall have no pity.

13 "You ¹⁴shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small.

14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small.

15 A full and fair^[b] weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, ¹⁵that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

16 For ¹⁶all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, ¹⁷are an abomination to the LORD your God.

17 ¹⁸"Remember what Amalek did to you ¹⁹on the way as you came out of Egypt,

18 how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and ²⁰cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God.

19 Therefore ²¹when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall ²²blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.

Deuteronomy 25 Commentary

Chapter 25

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)

Verses 1-3 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.

Verse 4 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 ( 1 Corinthians. 9:9 )

Verses 5-12 The custom here regulated seems to have been in the Jewish law in order to keep inheritances distinct; now it is unlawful.

Verses 13-16 Dishonest gain always brings a curse on men's property, families, and souls. Happy those who judge themselves, repent of and forsake their sins, and put away evil things, that they may not be condemned of the Lord.

Verses 17-19 Let every persecutor and injurer of God's people take warning from the case of the Amalekites. The longer it is before judgement comes, the more dreadful will it be at last. Amalek may remind us of the foes of our souls. May we be enabled to slay all our lusts, all the corruptions both within and without, all the powers of darkness and of the world, which oppose our way to the blessed Saviour.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 19:17
• 2. [1 Kings 8:32; Proverbs 17:15]
• 3. [2 Corinthians 11:24]
• 4. Cited 1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18
• 5. Matthew 22:24; Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28
• 6. [Genesis 38:8, 9; Ruth 1:12, 13; Ruth 3:9]
• 7. Ruth 4:10
• 8. [Ruth 4:1, 2]
• 9. [Ruth 4:6]
• 10. [Ruth 4:7]
• 11. [Numbers 12:14; Job 30:10; Isaiah 50:6]
• 12. Ruth 4:11
• 13. See Deuteronomy 7:16
• 14. Leviticus 19:35, 36; [Proverbs 16:11; Ezekiel 45:10; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11]
• 15. See Deuteronomy 4:40
• 16. Proverbs 11:1
• 17. Deuteronomy 18:12; Deuteronomy 22:5
• 18. Exodus 17:8
• 19. Deuteronomy 24:9
• 20. [Joshua 10:19]
• 21. [1 Samuel 15:2, 3]
• 22. See Exodus 17:8-14

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew its name
• [b]. Or just, or righteous; twice in this verse

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 25

Several laws are contained in this chapter, as concerning beating such whose crimes required it, De 25:1-3; of not muzzling the ox in treading out the corn, De 25:4; of marrying a deceased brother's wife, when there was no issue, and of the disgrace of such that refused it, De 25:5-10; of the punishment of an immodest woman, De 25:11,12; and against bad weights and measures, De 25:13-16; and for the utter destruction of Amalek, De 25:17-19.