Deuteronomy 25:7

7 But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'

Deuteronomy 25:7 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 25:7

And the man like not to take his brother's wife
The provision here made by this law, when this was the case, is such as did not take place before it became a law; for then Onan would have taken the advantage of it, and refused marrying his brother's wife, which it is plain was not agreeable to him, ( Genesis 38:9 ) ; as many do now on one account or another. Leo of Modena ^F12 says,

``it was anciently accounted the more laudable thing to take her, than to release her; but now the corruption of the times, and the hardness of men's hearts, are such, as that they only look after worldly ends, either of riches, or of the beauty of the woman; so that there are very few that in this case will marry a brother's widow, especially among the Dutch and Italian Jews, but they always release her:''

then let his brother's wife go up to the gate;
to the gate of the city, where the judges sit for public affairs; to the gate of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this affair was cognizable by the bench of three judges, and might be dispatched by them; for so it is said ^F13,

``the plucking off the shoe, and the refusal of marriage, are by three:''

i.e. three judges, which was the lowest court of judicature with the Jews:

unto the elders, and say;
which according to the above Targum were to be five wise men, of which three were to be judges, and two witnesses; and she was to say in the Hebrew language, in which, according to the Misnah ^F14, she was to pronounce what follows:

my husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in
Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother;
that is, in a few words, he will not marry her.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Ut supra, sect. 3. (Leo Modena's History of Rites l. 1 sect. 3.)
F13 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3.
F14 Sotah, c. 7. sect. 2.

Deuteronomy 25:7 In-Context

5 "When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not become the wife of a {man of another family}; her brother-in-law {shall have sex with her}, and he shall take her {to himself} as [a] wife, and he shall perform his duty as [a] brother-in-law [with respect to] her.

6 And then the firstborn that she bears {shall represent his dead brother}, so that his name is not blotted out from Israel.

7 But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'

8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him, and [if] he persists and says, '{I do not desire to} marry her'

9 [then] his sister-in-law shall go near him before the eyes of the elders, and she shall pull off his sandal from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she shall {declare} and she shall say, 'This is how it is done to the man who does not build the house of his brother.'

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "to cause a name to stand for his brother"
• [b]. Literally "to consummate the marriage with the widow of a [his] brother"