Matthew 22:24

24 "Teacher, Moses said, "If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.'

Matthew 22:24 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 22:24

Saying, master
Rabbi, or doctor, as he was usually called;

Moses said,
in ( Deuteronomy 25:5 )

if a man die having no children, his brother shall marry his wife,
and raise up seed unto his brother;
which, though not expressed in the self same words, yet is the sense of the passage referred to, and was a practice in use before the times of Moses, as appears from the case of Er and Onan; the design of which was, to preserve families, and keep their inheritances distinct and entire. This law only took place, when a man died without children; for if he left any children, there was no need for his brother to marry his wife; yea, as a Jewish writer observes F24, she was forbidden, it was not lawful for him to marry her, and was the case if he had children of either sex, or even grandchildren: for as another of their commentators notes F25, his having no child, regards a son or a daughter, or a son's son, or a daughter's son, or a daughter's daughter; and it was the eldest of the brethren, or he that was next in years to the deceased, that was obliged by this law F26, though not if he had a wife of his own; and accordingly in the following case proposed, each of the brethren married the eldest brother's wife in their turn, according to the course of seniority; and by this law, the first child that was born after such marriage, was reckoned the seed of the deceased, and was heir to his inheritance. The Jews in their Misna, or oral law, have a whole tract on this subject, called Yebamot, which contains various rules and directions, for the right observance of this law.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Aben Ezra in Deut. xxv. 5.
F25 Jarchi in ib. Vid. Maimon. Hilch. Yebum, c. 1. sect. 3.
F26 Jarchi in Deut. xxv. 5. Misn. Yebamot, c. 2. sect. 8. & 4, 5. Maimon. Hilch. Yebum, c. 2. sect. 6.

Matthew 22:24 In-Context

22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
23 The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying,
24 "Teacher, Moses said, "If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.'
25 Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother.
26 The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.