Lectionary Calendar
Monday, October 7th, 2024
the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

King James Version

Deuteronomy 25:9

Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Brother;   Government;   Inheritance;   Marriage;   Shoe;   Spitting;   Widow;   Thompson Chain Reference - Shoes Removed;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Shoes;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Barrenness;   Marriage;   Sandals;   Widow;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Inheritance;   Punishment;   Widow;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Duty;   Immorality, Sexual;   Wealth;   Widow;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Levirate Law;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Boaz;   Heir;   Sandal;   Shealtiel;   Zerubbabel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Adoption;   Avenger;   Court Systems;   Family;   Gestures;   Household;   Kinsman;   Levirate Law;   Levirate Law, Levirate Marriage;   Resurrection;   Ruth;   Shealtiel;   Spit, Spittle;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   Face;   Family;   Firstborn;   Foot;   Leviticus;   Marriage;   Shoe;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Education (2);   Spitting, Spittle ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Spitting;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Marriage;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Barrenness;   Government of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Brother's Wife;   Foot;   Heir;   Husband's Brother;   Law in the Old Testament;   Presence;   Relationships, Family;   Saul;   Shoe;   Spit;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Blood-Relationship;   Brother;   Commandments, the 613;   Conditions;   Family and Family Life;   ḥaliẓah;   Marriage;   Mishnah;   Nashim;   Pharisees;   Sadducees;   Saliva;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for June 14;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
then his brother's wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'
New American Standard Bible (1995)
then his brother's wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, 'Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then shall his kinswoman come vnto hym in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe of his foote, and spit in his face, and aunswere, and say: So shal it be done vnto that man, that doth not buylde vp his brothers house.
Easy-to-Read Version
then his brother's wife must come to him in front of the leaders. She must take his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. She must say, ‘This is being done to the man who will not give his brother a son!'
Literal Translation
Then his brother's wife shall draw near to him before the elders, and shall take his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So it shall be done to the man who will not build up the house of his brother.
Revised Standard Version
then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'
World English Bible
then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.
King James Version (1611)
Then shal his brothers wife come vnto him in the presence of the Elders, and loose his shooe from off his foote, and spit in his face, and shall answere, and say, So shall it bee done vnto that man that will not build vp his brothers house.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
then shal his kynßwoman steppe forth vnto him before the Elders, and lowse a shue fro his fote, and spyt in his face, and shal answere, and saye: Thus shal it be done vnto euery man, that wyl not builde his brothers house.
American Standard Version
then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.
Bible in Basic English
Then his brother's wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother's name.
Update Bible Version
then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So it shall be done to the man that does not build up his brother's house.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then shall his brother's wife come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done to that man that will not build up his brother's house.
New English Translation
then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She will then respond, "Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother's family line!"
New King James Version
then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, "So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house.'
Contemporary English Version
she must go over to him while the town leaders watch. She will pull off one of his sandals and spit in his face, while saying, "That's what happens to a man who won't help provide descendants for his dead brother."
Complete Jewish Bible
then his brother's widow is to approach him in the presence of the leaders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face and say, ‘This is what is done to the man who refuses to build up his brother's family.'
Darby Translation
then shall his brother's wife come near to him before the eyes of the elders, and draw his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that will not build up his brother's house.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then shall his kinswoman come vnto him in the presence of the Elders, and loose his shooe from his foote, and spit in his face, and answere, and say, So shall it be done vnto that man, that will not buylde vp his brothers house.
George Lamsa Translation
Then his sister-in-law shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and say, So shall it be done to the man who will not raise a family to his brother.
Good News Translation
his brother's widow is to go up to him in the presence of the town leaders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face, and say, ‘This is what happens to the man who refuses to give his brother a descendant.'
Amplified Bible
then his brother's widow shall approach him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, 'So it is done to that man who does not build up his brother's household.'
Hebrew Names Version
then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the Zakenim, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
then shall his brother's wife draw nigh unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say: 'So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.'
New Living Translation
the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she must declare, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to provide his brother with children.'
New Life Bible
then his brother's wife will come to him in front of the leaders. She will pull his shoe off his foot and spit in his face. And she will say, ‘This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's house.'
New Revised Standard
then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, "This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house."
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
then his brother’s wife shall come forward before the elders, and shall loose one shoe from off his foot, and shall spit in his face, and shall answer and say, Thus shall they do to the man who will not build his brother’s house in Israel.
English Revised Version
then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.
Berean Standard Bible
his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, "This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother's line."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall his brothers wife come near unto him in the presence of the elders, and draw his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, - and respond and say, Thus shall it be done unto the man who will not build up the house of his brother.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The woman shall come to him before the ancients, and shall take off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and say: So shall it be done to the man that will not build up his brother’s house:
Lexham English Bible
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.'
English Standard Version
then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'
New American Standard Bible
then his brother's widow shall come up to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, 'This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house!'
New Century Version
the woman must go up to him in front of the leaders. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face and say, "This is for the man who won't continue his brother's family!"
Christian Standard Bible®
then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will declare, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother's house.'
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
the womman schal go to hym bifor the eldre men of Israel, and sche schal take awei the schoo, and sche schal spete in to his face, and schal seie, So it schal be doon to the man, that bildith not `the hows of his brother;
Young's Literal Translation
`Then hath his brother's wife drawn nigh unto him, before the eyes of the elders, and drawn his shoe from off his foot, and spat in his face, and answered and said, Thus it is done to the man who doth not build up the house of his brother;

Contextual Overview

5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. 6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. 7 And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, 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. 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her; 9 Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. 10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. 11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: 12 Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

loose his shoe: Pulling off the shoe seems to express his being degraded to the situation of slaves, who generally went barefoot; and spitting in or rather before (biphney) his face, was a mark of the utmost ignominy. Ruth 4:7, Ruth 4:8, Isaiah 20:2, Mark 1:7, John 1:27

spit: Numbers 12:14, Job 30:10, Isaiah 50:6, Matthew 26:67, Matthew 27:30, Mark 10:34

So shall: Genesis 38:8-10, Ruth 4:10, Ruth 4:11, 1 Samuel 2:30

Cross-References

Genesis 25:9
And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
Genesis 25:10
The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
Genesis 25:20
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
Genesis 25:29
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
Genesis 25:30
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Genesis 35:29
And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Genesis 50:13
For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders,.... The time and place being appointed the evening before by three Rabbins, and two witnesses, as Leo of Modena says p; of which she was apprized, and ordered to come tasting:

and loose his shoe from off his foot; his right foot, which was thus done;

"they bring him a leather shoe, which has a heel, but not sewed with linen (linen thread), and he puts it on the right foot, and binds the latchet on his foot, and stands, he and she, in the court; he fixes his foot on the ground, and she sits and stretches out her hand in the court, and looses the latchet of his shoe from off his foot, and pulls off his shoe, and casts it to the ground q:''

this he suffered to be done to show that he gave up his right to her; and he was so used by way of reproach, to signify that he deserved not to be reckoned among freemen, but among servants and slaves, that went barefooted, having no shoes on: and in the mystical sense of it, as Ainsworth observes, it spiritually signified, that such as would not beget children unto Christ (or preach his Gospel for that purpose), it should be declared of them that their feet are not shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Christ, Ephesians 6:15;

and spit in his face; in a way of contempt, as a token of shame and disgrace; but the Jewish writers generally interpret this in a softer manner, as if it was not in his face, but in his presence, upon the floor, and seen by the judges r:

and shall answer and say, so shall it be done unto the man that will not build up his brother's house; that is, in this contemptuous and shameful manner shall he be used.

p Ut supra, sect. 4. (Leo Modena's Hostory of Rites, &c. l. 1. sect. 4.) q Maimon. ut supra, (Yebum Vechalitzab, c. 4.) sect. 6. r Ibid. sect. 7. Targum & Jarchi in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The law of levirate marriage. The law on this subject is not unique to the Jews, but is found (see Genesis 38:8) in all essential respects the same among various Oriental nations, ancient and modern. The rules in these verses, like those upon divorce, do but incorporate existing immemorial usages, and introduce various wise and politic limitations and mitigations of them. The root of the obligation here imposed upon the brother of the deceased husband lies in the primitive idea of childlessness being a great calamity (compare Genesis 16:4; and note), and extinction of name and family one of the greatest that could happen (compare Deuteronomy 9:14; Psalms 109:12-15). To avert this the ordinary rules as to intermarriage are in the case in question (compare Leviticus 18:16) set aside. The obligation was onerous (compare Ruth 4:6), and might be repugnant; and it is accordingly considerably reduced and restricted by Moses. The duty is recognized as one of affection for the memory of the deceased; it is not one which could be enforced at law. That it continued down to the Christian era is apparent from the question on this point put to Jesus by the Sadducees (see the marginal references).

Deuteronomy 25:5

No child - literally, “no son.” The existence of a daughter would clearly suffice. The daughter would inherit the name and property of the father; compare Numbers 27:1-11.

Deuteronomy 25:9

Loose his shoe from off his foot - In token of taking from the unwilling brother all right over the wife and property of the deceased. Planting the foot on a thing was an usual symbol of lordship and of taking possession (compare Genesis 13:17; Joshua 10:24), and loosing the shoe and handing it to another in like manner signified a renunciation and transfer of right and title (compare Ruth 4:7-8; Psalms 60:8, and Psalms 108:9). The widow here is directed herself, as the party slighted and injured, to deprive her brother-law of his shoe, and spit in his face (compare Numbers 12:14). The action was intended to aggravate the disgrace conceived to attach to the conduct of the man.

Deuteronomy 25:10

The house ... - Equivalent to “the house of the barefooted one.” To go barefoot was a sign of the most abject condition; compare 2 Samuel 15:30.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 25:9. And loose his shoe — It is difficult to find the reason of these ceremonies of degradation. Perhaps the shoe was the emblem of power; and by stripping it off, deprivation of that power and authority was represented. Spitting in the face was a mark of the utmost ignominy; but the Jews, who are legitimate judges in this case, say that the spitting was not in his face, but before his face on the ground. And this is the way in which the Asiatics express their detestation of a person to the present day, as Niebuhr and other intelligent travellers assure us. It has been remarked that the prefix ב beth is seldom applied to פני peney; but when it is it signifies as well before as in the face. See Joshua 21:44; Joshua 23:9; Esther 9:2; and Ezekiel 42:12; which texts are supposed to be proofs in point. The act of spitting, whether in or before the face, marked the strong contempt the woman felt for the man who had slighted her. And it appears that the man was ever after disgraced in Israel; for so much is certainly implied in the saying, Deuteronomy 25:10: And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile