Deuteronomy 25
BBCDeuteronomy 25:1
25:1-3 When an offender was found guilty and was sentenced to be beaten, he was not to receive more than forty blows. The Jews commonly inflicted thirty-nine blows or stripes, lest they miscount and thus transgress this regulation (see 2Co_11:24). 25:4 The ox that trod out the grain was not to be muzzled but rather to be allowed to eat some of the grain. Paul uses this verse in 1Co_9:9-11 to teach that the man who labors in spiritual things should be taken care of in material things. Thus Paul shows us that there is a spiritual aspect to the law. This does not minimize the literal meaning; it only shows that many times there is a spiritual lesson under the surface. The diligent student will look for and heed this important spiritual lesson.
Deuteronomy 25:5
- Law of Levirate Marriage (25:5-10)If an Israelite died and left his widow without a son, there was the danger that his name might perish and his property pass out of the family. Therefore, a brother of the dead man was supposed to marry the widow. This practice of “Levirate” marriages existed in many ancient nations. If the brother would not agree to do this, then the widow went to the elders of the city and announced this fact. He was called before the elders and given an opportunity to confirm his unwillingness. If he persisted in his refusal, the widow removed one of his sandals and spat in his face. From then on he was known by a name of reproach because of his unwillingness to perpetuate his brother’s house. Lev_20:21 prohibited a man from marrying his brother’s wife; here he is commanded to marry her. The passage in Leviticus no doubt applied when the husband was still living, while Deuteronomy refers to a time when the husband is dead, having left behind no male heir.
Deuteronomy 25:11
- Three Distinct Laws (25:11-19)25:11, 12 If a woman interfered by seizing a man immodestly in a fight in which her husband was involved, her offending hand was to be cut off. Her actions might endanger the man’s having an heir; thus the severe penalty. 25:13-16 Honest weights and measures were required. Often men had one set of scales for buying and another for selling. This was an abomination to the LORD. 25:17-19 The descendants of Amalek were to be utterly destroyed because of his treachery and cruelty (Exo_17:8-16). Israel is told not to forget to destroy the Amalekites, but it appears that they did forget. Saul disobeyed the Lord in not exterminating them in his day (1 Sam. 15). In fact, it was not until the days of Hezekiah that “they defeated the rest of the Amalekites who had escaped” (1Ch_4:43).