25:5-19

Back to Contents

Family and business relationships

(Deut 25:5-19)

If a man died having no son, his brother was to have a temporary marital relation with the widow for the purpose of helping her produce a son. Legally, this son would be considered son of the dead man and so would receive his inheritance and carry on his name.

If the brother refused to cooperate, he was to be publicly disgraced for allowing the dead man’s name to die out (Deut 25:5-10). (If, however, there were surviving daughters, they could receive the father’s inheritance; see Num 27:1-11.)

This desire to protect even the closest of relatives was no excuse for indecency, and the person guilty of indecency had to be punished (Deut 25:11-12).

People were not to act dishonestly in business dealings, such as through using undersized measures when selling grain and extra heavy weights when weighing the buyer’s money (Deut 25:13-16).

In commanding Israel to destroy the Amalekites, God showed that he would surely punish those who brutally attacked the weak and defenceless (Deut 25:17-19).