Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 25:5-12

"If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married 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 a husband`s brother unto her. And it shall be, that the first-born that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel. And if the man like not to take his brother`s wife, then his brother`s wife shall 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 a husband`s brother unto me. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand, and say, I like not to take her; 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. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity." — Deuteronomy 25:5-12 (ASV)

Deuteronomy 25:5–10. LEVIRATE MARRIAGES.

If brethren dwell together. — This law is made the subject of a whole treatise in the Talmud, called Yebâmôth. The object of the law was held to be attained if the family of the dead man was perpetuated, and did not become extinct. And therefore the marriage specified was not necessarily between the brother and the brother’s wife, but might be between other representatives of the two persons in question. (See Ruth 4)

The law is older than Moses. We first hear of it in the household of Judah the son of Jacob (Genesis 38:8). The violation of the law then was punished with death, not with disgrace only.

But what makes the law most memorable is the teaching elicited from the lips of our Savior by the question which the Sadducees raised upon it (see marginal reference). It is worthwhile to observe that the law itself demands that in some sense there should be a resurrection. Boaz puts it thus (Ruth 4:5), “to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.” Why should the name of the dead be kept up, if the dead has passed out of existence? We may well believe that this law was partly intended (like baptism for the dead, or like giving children the names of their departed progenitors) for the express purpose of keeping alive the hope of resurrection in the minds of the chosen people.

When men strive together... — Another precept of humanity. In Exodus 21:22, “If men strive and hurt a woman with child,” punishment or compensation must follow. The law in this place is the counterpart of that. Men must be protected as well as women.

Putteth forth her hand and taketh him. — “Him,” i.e., him that smites her husband. The precept is to enforce modesty as well as to protect humanity.