Deuteronomy 25:7

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

If the man doesn't want to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible

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יְבָמִ֜י

yâbâm

H2993

“brother-in-law · my”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Singular

Appears 2× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Deuteronomy 25:5

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from (the orig. of) H2992

TWOT: 836a

brother-in-law, husband's brother

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

22: words
20: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is יְבָמִ֜י brother-in-law H2993 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

יְבִמְתּ֑וֹ sister-in-law H2994

Shared distinctive vocabulary

יְבָמִ֜י brother-in-law H2993 occurs in 2 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Deuteronomy 25:5

Grammatical profile

8 verbs
8 nouns
1 adjective
1 preposition
1 conjunction
3 particles

Verb forms

יַחְפֹּץ֙ Qal · Imperfect
לָקַ֖חַת Qal · Infinitive Construct
וְעָלְתָה֩ Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְאָֽמְרָה֙ Qal · Sequential Perfect
מֵאֵ֨ין Piel · Perfect
לְהָקִ֨ים Hiphil · Infinitive Construct
אָבָ֖ה Qal · Perfect
יַבְּמִֽי Piel · Infinitive Construct

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

יְבִמְתּ֑וֹ sister-in-law H2994 ×2
לֹ֤א not H3808 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 51 words from the Hebrew and 48 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Deuteronomy 25:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Ruth 4:1–2 Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; to whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down.
Ruth 4:5–6 Then said Boaz, What day you buy the field of the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Deuteronomy 25:7 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאִם לֹ֤א יַחְפֹּץ֙ הָאִ֔ישׁ לָקַ֖חַת אֶת יְבִמְתּ֑וֹ וְעָלְתָה֩ יְבִמְתּ֨וֹ הַשַּׁ֜עְרָה אֶל הַזְּקֵנִ֗ים וְאָֽמְרָה֙ מֵאֵ֨ין יְבָמִ֜י לְהָקִ֨ים לְאָחִ֥יו שֵׁם֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א אָבָ֖ה יַבְּמִֽי

If the man doesn't want to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Deuteronomy 25:7 Septuagint · lemma form

ἐάν δέ μή βούλομαι ὁ ἄνθρωπος λαμβάνω ὁ γυνή ὁ ἀδελφός αὐτός καί ἀναβαίνω ὁ γυνή ἐπί ὁ πύλη ἐπί ὁ γερουσία καί εἶπον οὐ θέλω ὁ ἀδελφός ὁ ἀνήρ ἐγώ ἀναἵστημι ὁ ὄνομα ὁ ἀδελφός αὐτός ἐν ἰσραήλ οὐ θέλω ὁ ἀδελφός ὁ ἀνήρ ἐγώ

And if the man should not be willing to take his brother's wife, then shall the woman go up to the gate to the elders, and she shall say, My husband's brother will not raise up the name of his brother in Israel, my husband's brother has refused.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְאִם לָא יִצְבֵי גַבְרָא לְמִסַב יָת יְבִמְתֵּהּ וְתִסַק יְבִמְתֵהּ לִתְרַע בֵּית דִינָא לָקֳדָם סָבַיָא וְתֵימַר לָא צָבֵי יְבָמִי לַאֲקָמָא לַאֲחוּהִי שְׁמָא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל לָא אָבֵי לְיַבָּמוּתִי

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְאִם לָא יִצְבֵי גַבְרָא לְמֵיסַב יַת יְבִימְתֵּיהּ וְתִיסַק יְבִימְתֵּיהּ לִתְרַע בֵּי דִינָא קֳדָם חַמְשָׁא חַכִּימִין וִיהוֹן תְּלָתָא לְדַיְינִין וּתְרֵין לְסַהֲדִין וְתֵימַר בְּלִישַׁן בֵּית קוּדְשָׁא קֳדָמֵיהוֹן מְסָרֵב יְבָמִי לְמִקְמָא לְאָחוֹי שְׁמָא בְּיִשְרָאֵל לָא צָבֵי לְיַבָּמוּתִי

But if the man be not willing, to take his sister-in-law, then shall his sister-in-law go up to the gate of the beth din before five of the sages, three of whom shall be judges and two of them witnesses, and let her say before them in the holy language: My husband’s brother refuseth to keep up the name of his brother in Israel, he not being willing to marry me.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Deuteronomy 25:7 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

7. shall go up to the gate] Rth_4:1, only here, in D; so also the terms like not and refuseth (see introd. note).

elders] Deu_21:19, Deu_22:15. See on Deu_16:18.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And the man like not to take his brother's wife,.... The provision here made by this law, when this was the case, is such as did not take place before it became a law; for then Onan would have taken the advantage of it, and refused marrying his brother's wife, which it is plain was not agreeable to him, Gen 38:9; as many do now on one account or another. Leo of Modena (l) says,"it was anciently accounted the more laudable thing to take her, than to release her; but now the corruption of the times, and the hardness of men's hearts, are such, as that they only look after worldly ends, either of riches, or of the beauty of the woman; so that there are very few that in this case will marry a brother's widow, especially among the Dutch and Italian Jews, but they always release her:"

then let his brother's wife go up to the gate; to the gate of the city, where the judges sit for public affairs; to the gate of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this affair was cognizable by the bench of three judges, and might be dispatched by them; for so it is said (m),"the plucking off the shoe, and the refusal of marriage, are by three:''i.e. three judges, which was the lowest court of judicature with the Jews:

unto the elders, and say; which according to the above Targum were to be five wise men, of which three were to be judges, and two witnesses; and she was to say in the Hebrew language, in which, according to the Misnah (n), she was to pronounce what follows:

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; that is, in a few words, he will not marry her.

(l) Ut supra, sect. 3. (Leo Modena's History of Rites, &c. l. 1 sect. 3.) (m) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3. (n) Sotah, c. 7. sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

To raise up unto his brother a name; to revive his brother’s name and memory.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

7. If the man like not — If the brother-in-law was unwilling to marry the widow of his deceased brother, then she was to bring the matter before the elders for their adjudication. For an illustration see the case of Boaz and Ruth, Ruth chapters 4 and 5.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Vers. 7-10. If the man refused to marry the widow of his deceased brother, he was free to do so; but the woman had her redress. She was to bring the matter before the eiders of the town, sitting as magistrates at the gate, and they were to summon the man and speak to him, and if he persisted in his refusal, the woman was to take his shoe from off his foot, and spit before his face, and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother"s house. The taking off of the shoe of the man by the woman was an act of indignity to him; it amounted to a declaration that he was not worthy to stand in his brother"s place, and was scornfully rejected by the woman herself. As the planting of the shod foot on a piece of property, or the casting of the shoe over a field, was emblematical of taking possession of it with satisfaction; (Psa_60:8 Psa_108:9) and as the voluntary handing of one"s shoe to another betokened the giving up to that other of some property or right; so, contrariwise, the forcible removal from one of his shoe and the casting of it aside indicated contemptuous rejection of the owner, and repudiation of all his rights and claims in the matter. To walk barefooted was regarded by the Jews as ignominious and miserable. (cf. Isa_20:2, Isa_20:4; 2Sa_15:30) The spitting before the face of the man (wynpB in front of him) is by the Jewish interpreters understood of spitting on the ground in his presence (Talmud, "Jebam.," 106; Madmen., "In Jibbum.," 4:6-8). This seems to be what the words express (cf. Deu_4:37 Deu_7:24 Deu_11:25; Jos_10:8; Eze_10:8, for the rendering of ynpb) and this, according to Oriental notions, would be insult enough (cf. Num_12:14; Isa_1:6; Niebuhr, "Description de l"Arabie," 1:49).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

General Information:

Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.

must go up to the gate to the elders

The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "must go up to the city gate where the elders judge cases" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

refuses to raise up for his brother a name

Here "name" refers to the memory of someone through his descendants. AT: "refuses to give his brother a son" (See: Metonymy)

he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me

"he will not do what a husband's brother is supposed to do and marry me"

I do not wish to take her

"I do not wish to marry her"

translationWords

brother

gate

elder

name

Israel

call

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

השערה — Translate this as the Targum does: to the gate of the court.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Deuteronomy, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 22 words (20 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is yâbâm (“brother-in-law”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word yâbâm carries the sense “brother-in-law.” How does it shape the verse?
This is the first place “sister-in-law” appears in Scripture (first appears here). What does its debut here establish?
How does Deuteronomy 25:5, which shares the word «brother-in-law», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “sister-in-law” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«יַחְפֹּץ֙» is a Qal Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges and John Gill's Exposition read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
These translations choose different wording for 20 words in this verse.
“sister-in-law” occurs 2× in this single verse.
20 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 22 words in this verse.