Deuteronomy 25:8 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

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;

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

Then the elders of his city will call him and talk to him about it. If he still refuses and says, 'I don't want to marry her,'

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

This verse describes community elders intervening to encourage a man to fulfill his duty to marry his deceased brother's widow, but acknowledging he might still refuse.

📚 Historical Context

This verse is part of the levirate marriage law in ancient Israel, where a man was expected to marry his deceased brother's childless widow to preserve the family line and provide for her. The elders served as community mediators who would counsel the reluctant brother-in-law before allowing him to formally decline this responsibility.

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2 Chronicles 36:17

So God allowed the king of Babylon to attack them. The Babylonian army killed their young men right inside their holy temple and showed no mercy to anyone—not to young men or women, not to the elderly or those bent over with age. God let the enemy conquer them all.

Deuteronomy 25:7

But if the man doesn't want to marry his dead brother's wife, then the woman should go to the city leaders at the town gate and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to keep his brother's family name alive in Israel. He won't fulfill his duty as my husband's brother.'

2 Samuel 12:17

The senior servants and advisors in his household came to him and tried to get him to get up from the ground, but he refused. He also wouldn't eat any food with them.

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