Year 7, Day 176: Deuteronomy 25

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Deuteronomy 25 is one of those chapters that amuses me.  It amuses me because like so many of the chapters before, it fits into the “do the right thing” or “be fair” category.  But the situations discussed here seem almost absurd.

For example, take the teaching about the court case.  It absolutely makes sense that if two people sue each other, then the judge should be able to exact fair and appropriate punishment.  It also makes sense that the punishment should fit the crime and not be more than the person can bear.  We can get that from the teaching in this chapter.  However, it amuses me to hear the Bible say, “Don’t give him more than forty lashes, because then he will be degraded in your sight.  As if there is something more embarrassing about getting 41 lashes than 39!

Or, take the law about the marriage that doesn’t produce an offspring.  I can absolutely understand how this situation would come about.  Children often died in infancy or as a young person.  It would not be uncommon for a woman to have multiple children but many would simply not make it to adulthood.  I can see a situation where a man marries and dies before he can produce an adult heir.  I can see the case where the woman would want a son to continue on in the name, again remembering the ancient custom of woman and their inability to own land, etc.  What this law is about is making sure that the inheritance of the whole people of Israel stays the inheritance of the whole people of Israel.  This law is in there to prevent one person – or a small group of people – from taking over. But it seems so odd to our modern ears to her that a woman had the right to demand that their now deceased husband’s brother give her an heir!  It’s not wrong, mind you.  It just sounds odd on our modern ears with our modern understanding of love and marriage.

Or take the law about two men fighting.  Men know that there are certain unwritten rules about fighting.  There are places you don’t intend to injure.  There is more to this law than simply fighting fair.  In the context of this law, remember that we’ve heard frequently about the importance of a person being able to bring about an heir.  If a man is damaged and cannot bring about an heir, then we have a much greater problem.  This law is ultimately concerned not just with fairness in a fight but in a person being able to receive their God-given right of heirs and family.

Last, I’ll mention the law about two kinds of weights.  It seems silly to think of a merchant having two different kinds of weights.  However, remember that this was a day where electronic scales didn’t exist.  Standardized spring loaded scales didn’t exist, either.  You bought goods according to a balance, where a known weight was placed against the quantity being sold.  A merchant could cheat customers by using larger weights when buying and smaller weights when selling.  This law was incredibly useful, although it amuses me that human beings are so fickle that they could live with themselves being a cheat.  I know we can.  It happens all the time.  It’s just a shame that people have so little internal ethic.

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