Moses begins by addressing the topic of justice, Jeremiah 9:23-24. If anyone has a dispute they must take it to the court where the judges will decide if a person is innocent or guilty, Deuteronomy 25:1 / Exodus 23:7 / Proverbs 17:15. Justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done, justice must prevail, Romans 13:4.
Throughout the Scriptures, we often find the righteous being treated as though they were guilty, and the guilty being treated as though they were innocent, Ecclesiastes 3:16 / Isaiah 5:20. Here Moses says if the guilty person derives to be beaten, then the amount of flogging should fit the crime, Deuteronomy 25:2 / Exodus 21:22-25. This was a safeguard against punishment that might be carried out in the heat of the moment or by an angry crowd.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This precept is literally followed in China; the culprit receives in the presence of the magistrate the punishment which the law directs to be inflicted. Thus then justice is done, for the magistrate sees that the letter of the law is duly fulfilled, and that the officers do not transgress it, either by indulgence on the one hand, or severity on the other. The culprit receives nothing more nor less than what justice requires.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The beating here spoken of would be on the back with a rod or stick, Proverbs 10:13 / Proverbs 19:29 / Proverbs 26:3.’
The guilty person would lie face down on the ground and have their backs beaten, Proverbs 10:13 / Proverbs 26:3. They were to be beaten a maximum of forty times, which is the full measure of judgment, Deuteronomy 25:3 / Genesis 7:12 / Numbers 14:33-34 / 2 Corinthians 13:10. The Israelites were so cautious about this that they would administer only thirty-nine stripes just to make sure they didn’t go over the number allotted for punishment, 2 Corinthians 11:24.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Forty signifies the full measure of judgment, Genesis 7:12 / Numbers 14:33-34, but the son of Israel was not to be lashed like a slave at the mercy of another. The judge was always to be present to see that the Law in this particular was not overpassed.’
God’s care for animals is seen in the fact if they worked, they were given the right to eat that which they worked for Deuteronomy 25:4. If an ox worked at treading out grain then it was to be given the right to eat a portion that which it treaded as their wages. To do otherwise would be a matter of cruelty. The apostle Paul used this law to illustrate God’s will in relation to a preacher’s right to receive wages from the church for his work, 1 Corinthians 9:1-14 / 1 Timothy 5:18.
The terms and conditions for this particular law were twofold. First of all, the extended family had to be living together, Deuteronomy 25:5. The widow must not marry outside the family, Deuteronomy 25:5 / Numbers 27:1-11. Secondly, the widow of the dead brother had to be childless, Genesis 38:8 / Matthew 22:23-28.
If a man dies not having a son, then his brother was to take his surviving wife and she would become the wife of the brother for the sake of producing a son and continuing that man’s heritage, Deuteronomy 25:6 / Numbers 27:1-8. When the dead man’s brother took his brother’s wife as his own and had a son, that young man was to be recognised as the dead man’s firstborn son. Only the firstborn was to take the name of the dead father, Deuteronomy 25:6.
If the man doesn’t desire to take his brother’s wife, the matter was taken to the elders, Deuteronomy 25:7, and if the man couldn’t be persuaded to assume his Levirate duties, Deuteronomy 25:8, then he had to symbolically demonstrate his intentions before the elders of the city, Deuteronomy 25:9 / Ruth 4.
We read here about the seriousness of not fulfilling this law, we see this in the fact that the woman was to remove one of his sandals, Deuteronomy 25:9 / Ruth 4:5-8 / Ruth 4:10 / 1 Samuel 24:21 / 2 Samuel 14:7 / Psalms 60:8 / Psalms 108:9, and spit in that man’s face, Numbers 12:14.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Planting the foot on a thing was an usual symbol of lordship and of taking possession, Genesis 13:17 / Joshua 10:24, and loosing the shoe and handing it to another in like manner signified a renunciation and transfer of right and title, Ruth 4:7-8 / Psalm 60:8 / Psalm 108:9.’
The shame not only occurred at the point of the woman spitting in the man’s face but he was to live with this shame in that all Israel would look upon his house and say, ‘this is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line,’ Deuteronomy 25:9. The man’s family line would also be called, ‘the Family of the Unsandaled’, Deuteronomy 25:10.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning ‘the Family of the Unsandaled’.
‘Equivalent to ‘the house of the barefooted one. To go barefoot was a sign of the most abject condition, 2 Samuel 15:30.’
Moses now deals with a situation where we find two men fighting. The wife of one may want to help her husband by taking hold of the enemy’s private parts to rescue her husband, Deuteronomy 25:11. This act on the part of the woman was an act against the posterity of a family through procreation and so, if she did this, the woman’s hand was to be cut off and no one was to have pity on her, Deuteronomy 25:12 / Leviticus 24:19-20.
In matters of buying and selling, Moses now deals with dishonest scales, Deuteronomy 25:13-14 / Leviticus 19:35-36. Here the consumer was protected in that the seller was never to have dishonest measuring weights in their possession, 2 Samuel 14:26 / Amos 8:5.
If the person measuring the wheat for sale used diverse weights to measure the sale, they would be cheating the farmer. A standard weight that was actually lighter than the true standard would give the merchant more wheat for less money, that is, they would be cheating the farmer.
Israel must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that they may live long in the land God is giving them, Deuteronomy 25:15 / Exodus 16:16 / Leviticus 19:35. Notice that not only are they who cheat with weights and measures considered detestable to God but also all who would do acts of unrighteousness, Deuteronomy 25:16. This is something which the Lord detests, Deuteronomy 25:15 / Proverbs 20:10 / Daniel 5:27 / Micah 6:11.
Moses encourages Israel to remember the Amalekites, Deuteronomy 25:17 / Genesis 36:15-16, and what they did to them when they came out of Egypt, Deuteronomy 25:18. When Israel had travelled from Egypt through the desert, Exodus 17:9-16 / Numbers 14:45, it was the Amalekites who took advantage of Israel, when they were at their weakest, by attacking them from the rear, Deuteronomy 25:18 / Exodus 17:8.
God reminds Israel of this wicked attack and commands that they ‘blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven’, Deuteronomy 25:19 / 1 Samuel 15:1-35 / 1 Samuel 28:18.