Ruth 3:12-13

3:12 Now yes, it is true that ¹  I am a guardian, ²  but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am. 3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ³  fine, ⁴  let him do so. ⁵  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ⁶  Sleep here until morning.” ⁷ 

Genesis 38:8

38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with ⁸  your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise ⁹  up a descendant for your brother.” ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 25:5-6

Respect for the Sanctity of Others

25:5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her, ¹¹  and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. ¹²  25:6 Then ¹³  the first son ¹⁴  she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel.

Matthew 22:24

22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ¹⁵  for his brother.’ ¹⁶ 

Luke 20:28

20:28 They asked him, ¹⁷  “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man ¹⁸  must marry ¹⁹  the widow and father children ²⁰  for his brother. ²¹ 

[3:12]  ¹ tc The sequence כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי אִם (ki ’omnam ki ’im; Kethib) occurs only here in the OT, as does the sequence כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי (Qere). It is likely that כִּי אִם is dittographic (note the preceding sequence כִּי אָמְנָם). The translation assumes that the original text was simply the otherwise unattested וְעַתָּה כִּי אָמְנָם, with אָמְנָם and כִּי both having an asseverative (or emphatic) function.

[3:12]  ² tn Sometimes translated “redeemer” (also later in this verse). See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in v. 9.

[3:13]  ³ tn Heb “if he redeems you”; NIV “if he wants to redeem”; NRSV “if he will act as next-of-kin for you.” The verb גֹּאֵל (go’el) here refers generally to fulfilling his responsibilities as a guardian of the family interests. In this case it specifically entails marrying Ruth.

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Or “good” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “well and good.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “let him redeem” (so NIV); NLT “then let him marry you.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “but if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you, I, [as] the Lord lives” (NASB similar).

[3:13]  ⁷ sn Sleep here. Perhaps Boaz tells her to remain at the threshing floor because he is afraid she might be hurt wandering back home in the dark. See Song 5:7 and R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 218.

[38:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:8]  ⁹ tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.

[38:8]  ¹⁰ sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.

[25:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”

[25:5]  ¹² sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6).

[25:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it will be that.”

[25:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.

[22:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

[22:24]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[20:28]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[20:28]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “his brother”; but this would be redundant in English with the same phrase “his brother” at the end of the verse, so most modern translations render this phrase “the man” (so NIV, NRSV).

[20:28]  ¹⁹ tn The use of ἵνα (Jina) with imperatival force is unusual (BDF §470.1).

[20:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for procreating children (L&N 23.59).

[20:28]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. Because the OT quotation does not include “a wife” as the object of the verb, it has been left as normal type. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.