Deuteronomy 25: Duties of brothers and wives

Synopsis:

If a man is judged guilty and deserves a whipping, you can whip him no more than 40 times. If a man dies without an heir, his brother is to go to the wife and help her bear a child in his brother’s name. If he refuses, he is to be called out and spat upon. If two men are quarreling, and the wife goes to help by grabbing the testes of the other man, her hand is to be cut off. Don’t use measures and weights that aren’t accurate. And we are supposed to blot out the memory of the Amalek’s and not forget them.

In other words:

Don’t over punish people and women shouldn’t grab a man’s balls in a fight.

Favorite bit:

(Deuteronomy 25:11) When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:  (This is just so classic! You really can’t make that passage up.)

2nd favorite bit:

(Deuteronomy 25:19) “That shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou salt not forget it.” Seriously?   Can these instructions be any less clear or less contradictory?  No wonder Purim is such a fun holiday.

Moral Lesson Learned:

• Don’t punish people excessively (Deuteronomy 25:3)
• Don’t grab a man by his privates in a fight (Deuteronomy 25:11)