| Gen. 38:1-26 | Judah married a Canaanite, who bore him three sons -
Er, Onan, and Shelah. "Then Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her
name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord,
and the Lord killed him." (vs. 6-7) Judah instructed Onan to "...Go in to your
brother's wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother." (vs. 8)
But Onan "emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother."
(vs. 9) this "...displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also."(vs. 10) Judah asked his
daughter-in-law to "...Remain a widow in your father's house till my son Shelah
is grown. ..." (vs. 11) and he would give her to him, but he feared he too would
die, so he did not give her to him. See (The Blessing Came Through Tamar) |
| Deut. 25:5-10 | "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and
has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger
outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his
wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be that
the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother,
that his name may not be blotted out of Israel." (vs. 5-6) If the man does not
want her she goes to the gate to tell the elders, and she removes his sandal
from his foot, spits in his face and he is known as " 'The house of him who had
his sandal removed.' " (vs. 10) See (Sandals - Symbolism In The Bible) |
| Example: | Ruth 4:1-11 This is the proper way of redeeming property that has been sold by a near kinsman. Boaz approached the near kinsman at the gate, in front of the elders and informed him. The near kinsman declined, and told Boaz to redeem it because he did not want to ruin his own inheritance. As the custom was the man then took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz as an attestation to confirm the transaction in front of witnesses. |
