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The main reference for the Levirate law is Deuteronomy 25:5-10. V. 5-6 sets forth the duty of the "husband's brother" towards the widowed and childless sister-in-law while verses 7-10 deals with procedures applying to cases when the "husband's brother" refuses to perform his duty. V.10 describes what a widowed and childless sister-in-law should do in case her right is refused by her dead husband's brother:
In the presence of the elders (she) shall go up to him and strip his sandal from his foot and spit in his face saying publicly, 'This is how one should be treated who will not build up his brother's family!'The title "The One-Whose-Sandals-Have-Been-Stripped" then becomes the official name tag that his family will bear in Israel. The price to pay for refusing one's levirate duty is high. One must remember Onan whom God struck when he spilled his seed outside his sister-in-law's womb realizing that the child that will result from the union would be ascribed not to him, but to his brother (Gen.38:8-10). In the case of Deuteronomy's legislation, one bears the shame of being spitted at publicly, being stripped of one's sandals and letting one's lineage be reminded of that breach of duty.
1. Read the story at least three times: (a) scan it to get an overview of the story; (b) understand it (try to see how each of the parts contribute to the flow of the story); (c) see what opportunities the story gives for a textual encounter with the God who reveals Himself in human history. 2. Scan it. This is a superficial reading. Observe the text. Get a glimpse of the setting and characters. Look at the beginning, ending and some parts of the body. For a narrative like The Book of Ruth, this exercise can take about five minutes. 3. Understand it. This is a more thorough reading of the text. It would help if you have a notebook at hand. Take note of changes (in character, action, time and place). Identify the main parts of the story (for the story of Ruth, the outline above can help). See how the parts develop the main story line. Bible footnotes and marginal notes should be used sparingly (that is, only when one cannot understand a passage.). This will take longer than the first. (The first time I read the Book of Ruth, it took me an hour to understand the story line. Subsequent rereadings allowed me to get a deeper insight into the narrative. ) Do not let difficult passages inhibit you from the next step...
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