Deuteronomy 25: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Deuteronomy 25 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

If there is a controversy between men, judges shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked (vv. 1-2). If a wicked man is worthy of punishment, he may be beaten but not more than forty stripes to avoid degrading him (v.

Key verse

“You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light. You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small. You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.”
Deuteronomy 25:13-15 (WEB)

Outline

Deuteronomy 25:1–3 Judicial Fairness and Punishment
Deuteronomy 25:4–6 Levirate Marriage Law
Deuteronomy 25:7–10 Refusal of Levirate Duty
Deuteronomy 25:11–12 Punishment for Interference
Deuteronomy 25:13–16 Fair Business Practices
Deuteronomy 25:17–19 Remembering Amalek

Discussion questions

In v6, what is the role of the 'husband’s brother' in the levirate marriage law?
What does the term 'Abomination' in v16 say about dishonest practices?
In vv. 11-12, why is the punishment for the woman so severe when she intervenes?
In v19, what does it mean to 'blot out the memory of Amalek' and how is it to be enacted?
When have you experienced a situation where justice seemed lacking, as seen in v1's emphasis on 'justify the righteous'?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Deuteronomy 25: 1 Timothy 5, Ruth 4, Proverbs 11.

Before next time: read Deuteronomy 26.