Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.
//Suppose you have a brother who marries a woman, but then dies before he can father a child. According to Old Testament law, it then becomes your responsibility to take his widow as your wife, to “perform the duty of a husband’s brother unto her.”
This duty isn’t to satisfy her needs. It’s to help her bear a child, which will be in the name of your brother, so that his name will survive.
If you refuse to give her a child, then this is your punishment: She can call the elders of the city together, rip the shoe from your foot, and publicly spit in your face. From that point forward, your own family will be called The House of the Unsandaled.
