12:19a
Teacher: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Teacher was a polite title for a Jewish religious leader. It does not mean “school teacher.” See how you translated this word in 4:38c and 12:14a.
Moses wrote for us that: This phrase introduces a specific law that God gave the Jews. Moses wrote this law for them in Deuteronomy 25:5–10. The word us here includes Jesus, because he also was a Jew.
In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit that what Moses wrote was a law. It may also be necessary to clarify that the phrase for us refers to the Jews in general. It does not refer only to the Sadducees of Jesus’ time. Here is one way to clarify these things:
Our(incl) law that Moses wrote says
-or-
Moses wrote this law for us Jews:
Moses: Moses was one of the greatest leaders of the Jews. He lived long before Jesus was born. He wrote God’s laws for the Jews. That is why the first five books of the Old Testament are often called “the Law of Moses.”
12:19b
if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children: This clause describes a situation that might happen. A married man might die without having any children. Moses wrote a law that would apply to the wife and the man’s brother in this situation.
12:19c
the man is to marry his brother’s widow: The phrase the man here refers to a man whose brother died. The passage in Deuteronomy does not indicate whether one brother was older or younger than the other. If there were several brothers and one died, it is reasonable to assume that the oldest of the remaining brothers should marry the widow. But this is not clear in Moses’ writings.
his brother’s widow: A widow is a woman whose husband has died. If she remarries, she is no longer a widow.
12:19d
and raise up offspring for him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as offspring is literally “seed.” Here it refers to a son and his descendants. When the brother and the widow had their first son, that son would inherit the dead brother’s name and land. In this way the dead brother would also have descendants and his family could continue.
You may want to make explicit in your translation that only the first child would be considered the child of the dead brother. For example:
Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother. (Contemporary English Version) (If the living brother had other children by his brother’s widow, those children would be considered as children of the living brother.)
It may be helpful in your translation to have a footnote to briefly explain this custom. For example:
In ancient Israel there was a custom that if a man married and then died childless, one of his brothers should marry his widow. The first son that the widow bore in her new marriage would be considered the son of her dead husband. This son would act as the heir to the name and property of the first husband. The details of this custom are in Deuteronomy 25:5–10.
for him: The pronoun him refers to the dead brother. Here are some other ways to translate the phrase for him:
who will carry on the brother’s name (New Living Translation)
-or-
who will be considered the dead man’s child
-or-
who will be his brother’s heir
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