Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah

Ramban on Deuteronomy 25:6/רמב"ן על דברים כ״ה:ו׳

אוְטַעַם וְהָיָה הַבְּכוֹר אֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵד יָקוּם עַל שֵׁם אָחִיו הַמֵּת, אֵינֶנּוּ כִּפְשׁוּטוֹ, שֶׁיִּקְרְאוּ הַבֵּן הָרִאשׁוֹן בְּשֵׁם הַמֵּת רְאוּבֵן אוֹ שִׁמְעוֹן כָּמוֹהוּ, שֶׁהֲרֵי בְּבֹעַז נֶאֱמַר כֵּן (רות ד י), וְלֹא יִכָּרֵת שֵׁם הַמֵּת מֵעִם אֶחָיו וּמִשַּׁעַר מְקוֹמוֹ, וְלֹא קָרְאוּ אוֹתוֹ מַחְלוֹן. אֲבָל הַכָּתוּב הַזֶּה עַל דֶּרֶךְ הָאֱמֶת הַבְטָחָה, וְהִנֵּה הוּא כִּפְשׁוּטוֹ. וְסָמְכוּ בּוֹ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ (ספרי קנו יבמות כד) מִדְרָשׁ, שֶׁיְּהֵא גְּדוֹל הָאַחִים מְיַבֵּם, וְשֶׁהָאַיְלוֹנִית אֵינָהּ מִתְיַבֶּמֶת, וְכֵן אֵשֶׁת הַסָּרִיס שֶׁשְּׁמוֹ מָחוּי, וְזֶה כֻּלּוֹ אַסְמַכְתָּא, כִּי הָאַיְלוֹנִית וְאֵשֶׁת הַסָּרִיס מִגּוּפֵהּ דִּקְרָא נַפְקֵי:

1AND IT SHALL BE THAT THE FIRSTBORN THAT SHE BEARETH SHALL SUCCEED IN THE NAME OF HIS BROTHER THAT IS DEAD. It [the true purport thereof] is not the simple meaning that they call the first son by the name of the dead, Reuben or Shimon as his name was, for in the case of Boaz it says thus, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren,³⁷⁶ and yet they did not call the child born [to Boaz and Ruth] Machlon. But this verse by way of the Truth, [the mystic teaching of the Cabala], is an assurance³⁷⁷ and thus it is to be understood in its simple sense. And our Rabbis found support in this verse for the following laws:³⁷⁸ that the eldest [surviving] brother contracts the levirate marriage, that a sterile woman may not be contracted for such marriage, nor the wife of a eunuch since his name was “blotted out” [when he was yet alive]. Now, all these are but Scriptural supports [for laws of levirate marriage], because the laws of the sterile widow and the widow of the eunuch are derived from the very essence of the Scriptural section [and are not derived from the Scriptural supports quoted].³⁷⁹