What are the secrets of Deuteronomy 25?

Question

verse 11:

"When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:"

I don't understand.

I didn't ask about verse 12 because they told me it is controversial - Jerome T. Walsh from University of Dallas, Texas has argued that the most likely translation is ‘you shall shave [the hair of] her groin’

related question:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070112010132AA9kMXG

and a follow-up:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070112014711AAahkea

Answer 1

I believe it is talking about testicles.

Answer 2

The "secrets" or "privates" of a man generally refer to the penis and scrotum. While the Jewish Mosaic Law typically required 'like for like' retaliation, this Law demonstrates reasonableness. Removing a wife's reproductive organs would unduly punish her husband, who had a right to expect future offspring by this wife.

Here is a better translation of both verses:
(Deuteronomy 25:11,12) In case men struggle together with one another, and the wife of the one has come near to deliver her husband out of the hand of the one striking him, and she has thrust out her hand and grabbed hold of him by his privates, 12 you must then amputate her hand. Your eye must feel no sorrow.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20020215/article_02.htm

Answer 3

"Since there is no form of punishment in the Torah that calls for the maiming of an offender (excepting in the case of a slave that refuses to go free at the Sabbatical year, where the court requires that his earlobe be pierced [Exodus 21:6]), there is no case where a conspiratorial false witness could possibly be punished by the court injuring to his eye, tooth, hand, or foot. (There is one case where the Torah states "...and you shall cut off her hand..." [Deut. 25:11-12]. The sages of the Talmud understood the literal meaning of this verse as referring to a case where the woman is attacking a man in potentially lethal manner. This verse teaches that, although one must intervene to save the victim, one may not kill a lethal attacker if it is possible to neutralize that attacker through non-lethal injury {Sifrei; Maimonides' Yad, Nezikin, Hil. Rotze'ach u'Sh'mirat Nefesh 1:7}. Regardless, there is no verse that even appears to mandate injury to the eye, tooth, or foot."

Answer 4

If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, 12 you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity. - Deuteronomy 25:11-12 NIV

that should make more sense

Answer 5

If two men are fighting and one of the men's wife tries to help her own husband by grabbing the other guy's genitals (to hurt him), her hand should be cut off (if you continue to verse 12).

Answer 6

It is not the secret per say. . . but it means to get invloved in the fight without letting the other party knowing.

You may want to have a few different version.

If you know more than 2 languages, u will know that it is hard to translate stories.

If u do word for word, u may lost the meaning, if you do it in summary style,you may lost impotant point.

KJV & NASV is almost word for word, and NIV CEV etc are more dynamic kind. But it is good to have a few version for deeper study.

Answer 7

Good luck on that one. I didn't say it.