Positive Commandment #128 of 613
A man must marry the widow of his childless brother
Commandment #128 — a positive obligation from Deuteronomy 25:5, classified under Marriage and Family in the 613 commandments of the Torah.
Scripture
“"When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.”
— Deuteronomy 25:5
Hebrew
ה כִּי-יֵשְׁבוּ אַחִים יַחְדָּו, וּמֵת אַחַד מֵהֶם וּבֵן אֵין-לוֹ--לֹא-תִהְיֶה אֵשֶׁת-הַמֵּת הַחוּצָה, לְאִישׁ זָר: יְבָמָהּ יָבֹא עָלֶיהָ, וּלְקָחָהּ לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וְיִבְּמָהּ.
Greek (Septuagint)
5 Ἐὰν δὲ κατοικῶσιν ἀδελφοὶ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἀποθάνῃ εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν, σπέρμα δὲ μὴ ᾖ αὐτῷ, οὐκ ἔσται ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ τεθνηκότος ἔξω ἀνδρὶ μὴ ἐγγίζοντι· ὁ ἀδελφὸς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς εἰσελεύσεται πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ λήμψεται αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα καὶ συνοικήσει αὐτῇ.
Classification
- Type
- Positive (Thou Shalt)
- Category
- Marriage and Family
- Book
- deuteronomy
- Chapter
- 25
Scholarly References
- Parashah
- Ki Tetze
- Mishneh Torah
- WomenLevirate Marriage and Release
Related Commandments in “Marriage and Family”
#122: Marry a wife by means of a marriage agreement and sanctification
Deuteronomy 22:13
#123: Do not have sexual relations with women not married by means of a marriage agreement and sanctification
Deuteronomy 23:18
#124: Do not withhold food, clothing, and sexual relations from your wife
Exodus 21:10
#125: Have children with one's wife
Genesis 1:28
#126: Issue a divorce by means of a "get" document
Deuteronomy 24:1
#127: A man must not remarry his ex-wife after she has married someone else
Deuteronomy 24:4
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