Levirate Duty

Levirate duty is a biblical custom, also known as Levirate marriage or brother-in-law marriage (levir is the Latin word for brother-in-law). If a man died childless, his brother or another member of the family had to marry the widow.

Levirate duty was intended to ensure that the family line was continued. If a man died without offspring, his name and his memory would disappear. So a brother had to conceive a son with the widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-6).
Furthermore, through Levirate marriage the possessions remained in the family of the deceased man. And it was a way of ensuring that the widow was not left without rights.
It was considered a great shame if someone refused to marry the widow of his deceased brother (Deuteronomy 25:7-10).

Levirate marriages occur both in the Old and New Testaments. Well-known examples are:

Levirate duty applied among a number of nations in Israel’s neighbourhood. Assyrian laws relating to a form of Levirate marriage have been found. This duty also applied if only the intention to marry was expressed and the future husband died prematurely. In other texts from the ancient Near East as well, such as those of the Hittites and from Ugarit, fragments about Levirate marriage have been found.