“If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.”
When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband's brother to her — the levirate marriage law ('yibum' from yavam, husband's brother) preserves family property and honor. The brother assumes both the widow's care and the dead man's inheritance obligation.
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