Levirate Law

The levirate law (from Latin levir, husband's brother) required that when a married man died without sons, his nearest male relative was to marry the widow to raise up offspring in the deceased's name and preserve his inheritance within the family (Deut. 25:5–10). The term does not appear in the Bible itself but was applied by later interpreters. The institution appears in practice in the account of Judah and Tamar (Gen. 38), where Onan's refusal to perform the duty brought divine judgment, and in the book of Ruth, where Boaz acts as a kinsman-redeemer on behalf of Elimelech's family. The Sadducees employed a levirate scenario in their challenge to Jesus about the resurrection (Matt. 22:23–33).