Editing Levirate marriage

{{Short description|Type of marriage}}
{{distinguish|Levite}}
{{Anthropology of kinship |concepts}}
'''Levirate marriage''' is a [[Types of marriages|type of marriage]] in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong [[clan]] structure in which [[exogamous]] marriage (i.e. marriage outside the clan) is forbidden.

==Etymology==
The term ''levirate'' is derived from the Latin ''lēvir'', meaning "husband's brother;"<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/levirate| title = Levirate Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster}} </ref> it is unrelated to [[Leviticus]] or [[Levite]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://inductivebible.org/matthew-2224-28-answering-the-sadducees-3-levirate-marriage/|title=Matthew 22:24-28 (Answering the Sadducees 3: Levirate Marriage)|first=Clark|last=Brown|date=August 3, 2014|website=Inductive Bible}}</ref>

==Background and rationale==
{{Main|Widow inheritance}}
Levirate marriage can, at its most positive, serve as protection for the widow and her children, ensuring that they have a male provider and protector. Levirate marriage can be a positive in a society where women must rely on men to provide for them, especially in societies where women are under the authority of, dependent on, in servitude to or regarded as possessions of their husbands, and to ensure the survival of the clan. The practice of levirate marriage is strongly associated with [[Patriarchal society|patriarchal societies]]. The practice was extremely important in ancient times (e.g., [[Ancient Near East]]), and remains so today in parts of the world. Having children enables the inheritance of land, which offers security and status.

A levirate marriage might only occur if a man died childless, in order to continue his family line. The anthropologist [[Ruth Mace]] also found that the practice of widow inheritance by younger brothers, common in many parts of [[Africa]], serves to reduce population growth, as these men will be forced to marry older (and hence, less fertile) women.<ref>Why Polyandry Fails: Sources of Instability in Polyandrous Marriages Nancy E. Levine; Joan B. Silk http://case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanSociety/documents/02.pdf</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava, 1950-|title=Women and gender in Jewish philosophy|date=2004|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-11103-X|oclc=62892814}}</ref>

==Judaism==
{{Main|Yibbum|Jewish views on incest|Incest in the Bible}}
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], a form of levirate marriage, called ''[[yibbum]]'', is mentioned in {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|25:5-10|HE}}, under which the brother of a man who dies without children is permitted and encouraged to marry the widow. Either of the parties may refuse to go through with the marriage, but then both must go through a ceremony, known as ''[[halizah]]'', involving a symbolic act of renunciation of a ''yibbum'' marriage. Sexual relations with one's brother's wife are otherwise forbidden by [[Leviticus 18]] and [[Leviticus 20]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/interpretersbibl02butt/ |title=Interpreter's Bible |volume=2|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Abingdon Press]]|date=1953|via=[[Internet Archive]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/interpretersbibl02butt/page/93 93] & [https://archive.org/details/interpretersbibl02butt/page/103 103]|quote=16. There is curiously no reference here to the so-called Levirate marriage, at one time practiced in Israel, whereby, if a man died childless, his brother would take his wife in order to raise up descendants for him. (Deut. 25:5-10).{...}21. So-called Levirate marriage is presumably excepted (see Deut. 25:5 ff.).}}</ref>

Jewish custom has seen a gradual decline of ''yibbum'' in favor of ''halizah'', to the point where in most contemporary Jewish communities, and in Israel by mandate of the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel|Chief Rabbinate]], ''yibbum'' is prohibited.

This started already in time of [[Mishnah]], "The opinion of Abba Shaul, who said, 'The [[mitzvah]] of ḥalitza takes precedence over the mitzvah of levirate marriage'" (Yevamot 3a). "Now that they do not have intent for the sake of fulfilling the mitzvah, the Sages say, The mitzvah of performing ḥalitza takes precedence over the mitzvah of consummating the levirate marriage" ([[Babylonian Talmud]], ''Yevamot'' 39b). In [[Yemen]], however, the practice of Levirate marriage was observed by the Jewish community there until their immigration to the Land of Israel.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goitein|first=S.D. |author-link=Shelomo Dov Goitein|title=The Yemenites – History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life (Selected Studies)|editor=Menahem Ben-Sasson|editor-link=Menahem Ben-Sasson|date=1983|publisher=[[Ben-Zvi Institute]]|place=Jerusalem |page=306 |language=he |oclc=41272020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Goitein|first=S.D.|author-link=Shelomo Dov Goitein |title=Zur heutigen Praxis der Leviratsehe bei orientalischen Juden|journal=Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society|volume=13 |pages=159–166|date=1933|oclc=637974886|language=de}}</ref> In 1950, the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel|Rabbinate of Israel]], along with the [[Chief Rabbi#Israel|Chief Sephardic Rabbi]], forbade its practice amongst the Yemenites, citing a need for "uniformity amongst the Jewish groups," and only permitted those who were already married through levirate marriage from outside the country.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ḥibshush |first=El'azar |title=Enactments of the Rabbinate in Marital Matters (תקנות הרבנות בענייני אישות)|journal=TEMA, Journal of Judeo-Yemenite Studies |volume=20 |editor=Yosef Yuval Tobi |publisher=Association for Society and Culture (Ha-Aggudah le-Tipuach Havrah ve-Tarbut) |date=2022 |location=Netanya (Israel) |pages=101-149 |language=he |isbn=978-965-92934-9-0 |issn=0792-4461}}</ref>

==Islam==
[[Sharia|Islamic law]] (''sharia'') clearly lays down rules for marriage, including [[Islamic marital jurisprudence#Who may be married.3F|who may marry whom]], and although the [[Quran]] does not prohibit a man from marrying his brother's widow, it does insist that if it were to be done, it should be treated as a normal marriage with the wife's consent and a ''[[mahr]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://irebd.com/quran/english/surah-4/verse-19/|title=Loading...|website=irebd.com}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women by compulsion. And do not make difficulties for them in order to take [back] part of what you gave them unless they commit a clear immorality. And live with them in kindness. For if you dislike them – perhaps you dislike a thing and Allah makes therein much good.|al-Nisa 4:19, Sahih International translation<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quran.com/an-nisa/19|title=Surah An-Nisa - 19|website=Quran.com}}</ref>}}

==Eurasia==

===Scythia===
The levirate custom was revived in [[Scythia]] if there were shaky economic conditions in the decedent's family. Khazanov, citing [Abramzon, 1968, p.&nbsp;289 - 290], mentions that during [[World War II]], the levirate was resurrected in Central Asia. In these circumstances, adult sons and brothers of the deceased man held themselves responsible to provide for his dependents. One of them would marry the widow and adopt her children, if there were any.<ref>Khazanov А. M. ''Social history of Scythians'', Moscow, 1975. p. 82 (no ISBN, but the book is available in US libraries, Russian title ''Sotsialnaya Istoriya Skifov'', Moskva, 1975)</ref>

===Central Asia and Xiongnu===
The levirate custom survived in the society of Northeastern Caucasus [[Huns]] until the 7th century [[Common Era|CE]]. The [[Armenia]]n historian [[Movses Kaghankatvatsi|Movses Kalankatuatsi]] states that the [[Sabir people|Savirs]], one of Hunnish tribes in the area, were usually [[monogamous]], but sometimes a married man would take his brother's widow as a [[polygynous]] wife. Ludmila Gmyrya, a [[Dagestan]]i historian, asserts that the levirate survived into "[[ethnographic]] modernity" (from the context, probably 1950s). Kalankatuatsi describes the form of levirate marriage practised by the Huns. As women had a high [[social status]], the widow had a choice whether to remarry or not. Her new husband might be a brother or a son (by another woman) of her first husband, so she could end up marrying her brother-in-law or stepson; the difference in age did not matter.<ref>Gmyrya L. ''Hun Country At The Caspian Gate'', Dagestan, Makhachkala 1995, p.212 (no ISBN, but the book is available in US libraries, Russian title ''Strana Gunnov u Kaspiyskix vorot'', Dagestan, Makhachkala, 1995)</ref> Hungarians also practiced levirate marriages. [[Koppány]]'s rebellion against the Christian king [[Stephen I of Hungary|Stephen I]] and claim to marry [[Sarolt]], the widow of his relative [[Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians|Géza]], was qualified as an incestuous attempt by 14th-century Hungarian chronicles, but was fully in line with the pagan custom.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Engel |first=Pál |title=The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526 |publisher=I.B. Tauris Publishers |year=2001 |isbn=1-86064-061-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kristó |first=Gyula |title=Saint Stephen and His Country: A Newborn Kingdom in Central Europe – Hungary |publisher=Lucidus Kiadó |isbn=963-86163-9-3 |editor-last=Zsoldos |editor-first=Attila |pages=15–36 |chapter=The Life of King Stephen the Saint|year=2001 }}</ref>

===India===
In 2017, the [[Indian Army]] removed a rule which restricted payment of monetary allowances to widows of gallantry awardees if she marries someone other than the late husband's brother. Previously, the payment of an allowance was continued until her death or until she re-married, unless the new husband was the late husband's brother.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 November 2017 |title=Army widow need not marry brother-in-law for pension |work=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/221117/army-widow-need-not-marry-brother-in-law-for-pension.html}}</ref>

The most famous instance of levirate marriage in India was the wedding of the [[Pañcāla|Panchala]] princess [[Draupadi]] to the five [[Pandava]] brothers. It is a main plot point of the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'', though heavily discussed in the text as being controversial. ([[Polygamy]], however, was common at the time.)

===Indonesia===
According to the ''[[adat]]'' (customary practice) of the [[Karo people (Indonesia)|Karo people]] in [[North Sumatra]], Indonesia, polygyny is permitted. A study of Kutagamber, a Karo village in the 1960s, noted one instance of the practice, as a result of levirate.<ref>Masri Singarimbun, ''Kutagamber: A village of the Karo''.</ref> The Indonesian term for it is "''turun ranjang''" (lit.: get down off one's bed).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/turun%20ranjang|title=Hasil Pencarian - KBBI VI Daring}}</ref>

===Japan===
The Japanese had a custom of  levirate marriage called ''aniyome ni naosu'' (兄嫁に直す) during the [[Meiji period]].<ref>{{Cite journal|s2cid=155214295|doi=10.5955/JALHA.1957.112|title=Levirate Marriage of Meiji Era in Japan|year=1957|last1=Yamanaka|first1=Einosuke|journal=Legal History Review|volume=1957|issue=7|pages=112–130,en4|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Kurds===
Levirate marriages among the [[Kurds]] are very common and also among the [[Kurds in Turkey]], especially in [[Mardin]].<ref>{{in lang|tr}} the reasons for traditional marriages in Turkey and the effects of custom on marriages; Tuğçe P. Taçoğlu "[http://sobiad.odu.edu.tr/files/cilt2/cilt2sayi4pdf/poyraz_tacoglu_tugca.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826233024/http://sobiad.odu.edu.tr/files/cilt2/cilt2sayi4pdf/poyraz_tacoglu_tugca.pdf|date=2014-08-26}}</ref>
Levirate is practised in [[Kurdistan]]: a widowed woman stays with her husband's family. If she is widowed when her children are young, she is obliged to marry her deceased husband's brother. This form of marriage is called levirate. [[Sororate marriage]] is another custom: When a man loses his wife before she bears a child or she dies leaving young children, her lineage provides another wife to the man, usually a younger sister with a lowered [[bride price]]. Both levirate and sororate are practiced to guarantee the well being of children and ensure that any inheritance of land will stay within the family.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

===Kyrgyz===
"The [[Kyrgyz people]] practice levirate whereby the wife of a deceased male is very often married by a younger sibling of the deceased."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6aXloa1QsEC&dq=Kirghiz+levirate&pg=PA124|title=The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War|first=M. Nazif|last=Shahrani|date=September 20, 2012|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=9780295803784 |via=Google Books}}</ref> "Kirghiz ... followed levirate marriage customs, i.e., a widow who had borne at least one child was entitled to a husband from the same lineage as her deceased spouse."<ref>[http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/EthnicityAndTribe.html Afghanistan -- Ethnicity and Tribe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208001556/http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/EthnicityAndTribe.html |date=2006-12-08 }}</ref>

===Korea===
The Korean kingdom of [[Goguryeo]] also had a custom of levirate marriage. An example of this was king [[Sansang of Goguryeo]] marrying [[Queen U of Goguryeo|the queen]] of [[Gogukcheon of Goguryeo]], who was his older brother's wife.<ref name="Yi">Pae-yong Yi, 《Women in Korean History 한국 역사 속의 여성들》, Ewha Womans University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|8973007726}}, pp.122-123</ref>

===Manchu===
The existence of levirate marriage is supported by the case of Korean [[Princess Uisun]] who was brought to the [[Later Jin (1616–1636)|Later Jin]] dynasty to marry the [[Manchu]] prince [[Dorgon]] and married his nephew after he died.<ref name="shizu">[https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=645346&remap=gb#p273 Veritable Records of Shunzhi]: "{{lang|zh|初，朝鮮國王族女，為和碩端重親王博洛妃。王薨，妃寡居。其父錦林君李愷允入充貢使，於賜宴日泣請其女還國，部臣以聞，下議政王貝勒會議，許之。}}"</ref>

==Africa==

=== Central African Republic ===
Levirate marriage is commonly practiced among [[Gula People|Goula]] who mostly live in northern part of [[Central African Republic]].<ref>{{cite report|author=UNICEF Mendiguren|date=September 2012|title=Etude anthropologique de l'organisation sociale et politique des communautés en Centrafrique et des organisations à assise communautaire |url=http://grupodeestudiosafricanos.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/MENDIGUREN-2012-Dynamiques-Communautaires-RCA-UNICEF.pdf|page=408|access-date= 28 March 2023}}</ref> 

===Cameroon===
Among the [[Mambila]] of northern [[Cameroon]], in regard to "Inheritance of wives: both levirates are practised throughout the tribe".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/dz/Archive/ethnology.html |title=D. A. Percival 1 xi 35, ''Notes on Dr Meek's Report'' on "Mambila Tribe" (page numbers refer to K. C. Meek : ''Tribal Studies'', 1929, Vol. 1), Pp542-3 |access-date=2009-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201055959/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/dz/Archive/ethnology.html |archive-date=2009-02-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Kenya===
As among the [[Maragoli]] of western [[Kenya]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHHGN6Qqf6QC&pg=PA100|title=Culture and Human Development|first=Jaan|last=Valsiner|date=February 2, 2000|publisher=SAGE|isbn=9780761956846 |via=Google Books}}</ref> likewise "in the [[Luo peoples|Luo]] case widows become mostly remarried to the deceased husband's brother".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHHGN6Qqf6QC&pg=PA99|title=Culture and Human Development|first=Jaan|last=Valsiner|date=February 2, 2000|publisher=SAGE|isbn=9780761956846 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Potash, Betty.|title=Wives of the grave : widows in a rural Luo community|oclc=920988918}}</ref>

In the highlands of Kenya, it is "[[Nandi people|Nandi]] custom for a widow to be 'taken over' ... by a brother ... of her deceased husband."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwChAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA77|title=Widows in African Societies: Choices and Constraints|first=Betty|last=Potash|date=February 1, 1986|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=9780804766562 |via=Google Books}}</ref> "According to customary law, it is tantamount to adultery for a widow to be sexually involved with a man other than a close agnate of her late husband."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwChAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA78|title=Widows in African Societies: Choices and Constraints|first=Betty|last=Potash|date=February 1, 1986|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=9780804766562 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

===Nigeria===
In some parts of [[Nigeria]], it is a common practice for a woman to marry her late husband's brother if she had children. This enabled the children to retain the father's family identity and inheritance. Although less common today, it is still practiced:
{{blockquote|
Levirate marriage is considered a custom of the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], the [[Igbo people|Igbo]], and the [[Hausa-Fulani]] ... . ... levirate marriages ... are commonest among the [I]gbo ... . ... Under customary law among the Yoruba, ... A brother or son of the deceased husband ... was traditionally allowed to inherit the widow as a wife ... . The inheritance of the youngest wife of the deceased by the eldest son ... continues to be practiced in Yoruba land ... . ... Under Igbo customary law, ... a brother or son of the deceased Igbo husband ... was traditionally allowed to inherit the widow as a wife. Levirate marriage is also considered in the tradition of the [[Urhobo people]], a major ethnic group in the Delta State.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20250331132404/https://www.refworld.org/docid/45f1478811.html|title=UNHCR Web Archive|website=webarchive.archive.unhcr.org}}</ref>}}

===Somalia===
In [[Somalia]], levirate marriage is practiced and is called ''Dumaal'', and provisions are made under Somali [[customary law]] or ''[[Xeer]]'' with regard to [[bride price]] (''yarad''). The widow is usually given a choice in the matter. In the past few decades since the start of the [[Somali Civil War]], this type of marriage has fallen out of favor due to strict Islamic interpretations that have been imported to Somalia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=James Norman Dalrymple |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5Rb6Mwd3zoC&dq=%22islamic+levirate%22&pg=PA46 |title=Islamic Law in Africa |date=1970 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7146-1905-7 |language=en}}</ref>

===South Sudan===
{{main|Ghost marriage (Sudanese)}}
Levirate marriages are very common among South Sudan's [[Nilotic peoples]], especially among the [[Dinka]] and [[Nuer people]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Beswick|first=Stephanie|title="We Are Bought Like Clothes": The War Over Polygyny and Levirate Marriage in South Sudan|journal=Northeast African Studies|year=2001|volume=8|issue=2|pages=35–61|doi=10.1353/nas.2005.0023|pmid=17500126|s2cid=28995754|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/nas/summary/v008/8.2beswick.html|access-date=11 December 2011|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

An alternate form, the ghost marriage, occurs when a [[groom]] dies before marriage. The deceased groom is replaced by his brother who serves as a stand in to the bride; any resulting children are considered children of the deceased spouse.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marriage Rules: Part II Unusual Marriage Arrangements|url=http://anthro.palomar.edu/marriage/marriage_4.htm|access-date=11 December 2011|date=June 29, 2006}}</ref>

===Zimbabwe===
In [[Zimbabwe]], levirate marriage is practiced amongst the [[Shona people]], and provisions are made under Zimbabwe [[customary law]], with regard to [[bride price]] (''roora''). The widow is usually given a choice in the matter, as well as the widower. In the past few decades, this type of marriage has fallen out of favor due to increased rural-to urban migration as well as improved literacy for women and girls.

==Americas==
===Pre-colonial Inca civilization===

Spanish chronicler, [[Juan de Betanzos]], described the practice of levirate marriage which he saw observed in Peru in the early 16th-century by the people ruled by the Inca: "If the first husband of a woman died and the woman wanted to marry, she would be married to the closest relative of her husband. If children remained from her first husband, she should rear them as her own. If the first husband left no children, the second should be from the same lineage and the lineage would continue and the blood of those of [[Cuzco]] would not be mixed with that of some other nation or disappear."<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Juan |author-last=de Betanzos|author-link=Juan de Betanzos |editor-first1=Roland |editor-last1=Hamilton|editor-first2=Dana |editor-last2=Buchanan|title=Narrative of the Incas (Spanish:  Suma Y Narracion de Los Incas)|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=OeGNoiGxUdwC}}|year=1996|publisher=University of Texas Press|page=Part One: 106 |isbn=978-0-292-75559-8 |oclc=1286807163 }} (based on the Palma de Mallorca manuscript)</ref>

==In popular culture==
{{More citations needed |section |date=January 2024}}
Levirate marriages serve as a plot-element in various works of fiction:

* In [[William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare's]] iconic play [[Hamlet]], the titular character's paternal uncle; [[King Claudius|Claudius]], marries [[Gertrude (Hamlet)|his mother]], after the death of [[Ghost (Hamlet)|Hamlet's father.]] It is later revealed by the late king's ghost that Claudius murdered his brother, in order to seize the throne and marry his sister-in-law.

* The plot of [[Holy Matrimony (1994 film)|''Holy Matrimony'']] (1994) is based on a levirate marriage, but the real-life [[Hutterite]]s don't have such custom.
* In the TV series [[Deadwood (TV series)|''Deadwood'']], Seth Bullock is married to his brother's widow. This is a plot point used to mitigate guilt in the adulterous affair between Alma (another widow), and Seth (2005).<ref>[[List of Deadwood characters#Martha Bullock]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=May 2018}} 
* In the [[Tamil literature|Tamil]] novel ''[[Arukattuthurai]]'' (2006), Aruldas, (younger brother of Samuel) marries his sister-in-law Samuthiravalli, nearly three years after Samuel goes missing.
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Lord [[Eddard Stark]] marries his brother Brandon's betrothed, [[Catelyn Tully]] after the death of Brandon.
* In [[Hell on Wheels (TV series)|''Hell on Wheels'']] (2011–2016),  it makes mention of Eva's late husband Gregory Toole having killed himself, his brother having tradition to marry her as his brother's widow.

==See also==
* [[Avunculate|Avunculism]], a cultural custom in which a maternal uncle demonstrates some institutionalised interest in his sister's offspring and may take on many of the responsibilities typically associated with fatherhood; this is a role, for instance, among [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] peoples who have [[matrilineal]] cultures.
* [[Sororal polygyny]], a marriage of two or more sisters and a man.
* [[Fraternal polyandry]], a marriage of two or more brothers and one woman
* [[Genealogy of Jesus]], in which Levirate marriage is offered to explain discrepancies
* [[Posthumous marriage]], a marriage in which at least one party is dead
* [[Widow conservation]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Traditions involving siblings]]
[[Category:Widow inheritance]]