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To paraphrase Deuteronomy: "If a man dies childless, his brother must marry his widow, and her first son is deemed the deceased's offspring." What is this rule called in English?



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Answer: Levirite Marriage

The Hebrew name for this rule is yibum. . It was a way of keeping a man's property within the family. For example, Onan and Tamar in Genesis 38.

Deuteronomy 25:5 - If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her.


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