Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]eties that practice levirate are clearly patriarchal and exert significant
control over the options of widows, whose choices are limited by custom
and by inheritance laws that assign property to a man’s patrilineal rela-
tives rather than his widow.
A ncient Israel features most of t he cha racterist ics just described. The
Israelites engaged in simple agriculture. Israelite society was patrilocal
and patrilineal. According to the Hebrew Bible, continuity of the fam-
ily and preservation of familial land were important; inheritance was
patrilineal, and wives were not recognized as their husbands’ heirs. The
on ly cha racter ist ic absent f rom a ncient Israel is exoga my ; wh i le t he laws
of Leviticus prohibit sexual relationships between various members of
an extended family, marriage between cousins is permitted. Given the
nature of Israelite society, it comes as no surprise that levirate was part
of Israelite practice.
Clearly, levirate is a complex and varied institution. Different societ-
ies employ levirate unions to achieve different ends. It may be under-
stood as an expression of concern for the deceased, particularly if he
died without offspring, or it may be seen as a right accorded to his fam-
ily. It is also possible to understand levirate as a society’s way of ensur-
ing the protection and continued economic well-being of widows and
fat herless ch i ld ren. In order to comprehend a cu lt u re’s u ndersta nd i ng of
levirate, we need to consider its construction of widowhood, continuity
and inheritance, and kinship.
The Status of Widows
The status of and expectations for a widow vary from culture to culture.
In some cultures, widows may have a variety of options; in others, their
behav ior is t ig ht ly ci rcu mscr ibed. T he opt ions open to w idows reflect, i n
part, a community’s understanding of marriage. When marriage is first
and foremost an arrangement between two individuals, the death of one
spouse releases the surviving spouse from obligations to the deceased
partner.^21 A widow may be expected to observe a period of mourning as
a sign of respect toward her deceased husband, but her legal obligations
to him and to his family will end with his death. In societies that regard
marriage as an agreement or alliance between two families, the death
of a spouse may leave the surviving spouse with obligations to and/or
rights in the family of the deceased.