[ ]Mapping the FamilyA spousal relationship is in some ways unique. It is worth noting that
the biblical laws that determine for whom a priest may defile himself in
mourning do not include the wife,^37 although she is added to the list by
commentators. A spouse is not one of Ego’s consanguine kin; whether
lineage is unilineal or bilineal, a spouse is not technically part of that
lineage. This is recognized in rabbinic discussions about inheritance.
Wives are not their husbands’ heirs, and the right of a husband to inherit
his wife’s property has to be proved by the rabbis through multiple acts
of biblical exegesis, each of which is challenged in the Bavli.^38
Hebrew kinship terminology recognizes the importance of affinity
by employing terminology to denote members of a spouse’s family of
origin or a child’s spouse. Some of t hese terms a llow Ego to reference his
in-laws through a direct relationship, rather than referring to them as
relatives of his wife or child — for example, “wife’s father” or “daughter’s
husband.” Rabbinic tradition emphasizes the importance of the indi-
vidual’s relationship to the spouse’s parents by requiring that honor be
shown to in-laws as well as parents.
The employment of a word to describe the relationship between two
men married to sisters — the use of gis to denote the husband of Ego’s
wife’s sister — is interesting, especially given the use of a different, com-
pound term to describe the wife’s brother. The word is derived from
the verb g-v-s, meaning “to be familiar with.” The derivation suggests
a special relationship between men married to sisters, a relationship
that might emerge owing to a society’s understanding of closeness be-
tween sisters. The prohibition against a man’s marrying his wife’s sis-
ter in her lifetime — setting up a situation in which sisters may become
rivals — suggests that closeness between sisters is natural and should
not be put in jeopardy. That closeness may have lasted even after the
sisters’ marriages and departure from their father’s home and could in
turn have promoted a close relationship between their otherwise unre-
lated husbands.^39 Mishnah Yevamot’s interest in cases of brothers mar-
ried to sisters should be considered in this context.
The kinship terminology employed by the rabbis suggests a complex
kinship system in which the closest relatives are identified by simple
terms and members of the extended family are identified primarily by
compound terms. Kinship through both parents is recognized and, at
least vis-à-vis terminology, is treated equally. Affinal relationships are