Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism

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Index

Inheritance (continued)
from uncles, 219n117; vertical vs.
horizontal, 16, 184, 189, 218n106;
widow as husband’s heir, 15, 26,
57; widow as part of, 7, 16, 128;
widow-inheritance, 3, 4, 15–16, 31,
34; women’s rights in, 6–7. See also
Paternity; Patrilineal descent
In-law relationships: assumption
of tension among females, 55,
116, 120, 163–64, 200; kinship
nomenclature, 54–55, 56, 57; and
mourning laws, 75, 226n99. See also
Levir; Marital family; Yevama
Iranian law, x xii, 134–35, 187–88, 193
Isaac, Rabbi, 114
Isha, 54
Israelite society, 8, 34–36. See also
Hebrew Bible

Jerusalem Talmud. See Talmud,
Palestinian
Jesus of Nazareth, 39
Josephus, 37–38, 169
Joshua, Rabbi, 131, 148, 149
Judah (father in Genesis 38), 28, 38,
98, 123
Judah, Rabbi, 76, 110
Judah, Rav, 104, 113
Judah bar Shela, Rabbi, 87, 91, 219n119
Judah haNasi, Rabbi, 223n35
Junior levirate, 17
Jural membership in descent system,
70 –71

Ketubot, 162, 164, 196
Kindred vs. descent system, 72–73
Kinship structures and terminology,
10, 48–50, 52–58, 83–96, 219n118.
See also Cross-cultural analysis;
Family
Kuper, Hilda, 210n58

Laqish, Resh, 157
Lateral vs. vertical inheritance, 16,
184, 189, 218n106
Laws of Manu, The, 18–19, 229n65
Legal vs. biological father, 19–21
Lemche, N. P., 49
Levir: biblical perspective, xvii–xviii,
xix, 28–29, 32, 97, 100, 123,

167–68, 197–98; claim on yevama’s

property, 143–44, 146–47; criteria

for yevama’s rejection of, 137–38;

cross-cultural analysis, 11, 12, 13,

21, 197, 209n11; disadvantages of

levirate for, 11, 21, 27, 105, 121–22;

eligibility of multiple brothers,

28, 40, 43, 82, 97–98, 104–5, 106–7,

112, 174–75, 225n79, 84; father

as, 28, 29; free choice in levirate

situation, 99, 114, 117; and halitza,

117–19, 137, 152–54, 225n86; as

heir to deceased brother, 16, 27,

109–13, 122, 173–75; married life

after levirate, 119–20; motivations

regarding levirate, xix, x x, 26–27,

28–29, 32, 36–37, 38, 98, 100–101,

105, 109, 111, 112, 113–16, 120, 138;

overview of role, 97–99; paternity

assignment of levirate child to,

4, 12, 21, 43, 110–11, 168, 172–76,

177, 182–83, 188, 191, 193–94, 199,

209n11, 226n13; power position

with yevama, 133–34, 148–50, 151;

rabbinic perspective, 127–28, 135,

154–61, 198–99; responsibility to

direct descendants, 193; yevama’s

binding to, 124, 128

Levirate union: context in

interpretation of, xiv–x xvi, 5–8,

21, 22, 127, 161; defining, xvii;

family impact of, xviii, x x, 45–48,

93–95, 120–21, 204–5; and fraternal

relationship definition, 102; and

incest taboos, 18, 40, 45, 59–62,

82–93, 95–96, 115–16; levirate

as adjective vs. noun, 207n3;

and marriage, x x, x xv, 3–8, 21,

22, 39, 40, 44, 116, 119–20, 122,

126, 166, 193, 199; obligatory vs.

optional versions, 5; permanent

vs. temporary versions, 5, 7–8; as

strategy of continuity, x xiv, 35,

36–37, 67, 167–76, 185; tensions

arising from, 17–18, 30, 221n54.

See also Cross-cultural analysis;

Hebrew Bible; Inheritance; Levir;

Rabbinic literature; Yevama

Leviticus: family construct in, 75;

incest taboos, 30–31, 43, 50, 58–60,

89; and mourning laws, 74