Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]nomenclature of the rabbis and that of the Hebrew Bible. While the Bavli
sometimes uses bayit (house) or the Aramaic deveit’hu (of their house) to
mean “wife,” that term is not used in compound terms or in legal discus-
sions about family relationships.^36 In Rabbinic discussions of in-laws,
there is only one of the sets of words that appear in the Bible; whereas
the latter uses the word hoten for father-in-law, the rabbinic term is ham,
corresponding to the feminine term for mother-in-law (hamot) found in
the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature.
As in the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic literature usually indicates extended
family relationships through compound terms. While the Hebrew Bible
uses the word dod to refer to a man’s paternal uncle, in rabbinic litera-
ture the term is generally ahi ha’av, the brother of the father; a parallel
designation, ahi ha’em, refers to a maternal uncle. An aunt is referred to
as a “father’s sister” or “mother’s sister,” whereas an aunt by marriage is
called “the wife of the father’s (or mother’s) brother.”
Several terms found in rabbinic literature to describe family mem-
bers are not found in the Hebrew Bible. There are rabbinic terms for a
stepson (horeg) and stepdaughter (horeget), although these individu-
als are also referred to by compound terms, “the son/daughter of one’s
wife/husband.” There is also a term for a man’s wife’s sister’s husband:
gis. The term gis is not used to describe other brothers-in-law; a man’s
wife’s brother is usually referred as “the son of the father-in-law.”
The use of compound terms is a marker of a bifurcate-collateral kin-
ship nomenclature system. The use of compound terminology offers
clarity as to the nature of the relationship, distinguishing between pa-
ternal and maternal kin. While the term “uncle” can denote four dif-
ferent individuals, the terms “the brother of the father,” “the brother of
the mother,” “the husband of the sister of the father,” and “the husband
of the sister of the mother” are more specific. Furthermore, these com-
pound terms indicate whether the relationship between Ego and the in-
dividual in question is based on paternal or maternal connections or is
established through marriage. Compound terminology suggests a dis-
tinction between primary and secondary relationships. One’s primary
relatives are one’s parents, siblings, and children. Other relationships
are seen as coming through those primary ties; a person is related to
her siblings’ children or her parents’ siblings because of or through her
relationship to her siblings and parents.