LEVIRATE MARRIAGES AND THEIR COMPLICATIONS

Levirate marriage, known as ‘se-a-ntlo’ in Setswana is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother’s widow. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies all over the world with origins from the Bible.

In traditional Botswana, such a practice was common, as it was seen among other reasons, as a way to continue the lineage of the family following the death of a husband. In other words, his name would not be cut off and his property would pass on to a male heir.

According to Biblical accounts, in ancient Israel, this also assured that the widow would be able to remain part of the man’s family as she raised their other children, instead of needing to go off to find a new husband.

If the wife of the deceased man has male children, she would inherit her husband’s property through those children. If the children are still young, she would live on the land and use the land under the supervision of a custodian, until the children grow up to take care of their own property.

If the woman has no children, then the property goes back to the family of the man. If one of the deceased man’s brothers accepts to marry the widow, then she retains her husband’s property through marriage to his brother. The children the widow gets with her new husband belong to the deceased man! And the property remains for the widow and the children she gets with her new husband! If nobody accepts to marry her, she goes back to her father’s house, leaving behind all the property of her deceased husband.

There are interesting Biblical accounts of levirate marriages. The first is the story of Tamar and Onan in Genesis 38. Tamar had been married to Er, a son of Judah. Er died, leaving Tamar childless. Judah’s solution was to follow the standard procedure of levirate marriage. he told Er’s brother Onan, to sleep with his brother’s wife and fulfill his duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring of his brother. Onan was more than willing to sleep with Tamar, but, unfortunately, he had no desire to have a child with her. Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. In other words, Onan was taking selfish advantage of levirate marriage. He wanted sex with his sister-in-law, but he purposefully avoided impregnating her. God called Onan’s actions “wicked” and killed him.

Another example is that of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth’s first husband died without leaving a child. Later, Ruth met a rich landowner named Boaz in Bethlehem, and he happened to be a relative of Ruth’s late husband. Ruth asked Boaz to be her “kinsman-redeemer” that is, to marry her and preserve the land her husband had owned.

Boaz agreed but informed Ruth that there was one other relative of nearer kin; the obligation to marry Ruth and redeem her land fell on him first. As it turned out, the nearer relative officially transferred his right of redemption to Boaz, clearing the way for Boaz to marry Ruth and “maintain the name of the dead with his property”.

Levirate marriage has fallen out of favor in modern times and is more or less an extinct practice today. Would you support such a marriage?