Levirate marriage
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Levirate marriage is the practice of a woman marrying one of her husband's brothers after her husband's death, if there were no children, in order to continue his line. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage outside the clan was forbidden. Groups that have practiced levirate marriage include the Israelites, the Xiongnu, the Mongols, and the Tibetans. The practice has long been discontinued by the Jewish people for several centuries.
For the view of levirate marriage in Judaism, see Yibbum.
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