Levirate Marriage
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Deut. 25:5–10)—the duty of a man to marry the childless widow of his deceased brother when the brothers had shared a household. The first son born from the union was reckoned to continue the dead brother’s name in Israel. If the surviving brother refused, the widow brought the matter before the elders; after his refusal was confirmed, she removed his sandal and publicly reproached him, and his household received a name of disgrace.