Question:
Answer:
Tell the Israelites: If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his heritage to his daughter; if he has no daughter, you shall give his heritage to his brothers; if he has no brothers, you shall give his heritage to his father’s brothers; if his father had no brothers, you shall give his heritage to his nearest relative in his clan, who shall then take possession of it (Num. 27:8-11).
If a childless wife was widowed, it was incumbent on the oldest brother of the deceased to marry the widow and have a child with her (Deut. 25:5-6). This is called a Levirate marriage. The purpose of this marriage was to preserve the name of the brother in history lest it be blotted out due to his line of descendants ending. It also served the purpose of having the widow taken care of.
If there was no brother for the widow to marry, she would be free to choose any eligible man.
Inheritance mainly passed through the sons and daughters or the brothers of the deceased husband. It would appear that if a childless widow was unable to enter into a Levirate marriage, and the deceased’s property was dispersed to his relatives, the widow would have to marry another man or return to her own family (Lev. 22:13).