ייבם

Hebrew

Root
י־ב־ם (y-b-m)

Verb

ייבם / יִבֵּם • (yibém) (pi'el construction)

1. (Jewish law) to take as a wife the childless widow of one's deceased brother
   • Tanach, Deuteronomy 25:5, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     כִּי־יֵשְׁבוּ אַחִים יַחְדָּו וּמֵת אַחַד מֵהֶם וּבֵן אֵין־לוֹ לֹא־תִהְיֶה אֵשֶׁת־הַמֵּת הַחוּצָה לְאִישׁ זָר יְבָמָהּ יָבֹא עָלֶיהָ וּלְקָחָהּ לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וְיִבְּמָהּ׃

     ki-yesh'vú 'akhím yakhdáv umét 'akhád mehém uvén 'ein-ló lo-tihyé 'eshet-hamét hakhútsa l'ísh zár y'vamáh yavó 'aléha ul'kakháh ló l'ishá v'yib'máh.
     kī-yēšəḇū ʾaḥīm yaḥdāw ūmēṯ ʾaḥaḏ mēhem ūḇēn ʾēn-lō lō-ṯihye ʾēšeṯ-hammēṯ haḥū́ṣā ləʾīš zār yəḇāmāh yāḇō ʿāléhā ūləqāḥāh lō ləʾiššā wəyibbəmāh.

     If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother unto her.