Imamat 20:21

20:21 If a man has sexual intercourse with ¹  his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; ²  they will be childless.

Ulangan 25:5

Respect for the Sanctity of Others

25:5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her, ³  and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. ⁴ 

Matius 14:3-4

14:3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, ⁵  and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 14:4 because John had repeatedly told ⁶  him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁷ 

Matius 22:24

22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ⁸  for his brother.’ ⁹ 

Markus 6:17

6:17 For Herod himself had sent men, arrested John, and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod ¹⁰  had married her.

Markus 12:19

12:19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us: ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man ¹¹  must marry ¹²  the widow and father children ¹³  for his brother.’ ¹⁴ 

Lukas 3:19

3:19 But when John rebuked Herod ¹⁵  the tetrarch ¹⁶  because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, ¹⁷  and because of all the evil deeds ¹⁸  that he had done,

[20:21]  ¹ tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.”

[20:21]  ² sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.

[25:5]  ³ tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”

[25:5]  ⁴ sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6).

[14:3]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א² C D L W Z Θ 0106 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read αὐτόν (auton, “him”) here as a way of clarifying the direct object; various important witnesses lack the word, however (א* B 700 pc ff¹ h q). The original wording most likely lacked it, but it has been included here due to English style. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[14:4]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[14:4]  ⁷ sn This marriage of Herod to his brother Philip’s wife was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.

[22:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

[22:24]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[6:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; here it is necessary to specify the referent as “Herod,” since the nearest previous antecedent in the translation is Philip.

[12:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “his brother”; but this would be redundant in English with the same phrase “his brother” at the end of the verse, so most modern translations render this phrase “the man” (so NIV, NRSV).

[12:19]  ¹² tn The use of ἵνα (Jina) with imperatival force is unusual (BDF §470.1).

[12:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “raise up seed” (an idiom for fathering children).

[12:19]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[3:19]  ¹⁵ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[3:19]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on tetrarch in 3:1.

[3:19]  ¹⁷ tc Several mss (A C K W Ψ 33 565 579 1424 2542 al bo) read τῆς γυναικὸς Φιλίππου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ (th" gunaiko" Filippou tou adelfou autou, “the wife of his brother Philip”), specifying whose wife Herodias was. The addition of “Philip,” however, is an assimilation to Matt 14:3 and is lacking in the better witnesses.

[3:19]  sn This marriage to his brother’s wife was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left previous marriages to enter into this union.

[3:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “immoralities.”