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19. Ἐάν τινος ἀδελφός. The allusion is to Deu 25:5, but the exact words are not quoted; nor do the Synoptists agree in their wording.
μὴ ἀφῇ τέκνον. Deu 25:5 says “have no son,” but in LXX. σπέρμα is used, and the Talmud says that the deceased brother must have no child. Here all three say childless. Lev 18:16; Lev 20:21 forbids marriage with a brother’s wife, and this is sometimes interpreted to mean that such marriage is forbidden during the brother’s life. But would it be necessary to forbid such a union? More probably Lev. gives the rule, and Deut. states an exception to it. Driver on Deu 25:5-10. The Levirate law is still widely prevalent in certain tribes in Asia, America and Polynesia. Among the Jews it does not seem to have been liked, and Deut. allows the surviving brother to refuse to take the widow. It would be of more importance to Sadducees than to others. Those who deny individual immortality find a kind of substitute for it in the continuation of the family; but to them the dying out of the family means absolute extinction. See D.C.G. art. “Levirate Law.”