His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that the prohibition of marrying the wife’s sister or the husband’s brother is a religious, biblical and ancient ecclesiastical position, based on Scriptures (especially Leviticus and Deuteronomy) and the canons of the Fathers and the Church, and that its purpose is to protect marital chastity and the family’s moral fabric rather than being a mere social measure or fear of crimes.

Biblical and legislative evidence
The lecture relies on verses from Leviticus and Deuteronomy and on the interpretation of the Fathers and the churches, and notes that church canons and ancient laws (including imperial laws and councils and fathers such as St. Basil) all forbid these marriages and extend the circle of prohibitions among relatives.

Reason for the prohibition
The spiritual and moral reason for the prohibition is the preservation of marital chastity and the nature of family relationships: the spouses become “one” so kinship and relations transfer between the two, and therefore the wife’s sister or the husband’s brother become prohibited for the other party in order to maintain familial purity and internal relations.

Exceptions and specific rulings
The lecturer explains that the exception in the Mosaic commandment (the brother marrying the widow if the brother died childless to raise offspring for him) exists in the Torah (Deuteronomy) but is a restricted exception with conditions (absence of offspring), and the application of this exception does not justify generalizing marriage to the wife’s sister or the husband’s brother.

John the Baptist and Herod’s case
He points out that John the Baptist’s stance against Herod was an objection to taking a married man’s wife while the man was alive, meaning the objection stems from the principle that a woman cannot belong to two men at once and from not violating an existing marital kinship.

Does kinship end with death?
He clarifies that kinship and the conditions that cause the prohibition do not end upon the death of one spouse; an uncle or an aunt remain uncle and aunt to the children whether the brother is alive or dead, and Scripture and examples (such as the story of Adonijah and Solomon) indicate the continuation of that kinship.

Spiritual and educational significance
The spiritual aim is to preserve the family as a structure of chastity and spiritual service, and to keep family relations within a framework of respect and sanctification. The church’s laws seek to protect this spiritual and social structure and to use it as a reserve of holiness and security within the family.

For better translation support, please contact the center.