Prohibition of marriage to the wife’s sister or the husband’s brother

In this lecture His Holiness Pope Shenouda III clarifies the prohibition of marriage with the wife’s sister or the husband’s brother, and he presents four or five pivotal questions which he answers: the source of the prohibition, its purpose, exceptions for family care, the example of John the Baptist with Herod, and whether kinship ends with the death of one spouse.

Origin of the prohibition and its nature

• The prohibition is a genuine religious one that goes back to the law of Moses (Book of Leviticus and also Deuteronomy) and is not an invention of a later civil authority or emperors.

• The Church also affirmed this prohibition in its spiritual and traditional laws over the centuries.

The purpose of the prohibition

• The primary purpose is to preserve marital chastity and the integrity of family ties, not to mitigate cases of murder or material motives.

• To maintain respect for family relationships and each person’s role within the family, so that the wife does not become a place for entangled relations that violate modesty and the family.

Case of legal and Torah exceptions

• There is a Torah exception (the levirate law): if the brother died and had no offspring, his brother may marry the widow to establish offspring in the name of the dead; this is a special exception restricted by specific conditions (the dead has no seed).

• Ancient texts must be understood in their full context; one must not extract a verse from its place and omit its context or precursors.

Historical and textual examples

• The story of John the Baptist and Herod clarified that matters are not permitted when the brother is alive, and it was studied in light of Old and New Testament texts.

• Ecclesiastical and pastoral laws over centuries (examples: Caesarean laws, the laws of Saint Basil, laws of local popes and later statutes) entrenched these prohibitions and their details.

Practical and pastoral effects

• The uncle or maternal aunt may raise the children of their brother or sister without marrying their mother; care is possible without changing the marital relationship.

• Kinship does not cease with the death of one spouse; ties remain legally and socially with continued effects on names and duties (biblical and prophetic examples).

Spiritual and educational conclusion
The lecture emphasizes the sanctity of the marital bond and the necessity of respecting kinship rules established by Scripture and the Church, clarifying that exceptions are regulated only for specific aims (such as preserving offspring for the dead) and under precise conditions. The spiritual aim is to guard modesty and family order, and to adhere to what Scripture and ecclesiastical tradition have established.

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