“ ‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
World English Bible
Leviticus 20:21
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Is it okay to marry your brother's widow?
Deuteronomy 25:5 not only permits but commands a man to marry his deceased brother's childless widow — the institution of levirate marriage (Hebrew yibbum), with the explicit purpose of raising up offspring to perpetuate the dead brother's name. Leviticus 20:21 flatly prohibits exactly the same act, calling it an "unclean thing" (niddah) that uncovers the brother's nakedness, with the penalty that the couple shall be childless.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Leviticus 20:21 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/leviticus/20/21?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).