Ki Seitzei 25:05 · unit 12

TT #652 · Parashas Ki Seitzei · Seventh Aliyah · Passuk 25:05

The Complete Passuk

כִּי־יֵשְׁב֨וּ אַחִ֜ים יַחְדָּ֗ו וּמֵ֨ת אַחַ֤ד מֵהֶם֙ וּבֵ֣ן אֵֽין־ל֔וֹ לֹֽא־תִהְיֶ֧ה אֵֽשֶׁת־הַמֵּ֛ת הַח֖וּצָה לְאִ֣ישׁ זָ֑ר יְבָמָהּ֙ יָבֹ֣א עָלֶ֔יהָ וּלְקָחָ֥הּ ל֛וֹ לְאִשָּׁ֖ה וְיִבְּמָֽהּ׃

When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be outside to a strange man; her husband’s brother shall come upon her and take her to himself as a wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother for her.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Yevamot / Sifrei.

TT lemma: לֹא תִהְיֶה אֵשֶׁת הַמֵּת הַחוּצָה.

Sefaria

Core Text of Chazal

לֹא תִהְיֶה אֵשֶׁת הַמֵּת הַחוּצָה לְאִישׁ זָר – הָא אִם יֵשׁ לוֹ בֵּן, מִיתָה מַתֶּרֶת.

English: “The wife of the dead shall not be outside to a strange man” — this implies that if he has a son, death itself permits her to remarry.

On the daf / in context: The negative formulation teaches that only the absence of a son creates the prohibition of marrying an outsider; when a son exists, ordinary death frees her.

Type of Learning

Derash from the negative formulation.

What Is Learned

When the deceased leaves a son, the widow is free to marry any man; the restriction “not outside to a strange man” applies only when there is no offspring.