Leviticus 20:21

Lev 20:21 And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it [is] an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

Ver. 21. They shall be childless.] Either barren or bereft; for this is a sin, saith Job, that roots out all a man’s increase. {Job 31:12} Hence that of Hosea, They shall commit whoredom, velo iepparedu, they shall not increase. Pered is a mule, which is a beast very libidinous, but begetting nothing. Solomon had many concubines, yet but one son and two daughters. So had our Henry VIII. He had uncovered his brother’s nakedness, and was well-nigh childless by her. Afterwards he married many wives, and was blameworthy for women, but left no more children than Solomon did. More happy he was in them than Solomon; for he had Rehoboam, a man neither wise nor fortunate, as they call it: his daughters but obscure, and both of them subjects. But Henry had a peerless prince to his son, viz., Edward VI, and his two daughters were both sovereigns of an imperial crown.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 20:21. His brother’s wife — Except in the case allowed by God, Deu 25:5.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Read Lev. 18:16.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(21) His brother’s wife.—See Lev_18:16.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And if a man shall take his brother's wife,.... To his wife, whether in his life, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, or whether after his death, unless when there is no issue, then he was obliged to it by another law, Deu 25:5; which is now ceased, and the law in Lev 18:16; here referred to, stands clear of all exceptions:

it is an unclean thing; or a "separation" (k) from which a man should remove and keep at a distance, as from menstruous women, of whom this word is used; and so denotes that it is by all means to be avoided, as an abominable and detestable thing; and it is observed that of all copulations it is only used of this: and the Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra and others, observe that this case is somewhat like that of a menstruous woman, who in the time of her separation is unlawful, but when out of it lawful; and so, in this case, a brother's wife might not be taken, he being alive; but after his death she might, if she had no son, according to the law before referred to, but that is now abolished:

he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; his wife's, which was his brother's; which through nearness of kin, he ought not to have done; and the same holds good of a wife's sister, the relation being the same:

they shall be childless; they shall have none by such a marriage or copulation, and die without any; and as this supposes the brother's wife to have children by her first husband, or otherwise while the Jewish law lasted, it would not have been unlawful to marry her husband's brother; the meaning may be, that these should die before them, or rather, as some think, those that might be born of such a marriage should not be reckoned legitimate, and so not inherit.

(k) "separatio", Drusius,

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Except in the case allowed by God, Deu 25:5.

An unclean thing; an abominable thing, like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman, which is oft expressed by this word: Heb. a separation or removing, i.e. a thing deserving separation or exclusion from society with others; or a thing to be removed out of sight or out of the world.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

His brother's wife - Except in the case allowed by God, Deut. xxv, 5.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

נדה הוא means, this cohabitation ought to be kept at a distance (avoided) and is loathsome. Our Rabbis explained that these words prohibit the slightest approach to her [I.e. one is liable for superficial contact, as is defined in the commentary on verse 18] just as though she were a נדה in the case of whom such intimacy is expressly stated as forbidden, as it says, (v. 18) “he hath uncovered her fountain” (cf. Yevamot 54a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.