Genesis 38:8 - Exposition

And Judah said unto Onan (obviously after a sufficient interval), Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her ,—literally, and perform the part of levir, or husband ' s brother, to her . The language seems to imply that what was afterwards in the code Mosaic known as the Lex Leviratus ( Deuteronomy 25:5 , Deuteronomy 25:6 ) was at this time a recognized custom. The existence of the practice has been traced in different frames among Indians, Persians, and other nations of Asia and Africa— and raise up seed to thy brother. As afterwards explained in the Hebrew legislation, the first. born son of such a Levirate marriage became in the eye of the law the child of the deceased husband, and was regarded as his heir.