Member-only story
The Bible’s Surprising Rules About Sex — Including When It’s Mandatory
The Bible’s most unexpected sex commands — hidden in plain sight
Let’s begin where the shock usually lands first — . That strange, eyebrow-raising rule about levirate marriage (where a man is required to marry his deceased brother’s widow to carry on his brother’s lineage).
If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.
If your brother dies and didn’t have a kid, guess what? You — the surviving brother — are now obligated to marry his widow and have sex with her. Not an option.
Not “if you feel like it.”
Not “if you two fall in love.”
Nope.
The Bible just made sex mandatory.
Why?
Because the family name must be preserved.
Because patriarchy and lineage were more important than personal agency. Because women, in that ancient context, were seen as vessels to carry legacy — not full human beings with the right to choose whom they loved or lived with.
