society
sibling-in-law
יבם · יבמה · ייבום · גיס · גיסה · חתן
Bottom line
Yavam and yevamah belong to yibbum: render them the levir and the widow, or brother-in-law and sister-in-law where the mitzvah context is plain. Giss is the Mishnaic word, a man's word for his wife's brother and by most usage his sister's husband too. Biblical Hebrew has no general word for a sibling-in-law, only eishes achiv. English "brother-in-law" covers four relations, so name the relation rather than leaning on it.
At a glance
| Hebrew | translit | English | what sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| יבם | yavam | the levir, brother-in-law | the surviving brother; a woman's word (HaBachur) |
| יבמה | yevamah | the widow, sister-in-law | bound to him; also a husband's brother's wife (Rus 1:15) |
| ייבום | yibbum | levirate marriage | the mitzvah act; its sense disputed three ways |
| גיס | giss | brother-in-law | Mishnaic; a man's word (Heidenheim, HaBachur) |
| חתן | choten | father-in-law | Ibn Janach stretches it to brother-in-law; Radak refuses |
| במה | bamah | private altar, high place | the proposed etymon of yavam |
Where the authorities disagree
Why the levir is a yavam. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces it to the biliteral ב-מ, as in bam, "in them," a root of gathering: one has a single father-in-law, but marriage can bring any number of siblings-in-law at once, and bamah, the private altar, is his prime example of that root, a place where many gathered. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg prefers the plain sense of bamah as a high place: yibbum lifts up a childless widow, or elevates the brother's neshamah by raising a family in his name.
What the verb yibbum does to her status. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim: at the husband's death she ceased in practice to be a sister-in-law to the surviving brothers, and marrying her brings her back as a yevamah. Rabbi Wolf Heidenheim holds the reverse: halachically she never stopped being their yevamah, and yibbum removes that status by making her a wife, as l'sharesh means to uproot a shoresh. Ibn Ezra (Bereishis 38:8; Meshech Chochmah to Devarim 25:5) refers it to him: the brother-in-law doing what a brother-in-law should.
Whether yavam is a kinship word at all. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg and others cited by Rabbi Wolf Heidenheim: yavam and yevamah name only the parties to the mitzvah, and the Rabbinic giss was coined to fill the gap. Ibn Ezra and Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur use them as ordinary kinship terms.
What giss covers. Rabbi Wolf Heidenheim: only a spouse's sibling or that sibling's spouse, so two men who married two sisters are gissim, but a sister's husband is not. His proof is Sanhedrin 3:4, which disqualifies baal achoso and gisso separately; Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi agrees. Against this, Chullin 18b has Rabbi Yochanan address Reish Lakish as gissa gissa, and the Ritva notes that Reish Lakish had married his sister (Bava Metzia 84a); the Nimukei Yosef concludes that a sister's husband is a giss. Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur cuts it by the speaker: a man says giss, a woman yavam, even where no yibbum applies (Zevachim 102a; Rus 1:15). The Bottom line follows HaBachur and the Nimukei Yosef, both fitting the Talmudic usage.
Whether choten can mean brother-in-law. Ibn Janach says yes, from Chovav ben Reuel, whom Bamidbar 10:29 makes Yisro's son and Shoftim 4:11 calls Moshe's choten. Radak says no: Chovav is another name for Yisro, so choten there is father-in-law as usual.
Distinctions
giss (גיס)
Root ג-ס, which does not appear in Tanach at all; the two letters never stand adjacent there. In Mishnaic Hebrew it yields "mix" (Pesachim 5:10), "army" (Rosh Hashanah 2:5), "thick" (Shabbos 4:1), and "intimate" (Yevamos 4:10, Avos 4:7). Rabbi Yaakov Emden reads giss from the last. All four sit under "mixing": an army is fighters mixed for one cause, thickness is mass gathered in one place, and marriage mixes two families, which brings the word close to Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim's ב-מ. It also gives gassus ruach, haughtiness, and in Aramaic gissa, a side. Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur vocalizes gass; the Pri Megadim notes the spelling with a yod, supporting giss.
Rendering guidance
- In a yibbum sugya, render yavam "the levir" and yevamah "the widow"; "brother-in-law" will not tell a reader which relation is meant.
- Rus 1:15, Naomi to Rus of Orpah: yevimtech is her husband's brother's wife, not a widow awaiting yibbum. Render "your sister-in-law" and note it.
- Bereishis 38:8-9 and Vayikra 18:16, 20:21 say eishes achiv. Keep "his brother's wife"; "sister-in-law" erases the point that Biblical Hebrew lacks the term.
- Trap: "brother-in-law" absorbs yavam, giss, and on Ibn Janach's reading choten. Where two appear together, as in Sanhedrin 3:4's list of disqualified relatives, spell out each relation.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Sort of Siblings," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 13 Elul 5781 (2021-08-21): https://articles.ohr.edu/articles/sort-of-siblings; raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/9338-sort-of-siblings.md. Primary loci: Devarim 25:5; Bereishis 38:8-9; Vayikra 18:16, 20:21; Rus 1:15; Bamidbar 10:29; Shoftim 4:11; Mishnah Yevamos 15:4; Mishnah Sanhedrin 3:4; Chullin 18b with Ritva; Bava Metzia 84a; Zevachim 102a; Nimukei Yosef, Sanhedrin 6a in the Rif pagination; Ibn Ezra to Bereishis 38:8; Meshech Chochmah to Devarim 25:5. The article's closing comparisons to Akkadian and Germanic kinship terms are omitted under the house rule limiting sources to Torah authorities.