III. d''t"3 H'O , fieder yashim (W omew). This feeder is composed of seven treatises, viz. :
24. mTOS"^, Yebamoth, enters into the minutest de- tails as to the peculiar Jewish precept of yibhutri, or the obligation of marrying the childless widow of a brother, with the alternative disgrace of the performance of the cUaliUdh, or removal of the shoe of the recalcitrant, re- ferred to in the book of Ruth. It contains sixteen chap- ters, in 1'23 sections, a. The opening section of this treatise will give a good idea of the subject treated there. "Fifteen women free their rival wives and their rival's rivals from the chalitsah and yibbum ad infinitum, viz. his daughter (the dead brother's wife being the daughter of a surviving brother), son's daughter, or daughter's daughter; his wife's daughter, wife's son's daughter, or wife's daughter's daughter ; his mother-in-law, mother of his motber-iu-Iaw, the mother of his father-in-law; his maternal sister, his mother's sister, or his wife's sister ; the widow of his maternal brother, or the widow of a brother who was not alive at the same time with him, and his daughter-in-law. All these free their rival wives and their rival's rivals from tlie chalitsah and yibbum. If, however, any of these had died, or refused her con- sent, or had been divorced, or is unfit for procreation, their rivals may be married by yibbum ; yet refusal of consent or unfitness [to procreate] cannot be ajjplied in respect to his mother-in-law, or the mother of his father- in-law." This Mishna is called D'^'iTi PITir' IT^n {i sections), b. PITX "lUS, of cases where a brother was born after the married brother's death; of cases where a brother is to he freed either according to the command or for the sacredness of the person ; of the equal right of brothers and sons; of betrothing to persons who cannot be dislingnished from each other: of wives who cannot l)e married (10 sections), c. "pnx n"31X, of hypothet- ical cases, e. g. when brothers married sisters, etc. (10 sec- tions), d. •j'binn, of the sister-in-law who was found to be pregnant; when she gets the heritage; of her mar- riage contract ; of her relatives; how long she must wait; what constitutes a mamzer, i. e. an illegitimate child; that the sister of the deceased wife may be married (13 sections), e. bx'^b'sa 'p'^, of the risrhts of a marriage contract and divorce (6 sections). /. >" X^n, whom the high-priest cannot marry; what constitutes a ba:ren
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woman, or a prostitute ; of the duty of begetting children (G sections), g. nSTiSN, win) is entitled, under tliese cir- tnmstMnees, to eat of the heave-offering or not (6 sections). Ii. b""?!, of one that is wounded in the stones, and of one that has his privy member ciU off; of the Ammonites and Moabiles; of the heimaphrodile, etc. (6 sections). i. "|TinT2 "O^, of women, or brothers-in-law, who, on ac- count of their relationship, can neither marry nor be mar- ried, and of the prohibited degrees (G sections), j. iliUNri "ihilV, of false news that one or the other died; of the carnal intercourse of one who is not yet marriageable (9 sections), k. "j'^X'^JTS, of violated women, proselytes, and interchanged children (7 sections). I. m^^rt, of the ceremoniesof the chalitsah (6 sections), m. D'll^'lX 1153, and n. OTn,of the refusal uf one who is not of age to marry a man ; of the ri^'lit of deaf persons (13 and 4 sec- tions), o. nzh ITJ nrxn, and ?>. -brrj nrxn
n?"n, how the evidence that one is dead receives cre- dence, and its validity as to the right of the wife marry- ing again; and the Levirate (q. v.) (10 and 7 sections). Several portions of this treatise are so offensive to all feel- ings of delicacy that they have been left untranslated by the English translators, and are either printed in Hebrew or represented by asterisks alone.
25. mmrs, Ketkuboth, in thirteen chapters, contains the laws relating to marriage contracts: a. ilbWS, of such as are regarded as virgins, and of the sum promised by the bridegroom to the bride (10 sections), b. n wNtl, whether a person may testify of himself, and of the credi- bility of the witnesses (10 sections), c. msa 1>X, of the penalty for violating a virgin (9 sections), d. n"l53, to whom the fine belongs; of the rights of a father over his daughter; of a husband over his wife; what the hns- band owes the wife ; of the heritage of sons and daughters (1-2 sections), e. iab;> rjX, of the addition to the kethubah (or the sum stipulated in the marriage contract) ; of the duties belonging to the wife ; of conjugal duties ; to how much a wife is entitled for her living (9 sections). /. rX'i^'O, what the wife owes to her husband, and what belongs to him; of assigning against the sum which the wife has brought in, and of the dowry of a daughter (7 sec- tions). (1. T^T^n, of the vows of a woman, and of the de- fects which cause a divorce (10 sections), /t. "iss^iy n"i"5<n, of the rights of the husband to the property which fell to his wife during her marriage, and vice versa (S sections). ?. 3ri13n, of the privileges at the meeting of creditors, and before whom the wife has to swear that she has received nothingof her kethubah (9 sections), j. "^Vlja nin'J i'2, of cases where a man has more than one wife (6 sections)^ k. nSIT'^S nanbx, of the rights of widows, and of the sale of the kethubah which is invested in immovable property (6 sections). I. rrjxn TX St'::i2ln, of the right of a daughter of a former husband, and of the right of a widow to remain in her husband's house (4 sections). m. '^D'^'^T '•i'CJ, different opinions of two judges of Jeru- salem ; how a wife may not be taken from one place to another; of the privileges in living in the land of Israel and at Jerusalem ; as to the money in which the kethu- bah must be paid (11 sections).