People from different parts of the world have asked if a brother and sister can marry. More specifically they have asked something like, “Can a brother and sister get married according to the Bible?” They were not interested in the laws of their country, but what has God said. The purpose of this article is to answer that question.

Married Brother and Sister

After God created Adam and Eve, brothers and sisters had to marry one another in order for the population to increase. But eventually God no longer allowed  brothers and sister to marry. He never tells us why, but geneticists tell us that genetic defects can occur when family members intermarry, or in other words, commit incest.1 The first time God prohibited marriages within families is in Leviticus 18:6. The chapter of Leviticus 18 describes marriages that God considers to be incest.

Verse 9 prohibits marriage or incest between a brother and a sister. Here is the verse,

The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover.  Leviticus 18:9 (NASB)

The Hebrew word for naked is erwa, and it refers to nakedness, especially of the genitals. It is also a figurative expression for sexual intercourse. So, the prohibition includes seeing the genitals and engaging in sexual intercourse. That is, a brother and sister are not to see each other naked and/or engage in sexual intercourse.

Another passage is Leviticus 20:17. In this verse we are told that it is a disgrace for brothers and sisters to see each other naked and engage in sex activity. Deuteronomy 27:22 announces a curse for such incest. Then Ezekiel 20:11 says it is humbling to a sister for a brother to see her naked and engage in sex.

One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. Ezekiel 22:11 (NASB)

So, can a brother and sister get married? The answer is no. If later, they realize they are wrong the question is, “Can their sin be forgiven by Jesus?” The answer is yes, if the brother and sister truly confess their sin.  God will forgive them.

Conclusion:

If the brother and sister are already married when they discover that God prohibits their marriage, then “Should they get a divorce?” The answer is no! Jesus tells us this in Matthew 19,

“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” Matthew 19:4-6 (NASB)

But if the laws of your state and/or government prohibit the marriage, then they must divorce. For we are also told in 1 Peter,

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 1 Peter 2:13-14 (NASB)

But if your state or government allows brothers and sisters to marry, and you are married then you should remain married and confess your sins to God.

 

 

References:

1. Eva Seemanová. A Study of Children of Incestuous Matings. JTSOR. Vol. 21, No. 2 (1971), pp. 108-128 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/45100818).

Suggested Links:

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What does the Bible say about marrying your first cousin?