Study Yevamot folio 23B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ מי שקידש אחת משתי אחיות, ואין יודע אי זה מהן קידש — נותן גט לזו וגט לזו. מת ולו אח אחד — חולץ לשתיהן.
Mishnah: In the case of one who betrothed one of two sisters and does not know which of them he betrothed, so that both are forbidden to him, he gives a bill of divorce to this one and a bill of divorce to that one due to the uncertainty. If the man who had betrothed one of these women died before he could give a bill of divorce, and he had one brother, that brother performs ḥalitza with both of them, but he may not take either in levirate marriage. This is because he does not know which woman is his yevama and which is forbidden to him as the sister of a woman with whom he has a levirate bond.
היו לו שנים — אחד חולץ ואחד מייבם. קדמו וכנסו — אין מוציאין מידם.
If the man who betrothed one of these women had two brothers, one of them performs ḥalitza with one of the sisters, but he may not enter into levirate marriage with her due to the possibility that she is the sister of a woman with whom he has a levirate bond. And one takes the other in levirate marriage if he so desires. If the two brothers married the two sisters before consulting the court, the court does not remove them from their marriage and they are permitted to remain married. The couple who performed levirate marriage second was even permitted to do so, since there was no longer any doubt about the levirate bond.
שנים שקדשו שתי אחיות, זה אינו יודע אי זו קידש, וזה אינו יודע איזו קידש — זה נותן שני גיטין, וזה נותן שני גיטין. מתו, לזה אח ולזה אח — זה חולץ לשתיהן, וזה חולץ לשתיהן.
Furthermore, in the case of two unrelated men who betrothed two sisters: If this one does not know which sister he betrothed and that one does not know which sister he betrothed, this one gives two bills of divorce, one to each of the women, and that one gives two bills of divorce. If the two men died before they divorced, and this one had a brother and that one had a brother, then this brother performs ḥalitza with both of them, and that brother performs ḥalitza with both of them.