Yevamos Chapter 4, Mishnah 9: Kiddushin to the Sister of a Shomeres Yavam

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Yevamos, Chapter 4, Mishnah 9. The Mishnah deals with a shomeres yavam - a widow waiting to undergo yibum - in a case where one of the brothers to whom she fell for yibum betrothed her sister.

"Shomeres yavam shekiddesh achiv es achosah" - the brother who betrothed her may not complete the marriage with her, since she is the sister of the woman bound to him, the sister of the woman to whom he has a zikah (a levirate bond).

What must he do?

In the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Mesira they said: "Omrim lo hamten ad she'ya'aseh achicha hagadol" - we tell him to wait and not to marry her until the eldest brother takes action: either he performs yibum with the yevamah, who is the sister of his betrothed, or he performs chalitzah with her. Either way the zikah is removed from the brothers, and consequently the brother who betrothed may marry his betrothed, since she is no longer the sister of a woman bound to him.

The three cases discussed in the Mishnah:

"Chalatz l'achiv o k'nasah" - if the brother performed chalitzah with the yevamah, or performed yibum with the widow and married her, "yichnos es ishto" - he may go ahead and marry his betrothed and complete the marriage with her.
"Meisah hayevamah" - even if his brother did nothing, "yichnos es ishto" - he is permitted to marry her sister, since she is no longer the sister of a woman bound to him; once the yevamah died, the zikah was nullified and no longer exists.
"Meis hayavam" - if the brother who had the ability to perform yibum and remove the zikah died without having performed chalitzah or yibum: "yotzi es ishto b'get v'eshes achiv ba'chalitzah" - he must divorce the woman he betrothed with a get, and give chalitzah to his brother's wife, who is the sister of his betrothed. He can no longer perform yibum with her, since once he betrothed her sister she became forbidden to him by Torah law.

In summary: in this Mishnah we learned that one who betroths the sister of a shomeres yavam may not marry her as long as the zikah exists, since she is the sister of a woman bound to him. We tell him to wait until his brother acts: if his brother performed chalitzah or married her, he may marry his wife; if the yevamah died, he may marry his wife, since the zikah was nullified; but if the yavam died without chalitzah or yibum, he divorces his wife with a get and releases his brother's wife with chalitzah.

Original maamar

אות יבמות ד:ט

שׁוֹמֶרֶת יָבָם שֶׁקִּדֵּשׁ אָחִיו אֶת אֲחוֹתָהּ, מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בֶן בְּתֵירָא אָמְרוּ, אוֹמְרִים לוֹ, הַמְתֵּן עַד שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה אָחִיךָ הַגָּדוֹל מַעֲשֶׂה. חָלַץ לָהּ אָחִיו, אוֹ כְנָסָהּ, יִכְנֹס אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ. מֵתָה הַיְּבָמָה, יִכְנֹס אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ. מֵת יָבָם, יוֹצִיא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ בְגֵט, וְאֵשֶׁת אָחִיו בַּחֲלִיצָה: In the case of a widow waiting for her yavam to consummate levirate marriage or perform ḥalitza with her, and the brother of the yavam betrothed her sister, they said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira: They say to the brother: Wait and do not marry the woman you betrothed until your brother performs an act, either of ḥalitza or of consummating the levirate marriage, as until he does there remains a levirate bond between the yevama and each of the brothers, and it is prohibited to marry the sister of a woman to whom one is bound by a levirate bond. If a brother of the one who betrothed the sister of the yevama performed ḥalitza with the yevama or consummated a levirate marriage with her, since by doing so the levirate bond between the yevama and the one who betrothed her sister is dissolved, he may then enter into marriage with his wife, who until that point was only betrothed to him, as she is no longer the sister of a woman to whom he is bound by a levirate bond. Similarly, if the yevama died, since his levirate bond to her is dissolved upon her death, he may proceed to enter into marriage with his betrothed wife. However, if the yavam died without performing an act that would have dissolved the levirate bond, he must divorce his wife with a bill of divorce, as she is forbidden to him as the sister of a woman to whom he is bound by a levirate bond, and his brother’s wife he must send out with ḥalitza, as she is forbidden to him as the sister of his divorcée.