Marriage in Ancient Judea

For the ancient Jewish people, romantic love and marriage were closely interrelated. In the Old Testament you can find stories about happy and unhappy marriages.

In the "Song of Songs" of King Solomon, the dialogue of the bride and groom at the wedding sounds very romantic and passionate."Let him kiss me with the lips of his lips!"For your caresses are better than wine, "says the bride."You are beautiful, my love!" - answers the bridegroom. .. "I admire you. .. my love. .."

The story of Jacob and Rachel is probably one of the most touching love stories. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, lived with his parents. When it was time for him to marry, his mother sent him to his homeland to seek a wife among his native people. There he met Rachel and fell in love with her. According to custom, he had to work for seven years on her father, so that he would allow Jacob to take the lover to his wife. But on the wedding night there was a cruel deception: Rachel's father married Jacob to an ugly older daughter. And Jacob worked for seven more years on Rachel's father, just to connect with his beloved, and the years of his service flashed like one day, so was his love.

Although romantic feelings played a certain role in the ancient Jewish marriages, family and financial considerations were equally taken into account. Marriages were often made between cousins ​​and sisters to preserve the family property indivisible. Virginity was highly valued, incest was forbidden, and impotence served as the basis for divorce. The widows were sorry, therefore, according to the laws, the brother of the deceased or another close relative had to marry a widow. If the man refuses to do this, then the woman in the presence of the council of elders could dishonor the man: take off his shoes and spit in his face.

However, in ancient Judea, not everything was so cloudless. Although women were respected, and their rights were protected by law, they were considered, in accordance with religious dogmas, inferior beings, despised for sensuality. Approximately in the V-IV centuries BC.e.the author of the Bible book Job lamented that the curse of "unclean" birth gravitates over a person: "Who can extract the pure from the mud? How can a man be righteous before God? How can he, born of a woman, be pure? "