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Then Isaac took Rebekah into his tent; he married her, and thus
she became his wife. In his love for her Isaac found solace after
the death of his mother Sarah. [GEN 24:67]
Rebekah said to Isaac: "I am disgusted with life because
of the Hittite women. If Jacob also should marry a Hittite woman,
a native of the land, like these women, what good would life be to
me?" [GEN 27:46]
Isaac therefore called Jacob, greeted him with a blessing, and
charged him: "You shall not marry a Canaanite woman! Go now
to Paddan-aram, to the home of your mother's father Bethuel, and
there choose a wife for yourself from among the daughters of your
uncle Laban. May God Almighty bless you and make you fertile,
multiply you that you may become an assembly of peoples." [GEN
28:1-3]
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet they seemed to him
but a few days because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to
Laban, "Give me my wife, that I may consummate my marriage
with her, for my term is now completed." So Laban invited all
the local inhabitants and gave a feast. At nightfall he took his
daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob consummated the
marriage with her. [GEN 29:20-23]
In the morning Jacob was amazed: it was Leah! So he cried out
to Laban: "How could you do this to me! Was it not for Rachel
that I served you? Why did you dupe me?" "It is not the
custom in our country," Laban replied, "to marry off a
younger daughter before an older one. Finish the bridal week for
this one, and then I will give you the other too, in return for
another seven years of service with me." Jacob agreed. He
finished the bridal week for Leah, and then Laban gave him his
daughter Rachel in marriage. Jacob then consummated his marriage
with Rachel also, and he loved her more than Leah. Thus he
remained in Laban's service another seven years. [GEN 29:25-28,30]
Now Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out to discuss the
matter with Jacob, just as Jacob's sons were coming in from the
fields. When they heard the news, the men were shocked and seethed
with indignation. What Shechem had done was an outrage in Israel;
such a thing could not be tolerated. Hamor appealed to them,
saying: "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter.
Please give her to him in marriage. Intermarry with us; give your
daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. Thus you
can live among us. The land is open before you; you can settle and
move about freely in it, and acquire landed property here."
Then Shechem, too, appealed to Dinah's father and brothers:
"Do me this favor, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.
No matter how high you set the bridal price, I will pay you
whatever you ask; only give me the maiden in marriage."
Jacob's sons replied to Shechem and his father Hamor with guile,
speaking as they did because their sister Dinah had been defiled.
"We could not do such a thing," they said, "as to
give our sister to an uncircumcised man; that would be a disgrace
for us. We will agree with you only on this condition, that you
become like us by having every male among you circumcised. Then we
will give you our daughters and take yours in marriage; we will
settle among you and become one kindred people with you. But if
you do not comply with our terms regarding circumcision, we will
take our daughter and go away." Their proposal seemed fair to
Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man lost no time in acting in
the matter, since he was deeply in love with Jacob's daughter.
Moreover he was more highly respected than anyone else in his
clan. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to their town council and
thus presented the matter to their fellow townsmen: "These
men are friendly toward us. Let them settle in the land and move
about in it freely; there is ample room in the country for them.
We can marry their daughters and give our daughters to them in
marriage. But the men will agree to live with us and form one
kindred people with us only on this condition, that every male
among us be circumcised as they themselves are. Would not the
livestock they have acquired - all their animals - then be ours?
Let us, therefore, give in to them, so that they may settle among
us." All the able-bodied men of the town agreed with Hamor
and his son Shechem, and all the males, including every
able-bodied man in the community, were circumcised. On the third
day, while they were still in pain, Dinah's full brothers Simeon
and Levi, two of Jacob's sons, took their swords, advanced against
the city without any trouble, and massacred all the males. After
they had put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword, they took
Dinah from Shechem's house and left. Then the other sons of Jacob
followed up the slaughter and sacked the city in reprisal for
their sister Dinah's defilement. [GEN 34:6-27]
About that time Judah parted from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite named Hirah.
There he met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua, married her, and had relations with her.
[GEN 38:1-2]
When Tamar was told that her father-in-law was on his way up to Timnah to shear his sheep,
she took off her widow's garb, veiled her face by covering herself with a shawl, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she was aware that, although Shelah was now grown up, she had not been given to him in marriage.
[GEN 38:13-14]
Now a certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
who conceived and bore a son. Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the river bank.
[EX 2:1-3]
When they returned to their father Reuel, he said to them,
"How is it you have returned so soon today?" They
answered, "An Egyptian saved us from the interference of the
shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock!"
"Where is the man?" he asked his daughters. "Why
did you leave him there? Invite him to have something to
eat." Moses agreed to live with him, and the man gave him his
daughter Zipporah in marriage. She bore him a son, whom he named
Gershom; for he said, "I am a stranger in a foreign
land." [EX 2:18-22]
"When a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, and
lies with her, he shall pay her marriage price and marry her." [EX
22:15]
You shall not have intercourse with a woman and also with her
daughter, nor shall you marry and have intercourse with her son's
daughter or her daughter's daughter; this would be shameful,
because they are related to her. While your wife is still living you shall not marry her sister
as her rival; for thus you would disgrace your first wife. [LEV
18:17-18]
If a man consummates marriage with his sister or his
half-sister, they shall be publicly cut off from their people for
this shameful deed; the man shall pay the penalty of having had
intercourse with his own sister. [LEV 20:17]
If a man marries his brother's wife and thus disgraces his
brother, they shall be childless because of this incest. [LEV
20:21]
While they were in Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman.
They complained, "Is it through Moses alone that the LORD speaks? Does he not speak through us also?" And the LORD heard this.
[NUM 12:1-2]
"If she marries while under a vow or under a rash pledge
to which she bound herself, and her husband learns of it, yet says
nothing to her that day about it, then the vow or pledge she had
made remains valid. But if on the day he learns of it her husband
expresses to her his disapproval, he thereby annuls the vow she
had made or the rash pledge to which she had bound herself, and
the LORD releases her from it." [NUM 30:7-9]
But if they marry into one of the other Israelite tribes, their
heritage will be withdrawn from our ancestral heritage and will be
added to that of the tribe into which they marry; thus the
heritage that fell to us by lot will be diminished. [NUM 36:3]
So Moses gave this regulation to the Israelites according to
the instructions of the LORD: "The tribe of the Josephites
are right in what they say. This is what the LORD commands with
regard to the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they
please, provided they marry into a clan of their ancestral tribe,
so that no heritage of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to
another, but all the Israelites will retain their own ancestral
heritage. Therefore, every daughter who inherits property in any
of the Israelite tribes shall marry someone belonging to a clan of
her own ancestral tribe, in order that all the Israelites may
remain in possession of their own ancestral heritage. Thus, no
heritage can pass from one tribe to another, but all the Israelite
tribes will retain their own ancestral heritage." The
daughters of Zelophehad obeyed the command which the LORD had
given to Moses. [NUM 36:5-10]
"When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which
you are to enter and occupy, and dislodges great nations before
you - the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites: seven nations more numerous and powerful
than you - and when the LORD, your God, delivers them up to
you and you defeat them, you shall doom them. Make no covenant
with them and show them no mercy. You shall not intermarry with
them, neither giving your daughters to their sons nor taking their
daughters for your sons. For they would turn your sons from
following me to serving other gods, and then the wrath of the LORD
would flare up against you and quickly destroy you."
[DEUT 7:1-4]
"If a man, after marrying a woman and having relations
with her, comes to dislike her, and makes monstrous charges
against her and defames her by saying, 'I married this woman, but
when I first had relations with her I did not find her a virgin,'
the father and mother of the girl shall take the evidence of her
virginity and bring it to the elders at the city gate. There the
father of the girl shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to
this man in marriage, but he has come to dislike her, and now
brings monstrous charges against her, saying: I did not find your
daughter a virgin. But here is the evidence of my daughter's
virginity!' And they shall spread out the cloth before the elders
of the city. Then these city elders shall take the man and
chastise him, besides fining him one hundred silver shekels, which
they shall give to the girl's father, because the man defamed a
virgin in Israel. Moreover, she shall remain his wife, and he may
not divorce her as long as he lives." [DEUT 22:13-19]
"A man shall not marry his father's wife, nor shall he
dishonor his father's bed." [DEUT 23:1]
"When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military
expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall
be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to
the wife he has married." [DEUT 24:5]
"When brothers live together and one of them dies without
a son, the widow of the deceased shall not marry anyone outside
the family; but her husband's brother shall go to her and perform
the duty of a brother-in-law by marrying her. The first-born son
she bears shall continue the line of the deceased brother, that
his name may not be blotted out from Israel. If, however, a man
does not care to marry his brother's wife, she shall go up to the
elders at the gate and declare, 'My brother-in-law does not intend
to perform his duty toward me and refuses to perpetuate his
brother's name in Israel.' Thereupon the elders of his city shall
summon him and admonish him. If he persists in saying, 'I am not
willing to marry her,' his sister-in-law, in the presence of the
elders, shall go up to him and strip his sandal from his foot and
spit in his face, saying publicly, 'This is how one should be
treated who will not build up his brother's family!' And his
lineage shall be spoken of in Israel as 'the family of the man
stripped of his sandal.'" [DEUT 25:5-10]
On the day of her marriage to Othniel, she induced him to ask
her father for some land. Then, as she alighted from the ass,
Caleb asked her, "What is troubling you?" She answered,
"Give me an additional gift! Since you have assigned to me
land in the Negeb, give me also pools of water." So he gave
her the upper and the lower pools. [JOSH 15:18-19]
Take great care, however, to love the LORD, your God. For if
you ever abandon him and ally yourselves with the remnant of these
nations while they survive among you, by intermarrying and
intermingling with them, know for certain that the LORD, your God,
will no longer drive these nations out of your way. Instead they
will be a snare and a trap for you, a scourge for your sides and
thorns for your eyes, until you perish from this good land which
the LORD, your God, has given you. [JOSH 23:11-13]
The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty of their men and despoiled them; he gave their garments to those who had answered the riddle. Then he went off to his own family in anger, and Samson's wife was married to the one who had been best man at his wedding.
[JUDG 14:19-20]
They said, "Those of Benjamin who survive must have heirs, else one of the Israelite tribes will be wiped out. Yet we cannot give them any of our daughters in marriage, because the Israelites have sworn, 'Cursed be he who gives a woman to Benjamin!'"
[JUDG 21:17-18]
Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with
her two sons, who married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the
other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon
and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two
sons nor her husband. [RUTH 1:3-5]
"Go back, my daughters!" said Naomi. "Why should
you come with me? Have I other sons in my womb who may become your
husbands? Go back, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to marry
again. And even if I could offer any hopes, or if tonight I had a
husband or had borne sons, would you then wait and deprive
yourselves of husbands until those sons grew up? No, my daughters!
my lot is too bitter for you, because the LORD has extended his
hand against me." [RUTH 1:11-13]
However, when it was time for Saul's daughter Merob to be given
to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite
instead. [1SAM 18:19]
On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said: "Blessed be
the LORD, who has requited the insult I received at the hand of
Nabal, and who restrained his servant from doing evil, but has
punished Nabal for his own evil deeds." David then sent a
proposal of marriage to Abigail. [1SAM 25:39]
With the royal power firmly in his grasp, Solomon allied
himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The daughter of
Pharaoh, whom he married, he brought to the City of David, until
he should finish building his palace, and the temple of the LORD,
and the wall around Jerusalem. [1KGS 3:1]
His living quarters were in another court, set in deeper than
the tribunal and of the same construction. A palace like this
tribunal was built for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had
married. [1KGS 7:8]
King Solomon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of
Pharaoh (Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites),
from nations with which the LORD had forbidden the Israelites to
intermarry, "because," he said, "they will turn
your hearts to their gods." But Solomon fell in love with
them. He had seven hundred wives of princely rank and three
hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart. When Solomon
was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his
heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God, as the heart of his
father David had been. By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the
Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites, Solomon did evil
in the sight of the LORD; he did not follow him unreservedly as
his father David had done. [1KGS 11:1-6]
In the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab, son of
Omri, became king of Israel; he reigned over Israel in Samaria for
twenty-two years. Ahab, son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the
LORD more than any of his predecessors. It was not enough for him
to imitate the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married
Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went over
to the veneration and worship of Baal. [1KGS 16:29-31]
Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah, became king in the
twelfth year of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel. He was
twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he reigned one
year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was
daughter of Omri, king of Israel. He conducted himself like the
house of Ahab, doing evil in the LORD'S sight as they did, since
he was related to them by marriage. [2KGS 8:25-27]
When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.
[1CHRON 2:19]
Then Hezron had relations with the daughter of Machir, the
father of Gilead, having married her when he was sixty years old.
She bore him Segub. [1CHRON 2:21]
Jehoshaphat therefore had wealth and glory in abundance; but he
became related to Ahab by marriage. [2CHRON 18:1]
But now, O our God, what can we say after all this? For we have
abandoned your commandments, which you gave through your servants
the prophets: the land which you are entering to take as your
possession is a land unclean with the filth of the peoples of the
land, with the abominations with which they have filled it from
one end to the other in their uncleanness. Do not, then, give your
daughters to their sons in marriage, and do not take their
daughters for your sons. Never promote their peace and prosperity;
thus you will grow strong, enjoy the produce of the land, and
leave it as an inheritance to your children forever. "After
all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great
guilt-though you, our God, have made less of our sinfulness than
it deserved and have allowed us to survive as we do - shall we
again violate your commandments by intermarrying with these
abominable peoples? Would you not become so angered with us as to
destroy us without remnant or survivor? O LORD, God of Israel, you
are just; yet we have been spared, the remnant we are today. Here
we are before you in our sins. Because of all this, we can no
longer stand in your presence." [EZRA 9:10-15]
The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul; it had
taken fifty-two days. When all our enemies had heard of this, and
all the nations round about had taken note of it, our enemies lost
much face in the eyes of the nations, for they knew that it was
with our God's help that this work had been completed. At that
same time, however, many letters were going to Tobiah from the
nobles of Judah, and Tobiah's letters were reaching them, for many
in Judah were in league with him, since he was the son-in-law of
Shecaniah, son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the
daughter of Meshullam, son of Berechiah. [NEH 6:15-18]
The rest of the people, priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers,
temple slaves, and all others who have separated themselves from
the peoples of the lands in favor of the law of God, with their
wives, their sons, their daughters, all who are of the age of
discretion, join with their brethren who are their princes, and
with the sanction of a curse take this oath to follow the law of
God which was given through Moses, the servant of God, and to
observe carefully all the commandments of the LORD, our LORD, his
ordinances and his statutes. Agreed, that we will not marry our
daughters to the peoples of the land, and that we will not take
their daughters for our sons. When the peoples of the land bring
in merchandise or any kind of grain for sale on the sabbath day,
we will not buy from them on the sabbath or on any other holyday.
We will forgo the seventh year, as well as every kind of debt.
[NEH 10:29-32]
Also in those days I saw Jews who had married Ashdodite,
Ammonite, or Moabite wives. Of their children, half spoke
Ashdodite, and none of them knew how to speak Jewish; and so it
was in regard to the languages of the various other peoples. I
took them to task and cursed them; I had some of them beaten and
their hair pulled out; and I adjured them by God: "You shall
not marry your daughters to their sons nor take any of their
daughters for your sons or for yourselves! Did not Solomon, the
king of Israel, sin because of them? Though among the many nations
there was no king like him, and though he was beloved of his God
and God had made him king over all Israel, yet even he was made to
sin by foreign women. Must it also be heard of you that you have
done this same very great evil, betraying our God by marrying
foreign women?" [NEH 13:23-27]
When I reached manhood, I married Anna, a woman of our own
lineage. By her I had a son whom I named Tobiah. [TOBIT 1:9]
On the same day, at Ecbatana in Media, it so happened that
Raguel's daughter Sarah also had to listen to abuse, from one of
her father's maids. For she had been married to seven husbands,
but the wicked demon Asmodeus killed them off before they could
have intercourse with her, as it is prescribed for wives. So the
maid said to her: "You are the one who strangles your
husbands! Look at you! You have already been married seven times,
but you have had no joy with any one of your husbands. Why do you
beat us? Because your husbands are dead? Then why not join them!
May we never see a son or daughter of yours!" That day she
was deeply grieved in spirit. She went in tears to an upstairs
room in her father's house with the intention of hanging herself.
But she reconsidered, saying to herself: "No! People would
level this insult against my father: 'You had only one beloved
daughter, but she hanged herself because of ill fortune!' And thus
would I cause my father in his old age to go down to the nether
world laden with sorrow. It is far better for me not to hang
myself, but to beg the Lord to have me die, so that I need no
longer live to hear such insults." At that time, then, she
spread out her hands, and facing the window, poured out this
prayer: "Blessed are you, O Lord, merciful God! Forever
blessed and honored is your holy name; may all your works forever
bless you. And now, O Lord, to you I turn my face and raise my
eyes. Bid me to depart from the earth, never again to hear such
insults. You know, O Master, that I am innocent of any impure act
with a man, And that I have never defiled my own name or my
father's name in the land of my exile. I am my father's only
daughter, and he has no other child to make his heir, Nor does he
have a close kinsman or other relative whom I might bide my time
to marry. I have already lost seven husbands; why then should I
live any longer? But if it please you, Lord, not to slay me, look
favorably upon me and have pity on me; never again let me hear
these insults!" At that very time, the prayer of these two
suppliants was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God. So
Raphael was sent to heal them both: to remove the cataracts from
Tobit's eyes, so that he might again see God's sunlight; and to
marry Raguel's daughter Sarah to Tobit's son Tobiah, and then
drive the wicked demon Asmodeus from her. For Tobiah had the right
to claim her before any other who might wish to marry her. In the
very moment that Tobit returned from the courtyard to his house,
Raguel's daughter Sarah came downstairs from her room. [TOBIT 3:7-17]
"Be on your guard, son, against every form of immorality,
and above all, marry a woman of the lineage of your forefathers.
Do not marry a stranger who is not of your father's tribe, because
we are sons of the prophets. My boy, keep in mind Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers from of old: all of them took wives
from among their own kinsmen and were blessed in their children.
Remember that their posterity shall inherit the land." [TOBIT 4:12]
He continued: "Since you have the right to marry her,
listen to me, brother. Tonight I will ask the girl's father to let
us have her as your bride. When we return from Rages, we will hold
the wedding feast for her. I know that Raguel cannot keep her from
you or let her become engaged to another man; that would be a
capital crime according to the decree in the Book of Moses, and he
knows that it is your right, before all other men, to marry his
daughter. So heed my words, brother; tonight we must speak for the
girl, so that we may have her engaged to you. And when we return
from Rages, we will take her and bring her back with us to your
house." Tobiah objected, however: "Brother Azariah, I
have heard that this woman has already been married seven times,
and that her husbands died in their bridal chambers. On the very
night they approached her, they dropped dead. And I have heard it
said that it was a demon who killed them. So now I too am afraid
of this demon. Because he loves her, he does not harm her; but he
does slay any man who wishes to come close to her. I am my
father's only child. If I should die, I would bring my father and
mother down to their grave in sorrow over me. And they have no
other son to bury them!" Raphael said to him: "Do you
not remember your father's orders? He commanded you to marry a
woman from your own family. So now listen to me, brother; do not
give another thought to this demon, but marry Sarah. I know that
tonight you shall have her for your wife!" [TOBIT 6:13-16]
"I have given her in marriage to seven men, all of whom
were kinsmen of ours, and all died on the very night they
approached her. But now, son, eat and drink. I am sure the Lord
will look after you both." Tobiah answered, "I will eat
or drink nothing until you set aside what belongs to me."
Raguel said to him: "I will do it. She is yours according to
the decree of the Book of Moses. Your marriage to her has been
decided in heaven! Take your kinswoman; from now on you are her
love, and she is your beloved. She is yours today and ever after.
And tonight, son, may the Lord of heaven prosper you both. May he
grant you mercy and peace." Then Raguel called his daughter
Sarah, and she came to him. He took her by the hand and gave her
to Tobiah with the words: "Take her according to the law.
According to the decree written in the Book of Moses she is your
wife. Take her and bring her back safely to your father. And may
the God of heaven grant both of you peace and prosperity." He
then called her mother and told her to bring a scroll, so that he
might draw up a marriage contract stating that he gave Sarah to
Tobiah as his wife according to the decree of the Mosaic law. Her
mother brought the scroll, and he drew up the contract, to which
they affixed their seals. [TOBIT 7:11-13]
So Raphael, together with the four servants and two camels,
traveled to Rages in Media, where they stayed at Gabael's house.
Raphael gave Gabael his bond and told him about Tobit's son Tobiah,
and that he had married and was inviting him to the wedding
celebration. Gabael promptly checked over the sealed moneybags,
and they placed them on the camels. [TOBIT 9:5]
When those days were over, each one returned to his
inheritance. Judith went back to Bethulia and remained on her
estate. For the rest of her life she was renowned throughout the
land. Many wished to marry her, but she gave herself to no man all
the days of her life from the time of the death and burial of her
husband, Manasseh. She lived to be very old in the house of her
husband, reaching the advanced age of a hundred and five. She died
in Bethulia, where they buried her in the tomb of her husband,
Manasseh; and the house of Israel mourned her for seven days.
Before she died, she distributed her goods to the relatives of her
husband, Manasseh, and to her own relatives; and to the maid she
gave her freedom. During the life of Judith and for a long time
after her death, no one again disturbed the Israelites. [JDTH 16:21-25]
Then Mordecai said: "This is the work of God. I recall the dream I had about these very things, and not a single detail has been left
unfulfilled - the tiny spring that grew into a river, the light of the sun, the many waters. The river is Esther, whom the king married and made queen..."
[Taken from ESTH F:1-3]
After this Judas appointed officers among the people, over thousands,
over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens. He proclaimed that those who were building houses, or were just married, or were planting vineyards, and those who were afraid, could each return to his home, according to the law.
[1MACC 3:55-56]
There King Alexander met him, and Ptolemy gave him his daughter
Cleopatra in marriage. Their wedding was celebrated at Ptolemais
with great splendor according to the custom of kings. [1MACC
10:58]
He sent ambassadors to King Demetrius, saying: "Come, let
us make a pact with each other; I will give you my daughter whom
Alexander has married, and you shall reign over your father's
kingdom. I regret that I gave him my daughter, for he has sought
to kill me." His real reason for accusing Alexander, however,
was that he coveted Alexander's kingdom. After taking his daughter
away and giving her to Demetrius, Ptolemy broke with Alexander;
their enmity became open. Then Ptolemy entered Antioch and assumed
the crown of Asia; he thus wore two crowns on his head, that of
Egypt and that of Asia. [1MACC 11:9-13]
On the pretext of marrying the goddess, Antiochus with his
Friends had come to the place to get its great treasures by way of
dowry. [2MACC 1:14]
Nicanor stayed on in Jerusalem, where he did nothing out of
place. He got rid of the throngs of ordinary people who gathered
around him; but he always kept Judas in his company, for he had a
cordial affection for the man. He urged him to marry and have
children; so Judas married, settled down, and shared the common
life. [2MACC 14:23-25]
For the price of a loose woman may be scarcely a loaf of bread,
But if she is married, she is a trap for your precious life. [PROV
6:26]
Daughters of Jerusalem, come forth and look upon King Solomon
In the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of
his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart. [SONG 3:11]
Yes, blessed is she who, childless and undefiled, knew not
transgression of the marriage bed; she shall bear fruit at the
visitation of souls. [WISDOM 3:13]
I too am a mortal man, the same as all the rest, and a
descendant of the first man formed on earth. And in my mother's
womb I was molded into flesh in a ten-months' period-body and
blood, from the seed of man, and the pleasure that accompanies
marriage. [WISDOM 7:1-2]
They no longer safeguard either lives or pure wedlock; but each
either waylays and kills his neighbor, or aggrieves him by
adultery. And all is confusion-blood and murder, theft and guile,
corruption, faithlessness, turmoil, perjury, Disturbance of good
men, neglect of gratitude, besmirching of souls, unnatural lust,
disorder in marriage, adultery and shamelessness. For the worship
of infamous idols is the reason and source and extremity of all
evil. [WISDOM 14:24-27]
Giving your daughter in marriage ends a great task; but give
her to a worthy man. [SIRACH 7:25]
With a married woman dine not, recline not at table to drink by
her side, Lest your heart be drawn to her and you go down in blood
to the grave. [SIRACH 9:9]
And the man who dishonors his marriage bed and says to himself
"Who can see me? Darkness surrounds me, walls hide me; no one
sees me; why should I fear to sin?" Of the Most High he is
not mindful, fearing only the eyes of men; He does not understand
that the eyes of the LORD, ten thousand times brighter than the
sun, Observe every step a man takes and peer into hidden
corners. [SIRACH 23:18-19]
A bad wife is a chafing yoke; he who marries her seizes a
scorpion. [SIRACH 26:7]
My children, heed my instruction about shame; judge of disgrace
only according to my rules, For it is not always well to be
ashamed, nor is it always the proper thing to blush: Before father
and mother be ashamed of immorality, before master and mistress,
of falsehood; Before prince and ruler, of flattery; before the
public assembly, of crime; Before friend and companion, of
disloyalty, and of breaking an oath or agreement. Be ashamed of
theft from the people where you settle, and of stretching out your
elbow when you dine; Of refusing to give when asked, of defrauding
another of his appointed share, Of failing to return a greeting,
and of rebuffing a friend; Of gazing at a married woman, and of
entertaining thoughts about another's wife; Of trifling with a
servant girl you have, and of violating her couch; Of using harsh
words with friends, and of following up your gifts with insults;
Of repeating what you hear, and of betraying secrets - These are
the things you should rightly avoid as shameful if you would be
looked upon by everyone with favor. [SIRACH 41:14-24]
A daughter is a treasure that keeps her father wakeful, and
worry over her drives away rest: Lest she pass her prime
unmarried, or when she is married, lest she be disliked; While
unmarried, lest she be seduced, or, as a wife, lest she prove
unfaithful; Lest she conceive in her father's home, or be sterile
in that of her husband. Keep a close watch on your daughter, lest
she make you the sport of your enemies, A byword in the city, a
reproach among the people, an object of derision in public
gatherings. See that there is no lattice in her room, no place
that overlooks the approaches to the house. Let her not parade her
charms before men, or spend her time with married women; For just
as moths come from garments, so harm to women comes from women:
Better a man's harshness than a woman's indulgence, and a
frightened daughter than any disgrace. [SIRACH 42:9-14]
Solomon reigned during an era of peace, for God made tranquil
all his borders. He built a house to the name of God, and
established a lasting sanctuary. How wise you were when you were
young, overflowing with instruction, like the Nile in flood! Your
understanding covered the whole earth, and, like a sea, filled it
with knowledge. Your fame reached distant coasts, and their
peoples came to hear you; With song and story and riddle, and with
your answers, you astounded the nations. You were called by that
glorious name which was conferred upon Israel. Gold you gathered
like so much iron, you heaped up silver as though it were lead;
But you abandoned yourself to women and gave them dominion over
your body. You brought dishonor upon your reputation, shame upon
your marriage, Wrath upon your descendants, and groaning upon your
domain; Thus two governments came into being, when in Ephraim
kingship was usurped. But God does not withdraw his mercy, nor
permit even one of his promises to fail. He does not uproot the
posterity of his chosen one, nor destroy the offspring of his
friend. So he gave to Jacob a remnant, to David a root from his
own family. [SIRACH 47:13-22]
The LORD calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in
spirit, A wife married in youth and then cast off, says your God.
[ISA 54:6]
As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God
rejoice in you. [ISA 62:5]
If a man sends away his wife and, after leaving him, she
marries another man, Does the first husband come back to her?
Would not the land be wholly defiled? But you have sinned with
many lovers, and yet you would return to me! says the LORD. [JER
3:1]
This message came to me from the LORD: Do not marry any woman;
you shall not have sons or daughters in this place, for thus says
the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who will be born in
this place, the mothers who will give them birth, the fathers who
will beget them in this land: Of deadly disease they shall die...
For I have withdrawn my friendship from this people, says the
LORD, my kindness and my pity. They shall die, the great and the
lowly, in this land, and shall go unburied and unlamented. No one
will gash himself or shave his head for them. [Taken from JER 16:1-6]
The iron mixed with clay tile means that they shall seal their
alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any
more than iron mixes with clay. [DAN 2:43]
He shall set himself to penetrate the entire strength of his
kingdom. He shall conclude an agreement with him and give him a
daughter in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but this
shall not succeed in his favor. [DAN 11:17]
In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim, who married a very
beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah;
her pious parents had trained their daughter according to the law
of Moses. [DAN 13:1-3]
Judah has broken faith; an abominable thing has been done in
Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the temple which the
LORD loves, and has married an idolatrous woman. [MAL 2:11]
"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give
her a bill of divorce.' But I say to you, whoever divorces his
wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit
adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits
adultery." [MT 5:31-32]
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to
the district of Judea across the Jordan. Great crowds followed
him, and he cured them there. Some Pharisees approached him, and
tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his
wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have
you not read that from the beginning the Creator '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.
Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must
separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss
(her)?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of
your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the
beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits
adultery." (His) disciples said to him, "If that is the
case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." He
answered, "Not all can accept (this) word, but only those to
whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they
were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some,
because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom
of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it." [MT
19:1-12]
On that day Sadducees approached him, saying that there is no
resurrection. They put this question to him, saying,
"Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies without children, his
brother shall marry his wife and raise up descendants for his
brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us. The first
married and died and, having no descendants, left his wife to his
brother. The same happened with the second and the third, through
all seven. Finally the woman died. Now at the resurrection, of the
seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had been married to
her." Jesus said to them in reply, "You are misled
because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. At the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are
like the angels in heaven. And concerning the resurrection of the
dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the
God of the dead but of the living." When the crowds heard
this, they were astonished at his teaching. [MT 22:23-33]
"But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels
of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For as it was in the
days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In
(those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered
the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them
all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of
Man." [MT 24:36-39]
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on
account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had
married. John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to
have your brother's wife." Herodias harbored a grudge against
him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared
John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in
custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet
he liked to listen to him. [MK 6:17-20]
The Pharisees approached and asked, "Is it lawful for a
husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said
to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They
replied, "Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and
dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the
hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from
the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. 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. Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate." In the house the disciples
again questioned him about this. He said to them, "Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against
her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she
commits adultery." [MK 10:2-12]
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him
and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote
for us, 'If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his
brother.' Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman
and died, leaving no descendants. So the second married her and
died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. And the
seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. At the
resurrection (when they arise) whose wife will she be? For all
seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "Are
you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power
of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are
given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. As for
the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in
the passage about the bush, how God told him, 'I am the God of
Abraham, (the) God of Isaac, and (the) God of Jacob'? He is not
God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled." [MK
12:18-27]
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of
the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven
years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow
until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but
worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming
forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about
the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. [LK
2:36-38]
"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from
her husband commits adultery." [LK 16:18]
Then he said to his disciples, "The days will come when
you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you
will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, 'Look,
there he is,' (or) 'Look, here he is.' Do not go off, do not run
in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky
from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (in his
day). But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this
generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the
days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all." [LK 17:22-27]
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher,
Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but
no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants
for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers; the first married
a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married
her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman
also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them,
"The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who
are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the
resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the
children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the
dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the
bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the
living, for to him all are alive." Some of the scribes said
in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no
longer dared to ask him anything. [LK 20:27-40]
"It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God, but tell them by letter to avoid...
unlawful marriage..."[ACTS 15:19-20]
"Since we have heard that some of our number (who went
out) without any mandate from us have upset you with their
teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one
accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you
along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their
lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending
Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of
mouth: 'It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to
place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to
abstain...from unlawful marriage...'" [ACTS 15:24-29]
Thus a married woman is bound by law to her living husband; but
if her husband dies, she is released from the law in respect to
her husband. [ROM 7:2]
Now in regard to the matters about which you wrote: "It is
a good thing for a man not to touch a woman," but because of
cases of immorality every man should have his own wife, and every
woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his duty toward
his wife, and likewise the wife toward her husband. A wife does
not have authority over her own body, but rather her husband, and
similarly a husband does not have authority over his own body, but
rather his wife. Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by
mutual consent for a time, to be free for prayer, but then return
to one another, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack
of self-control. This I say by way of concession, however, not as
a command. Indeed, I wish everyone to be as I am, but each has a
particular gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. Now
to the unmarried and to widows, I say: it is a good thing for them
to remain as they are, as I do, but if they cannot exercise
self-control they should marry, for it is better to marry than to
be on fire. To the married, however, I give this instruction (not
I, but the Lord): a wife should not separate from her husband -
and if she does separate she must either remain single or become
reconciled to her husband - and a husband should not divorce his
wife. To the rest I say (not the Lord): if any brother has a wife
who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to go on living with him,
he should not divorce her; and if any woman has a husband who is
an unbeliever, and he is willing to go on living with her, she
should not divorce her husband. For the unbelieving husband is
made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy
through the brother. Otherwise your children would be unclean,
whereas in fact they are holy. If the unbeliever separates,
however, let him separate. The brother or sister is not bound in
such cases; God has called you to peace. For how do you know,
wife, whether you will save your husband; or how do you know,
husband, whether you will save your wife? [1COR 7:1-16]
Now in regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord,
but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is
trustworthy. So this is what I think best because of the present
distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of
a wife? Then do not look for a wife. If you marry, however, you do
not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such
people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I
would like to spare you that. I tell you, brothers, the time is
running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having
them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not
rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as
not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing
away. I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man
is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the
Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman
or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she
may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other
hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please
her husband. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to
impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and
adherence to the Lord without distraction. If anyone thinks he is
behaving improperly toward his virgin, and if a critical moment
has come and so it has to be, let him do as he wishes. He is
committing no sin; let them get married. The one who stands firm
in his resolve, however, who is not under compulsion but has power
over his own will, and has made up his mind to keep his virgin,
will be doing well. So then, the one who marries his virgin does
well; the one who does not marry her will do better. A wife is
bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies,
she is free to be married to whomever she wishes, provided that it
be in the Lord. She is more blessed, though, in my opinion, if she
remains as she is, and I think that I too have the Spirit of God. [1COR
7:25-40]
Therefore, a bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach,
not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money.
[1TM 3:2-3] [Note: Religious offices indicated in the New
Testament are in their infancy and can be shown to be developing
even in Scripture. Within a short time, many religious offices in
the Church adopted Jesus' and Paul's recommended observance of celibacy
as a general rule.]
Deacons may be married only once and must manage their children
and their households well. [1TM 3:12] [Note: Religious offices
indicated in the New Testament are in their infancy and can be
shown to be developing even in Scripture. Within a short time, many
religious offices in the Church adopted Jesus' and Paul's
recommended observance of celibacy
as a general rule.]
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and demonic instructions through the hypocrisy of liars with branded consciences. They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
[1TM 4:1-3]
Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years
old, married only once, with a reputation for good works, namely,
that she has raised children, practiced hospitality, washed the
feet of the holy ones, helped those in distress, involved herself
in every good work. But exclude younger widows, for when their
sensuality estranges them from Christ, they want to marry and will
incur condemnation for breaking their first pledge. And
furthermore, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to
house, and not only idlers but gossips and busybodies as well,
talking about things that ought not to be mentioned. So I would
like younger widows to marry, have children, and manage a home, so
as to give the adversary no pretext for maligning us. For some
have already turned away to follow Satan. If any woman believer
has widowed relatives, she must assist them; the church is not to
be burdened, so that it will be able to help those who are truly
widows. [1TM 5:9-16]
For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you,
on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious.
[TI 1:5-6] [Note: Religious offices indicated in the New
Testament are in their infancy and can be shown to be developing
even in Scripture. Within a short time, many religious offices in
the Church adopted Jesus' and Paul's recommended observance of celibacy
as a general rule.]
Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept
undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. [HEB
13:4]
Also try:
Matrimony
(Sacrament) [S2]
wedding
/ wedded / wedlock [W]
bride
/ bridegroom [B]
husband
[H22]
wife
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child
/ children [C3a]
family
[F3]
parent
/ parents [P2]
adultery
/ adulterer [A]
fornication
[F]
separation,
marital [S]
divorce
[D]
celibacy
/ chastity / chaste [C1]
virgin
[C1]
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