The Hebrew Selection of Marriage Partners

1889 photograph of a Bedouin couple.

(American Colony Photo Department)

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Hebrew ruler-priests selected marriage partners only from their widely dispersed caste members. Hebrew marriages were arranged to the benefit of the households of both the bride and the groom. Matches were not based on romantic love. Deliberation about suitable partners were conducted under the authority of the fathers, village elders, clan chiefs, and sometimes the king. The king of Egypt arranged the marriage of Asenath to Joseph, Jacob’s sent-away son. Asenath was the daughter of a high-ranking priest of Heliopolis (Gen. 41:45). This is an example of caste endogamy because both Asenath and Jacob were Hebrew.

The selection of marriage partners took into consideration political alliances, distribution of wealth, and the necessity of heirs. Some marriages served to raise the status of a family. There were many potential matches because there were many Hebrew clans other than Jacob’s clan (the Israelites). Priority was given to marriages within the three-clan Hebrew confederations such as Ham, Shem and Japheth, or Og, Gog and Magog, or Huz, Buz and Uz.

It seems that in Abraham’s time, deliberation about marriage partners involved a modular system with a cycle of between 9 and 12 possible matches. In this system, X represents a firstborn son, and the possible matches are between 9 and 12 blood related females, drawn from the three clans of the confederation, and considered in a fixed order of rotation.

A bride selected from the pool of possible females within the confederation typically would be a half-sister in the case of the ruler’s first marriage and a patrilineal cousin in the case of the second marriage. The bride for the next male in the Hebrew hierarchy of sons would be considered in the rotation, beginning with the next female in the rotation after the last match was made.

The numbers 9 -12 are based on the evidence that the early Hebrew had a military organization of 3 clans: my clan, my brother’s clan, and my cousin’s clan. This narrowed the pool from which a consanguine bride could be chosen. This is a method of exclusion.

A similar way of excluding potential marriage partners is found among Hindus who practice clan exogamy. Marriage is prohibited between members of clans with the same totem. The most common totems are those of animals regarded as sacred, such as the tiger, the cobra, the calf, and the elephant. Totems of Hindu clans can also be trees and other plants.

Animal totems are evident in the names of the Horite Hebrew listed in Genesis 36. These include Zibeon (the hyena), the father of Anah (the wild donkey), Aiah (the kite), Dishan (the gazelle), the father of Aran (the wild goat), and Akan (the roe), the son of Ezer. Totemic names include Cheran (the lamb) and Shobal (the young lion). The role played by the early Hebrew totemic organization has yet to be clarified. However, it is evident that the totems played a role in alliances by marriage, both by inclusion and exclusion.

It is possible that the account of Laban's insistence that the older sister (Leah) must marry before the younger (Rachel) alludes to a modular system. Laban insists that in his country, the younger daughter cannot marry before the older daughter (Gen. 29:16-30). Jacob, who was sent to live with his maternal uncle, agreed to work for Laban for seven years in return for marriage to his youngest daughter Rachel. However, on their wedding night, Laban switched Leah for Rachel. Laban claimed that in his country it is not permitted to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.

Here a late hand on the text would have us believe that the marriage customs of the Hebrew in Paddan-Aram were different than the Hebrew customs in Jacob’s homeland in Edom. However, the biblical data revels that the early Hebrew consistently adhered to the same marriage and ascendancy pattern with its hierarchy of sons and daughters regardless of where they lived. Firstborn sons of ruling wives ranked at the top, followed by the firstborn sons of high-status concubines. High-status Hebrew daughters, such as the never-mentioned daughters of Abraham, would have been married to high-ranking Hebrew rulers, priests and clan chiefs.

Related reading: The Hebrew were a Caste; The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; Totemism - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia; Using Totems to Trace Ancestry and Marriage Ties; Keturah was Abraham's Second Wife

Thankful for Faithful Followers!

 

I'm dropping a line here to thank the readers of this blog. I appreciate you!

Feel free to post comments. I enjoy reading them and I try to respond to all of them.

Many who follow this blog also follow Biblical Anthropology, another of my blogs. If you have never visited that blog, I invite you to do so.

INDEX of topics at Biblical Anthropology 

Again, thank you for reading, and keep the comments coming.

Alice C. Linsley

Examples of the Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Hebrew men who ruled over territories maintained two wives in geographically separate settlements. The wife of the ruler’s youth was usually a half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. The ruler’s second wife was usually a patrilineal cousin, as was Keturah to Abraham. The second marriage came much later than the first marriage. 

Biblical examples of the cousin bride naming her firstborn son after her father include Lamech the Younger (Gen. 5) who was named after his maternal grandfather Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4) and Terah’s son Haran, who was named after his maternal grandfather, a ruler of Haran where Terah died (Gen. 11:32).

Nimrod’s firstborn son by his cousin was named Asshur after his maternal grandfather. The repetition of the names Lamech, Asshur, Joktan, and Sheba in the biblical king lists is evidence of the cousin bride’s naming prerogative, a distinctive feature of the Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern.

Another example involves the title Korah which refers to a ritually shaved priest. There are at least 4 men in the Bible named Korah. Some "Sons of Korah" wrote several Psalms. Korah, the son of Esau and Oholibamah, probably was the father of Ishara, Amram's cousin wife. Note that she gave the title to her firstborn son. Korah and Moses were half-brothers. 

Related reading: Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; The Wives' Settlements Mark the Boundaries; The Pattern of Two Wives; Keturah was Abraham's Second Wife; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Hebrew Names and Titles

Priest-Astronomers of the Ancient World

The Milky Way seen through the pylons of the Temple at Karnak.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Temples in the ancient Fertile Cresent were constructed by rulers. These were grand edifices meant to display the wealth and power of the ruler. They were constructed at major water sources such as the Euphrates, the Tigris, or the Nile.

The temples in Egypt and Babylon were aligned with celestial bodies to synchronize religious rituals and agricultural cycles. Temples were observatories where priests recorded the movements of the Sun, Moon, and five "wandering stars" (planets) to determine when to plant and when to hold religious festivals. The astronomer priests took their responsibility to fix the dates for feasts and fasts seriously because they believed that the pattern for right living on earth was found in the God-established pattern found in the heavens.

The Babylonian temples had seven tiers representing the number of visible celestial bodies: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The architecture was intended to express a celestial reality on earth. The temple became the archetype of the heavens above, a common architectural custom of ancient populations as Mircea Eliade demonstrated in his book The Sacred and the Profane.

In the temple dedicated to the Sun in Upper Egypt, at the ruins of Babian, there were seven urns. These represented the seven visible celestial bodies after which the days of the week are named in many languages (e.g. Monday - moon day in English, lunes - moon day in Spanish.)

The Temple dedicated to the High God (Amun-Re) at Karnak was aligned with the winter solstice sunrise so that on that day, a beam of light traveled through the massive pylons and illuminated the inner sanctuary. In Ancient Egyptian the word Re means "father". 

By 4245 B.C. the priests of the Upper Nile had already established a calendar based on the appearance of the star Sirius that becomes visible to the naked eye once every 1,461 years. Apparently, priests of the Ancient Nile Valley had been tracking this star and connecting it to seasonal changes and agriculture for thousands of years. The priest Manetho reported in his history (241 B.C.) that the Nilotes had been “star-gazing” as early as 40,000 years ago. Plato, who studied for 13 years in Egypt, claimed that the Africans had been tracking the heavens for 10,000 years.

Blessings and Curses from Above

In the ancient world, the celestial bodies were sometimes depicted as bowls from which curses and blessings were poured out on the earth. The worst possible curse involved seven bowls or a seven-fold pouring. Cursing or "incantation bowls" such as the one shown above have been found in Mesopotamia and Egypt. This cursing bowl dates to c.3000 B.C.

Even today, we speak of blessings coming down from heaven. James speaks of every good gift coming down from the Father of lights.

The best possible blessing involved a seven-fold pouring such as happens in the Agharias marriage ceremony (Orissa, India). It begins with the bride’s father delivering to the bride a bracelet (as did Abraham's servant to Rebekah) and seven small earthen bowls. The bride is seated in the open, and seven women hold the bowls over her head one above the other. Water is then poured from one bowl into the other, each being filled in turn and the whole finally falling on the bride's head. Pouring the water from above represents the heavenly blessing. The bride is then bathed and carried in a basket seven times round the marriage-post. Then she is seated and seven women place their heads round her while a male relative winds a thread seven times round the women.

Related reading: Curses in Genesis; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: The Seven Bowls of Revelation 16; Shrines, Temples, and Synagogues; Seven Planets, Seven Bowls; STEM Education: Priests of the Ancient World Studied Astronomy

Christ Descended to the Dead

 

Matthew testifies that the Jewish authorities insisted that the tomb be secured, the stone sealed and a guard set (Matthew 27:66). They did this because the Jews feared that Jesus' followers would remove his body and declare that He had risen.

The Roman seal was a cord that stretched across the stone. It was fastened at each end with sealing clay. It was a capital offense for unauthorized persons to break the seal. Very early on the morning of the first day, this seal was broken and the tomb was found empty.

However, even in his repose Jesus Christ was declaring the power of God. On Holy Saturday, Jesus entered the place that only the highest authority could enter. He declared his victory over death in Sheol, the place of repose for the righteous. The word is derived from the ancient Egyptian word Sheut (šwt), meaning shadow. The Egyptians believed that something of the dead person continues as a shadow beyond death. In quietness Christ broke down the bars of death, our ultimate enemy.

While his body was still in the tomb, Christ declared good news to those in the place of the dead. A Horite Hebrew song found at the royal complex at Ugarit, speaks of the Son's descent to the place of the dead "to announce good tidings." The text reads: Hr ešeni timerri duri - "Horus below in the dark netherworld" and has the phrase Šanizzin ḫalukan ḫalzi - "to announce good tidings." (See Note 2 on page 2012.)

In the Apostles' Creed, Christians proclaim this reality: "he descended to the dead/hell". There Christ our God declared glad tidings to the faithful who died before him and confirmed his triumph over death.

Related reading: BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Signs Given That We Might Believe; Christ has Risen as Foretold

Just Genesis Celebrates 19 Years!

 

The average lifespan of a blog is 33 months. Today JUST GENESIS celebrates 19 years! Testimonials about her research can be found here: Alice C. Linsley's Genesis Research

19 years is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to the loyalty of readers and followers. You are what matters! Your questions, observations, comments and critiques make this an exceptional blog. 

I am very thankful for your participation!

If the content at JUST GENESIS interests you, check out my other blog Biblical Anthropology. That blog has been active for 15 years!

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Allegory of Two Wives

 

Lamech the Elder and his 2 wives. Lamech was an early Hebrew ruler.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Hebrew rulers who controlled territories and water systems had two wives. The separate settlements of the wives marked territorial boundaries of the ruler’s kingdom. This feature of the Hebrew social structure sheds light on the relationship of the faithful among the Hebrew (before Judaism) and the faithful among the people who identify as Christians.

The Apostle Paul draws on the Hebrew social structure to contrast Judaism with the core Christian belief that the gift of salvation is embraced by faith in God's promises. In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul uses the story of Sarah and Hagar to illustrate the difference between salvation by grace through faith in Christ and the Jewish emphasis on salvation through obedience to the law. Sarah's son Isaac is portrayed as the child of promise, while Hagar's son Ishmael is portrayed as a slave to the law.

In Paul's context, the allegory makes sense. He was an apologist for the Messianic Faith that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He insisted that only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save sinners can receive the promise of salvation. Paul was arguing with Jews who had rejected Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. 

Paul also states that those who would be saved must be grafted into the faith of Abraham. Abraham and his Hebrew ancestors believed in God Father and God Son. They also believed in bodily resurrection and looked for a righteous ruler who would overcome death and rise on the third day. The earliest known resurrection texts were prayers offered by Nilotic Hebrew priests for their deceased rulers.

Paul contrasts Sarah, Abraham's principal wife and Hagar, a concubine. His allegory involves two women of unequal social status. Yet another allegory should involve Abraham's two wives, Sarah and Keturah. Both were Hebrew women who held to the faith of their Hebrew ancestors. Sarah was the wife of Abraham's youth and Keturah was the wife of Abraham's old age. Abraham had 9 sons and an unknown number of daughters by 2 wives and 2 concubines (Hagar and Mesek).

Sarah was Abraham's half-sister and Keturah was Abraham's patrilineal cousin. These two Hebrew wives pose an allegory of the relationship of the people of faith who lived in anticipation of the Son's appearing and those who lived after the Son's appearing. Sarah came first and Keturah came much later, but both were women of the Hebrew faith. In other words, as 2 wives made a kingdom for Abraham, so the kingdom of God is comprised of 2 wives. One does not outrank the other or supplant the other. We are not speaking of Israel and the Church. Instead, the allegory to 2 wives represents the faithful justified who believed God's promise concerning the Son yet to appear and the faithful justified who love and obey the Son Incarnate. 

The social structure of the biblical Hebrew tells us much about the relationship between the two households of faith. Together they constitute a kingdom. There is no reason to subsume one household of faith to the other. They are equal in God's kingdom.

Related reading: Abraham's Sons; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Sovereignty and Two Wives; The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; The Wives' Settlements Mark the Boundaries