Appearing Before Yahweh Three Times A Year
Exodus 23:14-17 reads,
23:14"You
shall observe a feast to me three times a year. 23:15You
shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib
(for in it you came out from
It is quite clear that it is the responsibility of one to ensure that his entire household is faithful to Yahweh in keeping all of Yahweh’s word. And one’s entire household includes not just one’s wives and children, but also the wider family of one’s slaves and their families who are under one’s authority. One must therefore ensure that all of one’s household becomes and remains faithful to Yahweh.
Yahweh's Promised Blessings Conditioned On
Obedience To Him
Exodus 23:20-26 reads,
23:20"Behold,
I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the
place which I have prepared. 23:21Pay
attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not
pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. 23:22But
if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an
enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. 23:23For my angel shall go before you, and
bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the
Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. 23:24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them,
nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish
their pillars. 23:25You shall serve
Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will
take sickness away from your midst. 23:26No
one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your
days.
Yahweh promised the Israelites that if they obeyed him in the manner he commanded them then he would take sickness from their midst. Also, no one among them would suffer miscarriages or be barren in their land. He would also fulfil the number of their days.
These promises applied not just to the head of households, but also to all within the households.
Why Yahweh Forbids Israelites From Marrying Non-Israelites
Exodus 23:27-33 reads,
23:27I
will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you
come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 23:28I will send the hornet before you, which
will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. 23:29I will not drive them out from before you
in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field
multiply against you. 23:30Little by
little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and
inherit the land. 23:31I will set
your border from the
Yahweh forbade the Israelites to make covenants with the Amorites, whose land the Israelites were taking over, lest they influence the Israelites into sinning against Yahweh, by causing the Israelites to serve their gods.
This is why Yahweh forbids
Israelites from marrying non-Israelites, lest they depart from him and follow
after the gods of the nations.
Adultery Committed By A Female Slave
Leviticus19:20-22 reads,
19:20Whoever
lies carnally with a woman, who is a bondmaid, pledged to be married to a
husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; they shall be
punished; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 19:21He shall bring his trespass-offering to
Yahweh, to the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a trespass-offering.
19:22The priest shall make atonement
for him with the ram of the trespass-offering before Yahweh for his sin which
he has sinned: and the sin which he has sinned shall be forgiven him.
Concubines, despite being wives, have a lesser status than non-concubine wives. It appears that concubines are wives who are still in bondage in their master’s household.
A fact of the lesser status of concubines vis-à-vis free women is that offences against them are dealt with less harshly with respect to penalties for the offence. So if a betrothed concubine has sexual intercourse with a man whom she is not betrothed to, then no death penalty is executed against both the man and the concubine. Instead both the man and the concubine get off only with a beating, together with an offering being made for the trespass.
Should a betrothed free woman sexually lie with a man to whom she is not betrothed it is adultery. Both the man and the betrothed woman are stoned to death, for the betrothed woman has proven herself unfaithful to her betrothal. Therefore, sins committed against those in bondage incur lesser penalties than those committed against free people, for those in bondage have lesser status than those free.
Why is the adultery of a bondmaid not treated as harshly as that of a free woman?
Leviticus 22:10-13 reads,
22:10There
shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest’s, or a
hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 22:11But
if a priest buy any soul, the purchase of his money, he shall eat of it; and
such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread. 22:12If a priest’s daughter be married to a
stranger, she shall not eat of the heave-offering of the holy things. 22:13But if a priest’s daughter be a widow, or
divorced, and have no child, and be returned to her father’s house, as in her
youth, she shall eat of her father’s bread: but there shall no stranger eat of
it.
Upon Marriage A Daughter Ceases To Be Part Of Her Father's Household
Once a man’s daughter, a man who is a head of household, is married to another outside his household, his daughter ceases to be part of his household, but now belongs to the household she is married into.
A Childless Former Wife Can Return To Her Father's
Household
A man’s daughter who becomes widowed, or divorced, and has no children, can return back to her father’s household and return to being under the authority of her father, just as she was while in her youth. Yahweh's law permits this.
But if man’s daughter is widowed she can only return back to her father’s household if her late husband already had a son by another wife. For if her late husband did not have a son she is bound by Yahweh’s law to be married by one of her late husband's brothers for the purpose of producing a son to succeed to the name of her late husband. In this case she remains in the wider household of his late husband’s family, and cannot just return to her father’s household.
If a man’s daughter is widowed and has children, she cannot return to her father’s household, but must remain in the wider household of her late husband. For their children belong to that household of her late husband. She is bound to bring up her children within that wider household, for that is where their children belong, especially the sons, for these succeed to the name of their late father and perpetuate his household. The daughters also belong to that household until such time as they are given in marriage to another household. Therefore, once a wife has had children in her marriage, it is not so easy for her to return back to her father’s household as when she does not have children in that marriage, and that marriage ends, either in widowhood or divorce.
Numbers 5:11-31 reads,
5:11Yahweh
spoke to Moses, saying, 5:12"Speak
to the children of Israel, and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, and is
unfaithful to him, 5:13and a man
lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is
kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she
isn’t taken in the act; 5:14and the
spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is
defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his
wife, and she isn’t defiled: 5:15then
the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for
her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor
put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering
of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 5:16The
priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh; 5:17and the priest shall take holy water in an
earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the
priest shall take, and put it into the water. 5:18The
priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head
go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal
offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness
that brings a curse. 5:19The priest
shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, ‘If no man has lain with
you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be
free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 5:20But if you have gone astray, being under
your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides
your husband:’ 5:21then the priest
shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall
tell the woman, ‘Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when
Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 5:22and this water that brings a curse will go
into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.’ The
woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’
5:23"The
priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the
water of bitterness. 5:24He shall
make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the
water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 5:25The priest shall take the meal offering of
jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before
Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. 5:26The
priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as the memorial of it, and
burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 5:27When he has made her drink the water, then
it shall happen, if she is defiled, and has committed a trespass against her
husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become
bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away: and the woman
will be a curse among her people. 5:28If
the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall
conceive seed.
5:29"This
is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and
is defiled; 5:30or when the spirit
of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set
the woman before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. 5:31The man shall be free from iniquity, and
that woman shall bear her iniquity."
The law of jealously is applied if the spirit of jealously comes upon a husband and he suspects that his wife has committed adultery. In essence, when such a spirit comes upon a husband he is required to bring the matter up before Yahweh’s priests and a curse is pronounced upon the wife. The curse is be valid if the woman has indeed committed adultery. If she has not the curse is without effect. For in a scenario whereby there are no independent witnesses to verify the accusation against the wife, only Yahweh can determine the matter, and therefore only he can determine whether or not the curse will be implemented against the wife based on the validity of the accusation.
The definitive manner in which it is known that the wife is not guilty is her success in bearing children after the curse is pronounced on her. For only a wife who is not guilty of the accusation will subsequently bear children after the curse is pronounced on her. And since it is in Yahweh’s power to open or close a womb, by his giving such an accused and cursed wife a child, he is demonstrating to all that she is free of the accusation brought against her.
Adultery should not be committed by anyone.
Perpetuating An Ancestor's Name
Numbers 27:1-5 reads,
27:1Then
drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of
The manner in which the name of a head of household is perpetuated by his sons is by ownership of his property, especially land, being transferred to his sons. His sons likewise do the same to their sons, and so on through subsequent generations. If a man, upon his death, has no children to whom his property can be transferred, his name ceases with his death and it is not perpetuated in his descendants, for he dies without descendants. Therefore, the issue with respect to the perpetuation of a man’s name is succession to the man’s property, especially land.
Numbers 27:6-11 reads,
27:6Yahweh
spoke to Moses, saying, 27:7The
daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of
an inheritance among their father’s brothers; and you shall cause the
inheritance of their father to pass to them. 27:8You
shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son,
then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 27:9If he have no daughter, then you shall give
his inheritance to his brothers. 27:10If
he have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s
brothers. 27:11If his father have no
brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him
of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be to the children of
Israel a statute and ordinance, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
In terms of inheritance of a man’s property, the man’s sons are first in line to the inheritance. If the man has no sons upon his death, then the man’s daughters are next in line to the inheritance. If the man has no daughters also, then his nearest male kin are next in line to the inheritance.
Validity Of Vows Of A Woman In Her Father's Household
Numbers 30:1-5 reads,
30:1Moses
spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This is the
thing which Yahweh has commanded. 30:2When
a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he
shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his
mouth. 30:3Also when a woman vows a
vow to Yahweh, and binds herself by a bond, being in her father’s house, in her
youth, 30:4and her father hears her
vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his
peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has
bound her soul shall stand. 30:5But
if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of
her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and Yahweh will
forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
With respect to a woman still in her father’s household, under his authority, her vows to Yahweh do not have validity unless and until ratified by the head of household, that is her father. If her father declines to ratify the vow it has no validity before Yahweh. A father therefore has authority over his daughters who are still in his household, whom he has not yet given away in marriage to another man. And just as the father has authority from Yahweh to overrule a vow to Yahweh made by one of his daughters who is still in his house, so also has the father authority from Yahweh to overrule a vow made by the daughter to some other person, even to another man to be wife to him. For no man is greater than Yahweh. And if a vow to Yahweh made by a daughter still in her father’s house has to be ratified by her father to make it valid, so also a vow or agreement she makes to some man, whether to be wife to him, or in some other matter. A father therefore has authority over his daughter and over the validity of the word of his daughter.
Validity Of Vows Of A Woman In Her Husband's
Household
Numbers 30:6-8 reads,
30:6If
she be married to a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance
of her lips, with which she has bound her soul, 30:7and
her husband hear it, and hold his peace at her in the day that he hears it;
then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul
shall stand. 30:8But if her husband
disallow her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which
is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her
soul: and Yahweh will forgive her.
As a husband also has authority over his wife, just as a father has authority over his daughter, so also a wife’s word in some agreement or a vow that she has made can only stand with her husband’s ratification.
Validity Of Vows Of A Woman Without A Man In
Authority Over Her
Numbers 30:9 reads
30:9But
the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, even everything with which she
has bound her soul, shall stand against her.
Women who do not have men in authority over them do not have to seek ratification from a man over them for their vows or words in agreement to stand. Once uttered those vows do indeed stand, for apart from Yahweh they are heads over themselves.
Vows Can Be Ratified Expressly Or By Implied Conduct
Numbers 30:10-16 reads,
30:10If
she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, 30:11and her husband heard it, and held his
peace at her, and didn’t disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every
bond with which she bound her soul shall stand. 30:12But
if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then
whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond
of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and Yahweh will
forgive her. 30:13Every vow, and
every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her
husband may make it void. 30:14But
if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he
establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has
established them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard
them. 30:15But if he shall make them
null and void after that he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity. 30:16These are the statutes, which Yahweh
commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter,
being in her youth, in her father’s house.
The manner in which a man in authority over a woman can ratify a vow made by a woman under his authority is either by express approval or by non-objection. The non-objection can come in the form of conduct showing non-objection, such as silence at the time the matter comes to his attention and adequate time has been allowed for his consideration of the matter.
Numbers 36:1-12 reads,
36:1The
heads of the fathers’ houses of the family of the children of Gilead, the son
of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came
near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’
houses of the children of Israel: 36:2and
they said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to
the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the
inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 36:3If they be married to any of the sons of
the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be
taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the
inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away
from the lot of our inheritance. 36:4When
the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be
added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will
their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our
fathers. 36:5Moses commanded the
children of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, The tribe of the
sons of Joseph speaks right. 36:6This
is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad,
saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of
the tribe of their father shall they be married. 36:7So
shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for
the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to the inheritance of the tribe of
his fathers. 36:8Every daughter, who
possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife
to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel
may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. 36:9So shall no inheritance remove from one
tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave
everyone to his own inheritance. 36:10Even
as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: 36:11for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s
brothers’ sons. 36:12They were
married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their
inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
If a man dies and his inheritance, his land, passes to his unmarried daughters, the dead man having had no sons, his daughters who succeed to his inheritance must marry within their tribe, that the inheritance which has passed on to them may not become that of another tribe.
What this judgement of Yahweh shows is that if a woman has inherited land in her name, and she subsequently marries, the ownership of that land eventually transfers to the man, or the family of the man, that she is married into. For their children, who will inherit this land, will not belong to the wider household of her father, but they belong to the household of her husband.
In fact, it appears that the timing of the transfer of this land to her husband’s household is not when she dies and thereby bequeaths this land to her children, her sons if she has any, but at the time of marriage. Ratification that the land permanently belongs to a particular household and tribe has to wait for the Jubilee year. But the actual ownership of the land is transferred at the time of the woman’s marriage, and is then owned by her husband.
It therefore appears that married women are not given rights to own inherited land. Such land belongs to the household they belong to and are married into, and is therefore in the name of their husbands. A married woman therefore has no inherited land exclusive to herself. Whatever inherited land she has becomes her husband’s upon marriage, and whatever of the inherited land that she uses is by her husband’s permission.
A Fatherless Woman Can Marry Whomever She Desires
Verse 6: Yahweh has given permission to women whose fathers are dead to marry whomever they think best.
In other words, whereas in the case of a woman whose father is still alive, she who can marry only a man who has been approved of by her father, a man who will also pay her father dowry in exchange for her, the same does not appear to hold in the case where the father is dead. For upon the death of the father she is no longer under his authority, for he is no more. She is then free to do as she chooses, only that her choice must still be subject to Yahweh’s word.
Is Dowry Paid In The Marriage Of A Fatherless
Woman?
If this is the case, that such a woman is free to marry whomever she chooses, is dowry still paid in such a case, that is when the woman is married?
If the purpose of dowry is to signify transfer of ownership of a woman from her father to her husband, then as the woman in this case is free of ownership, then no dowry ought to be paid by the man marrying her. All the man marrying her can do is to give a marriage gift to the woman’s mother if she is still alive, but not dowry, for the woman is not being released from the authority of one man and being transferred to the authority of another man.
And in the case of a man marrying a heiress, not only does he not pay dowry, he also acquires the inheritance of the woman, for once married to him the land belonging to the woman is now transferred to him, as the woman is now under his authority.
How A Heiress Can Retain Ownership Of Inherited
Land
Therefore, the only way a woman heiress can hang onto her land is if she chooses not to be married until her death. And even upon her death, her land will be inherited by her near kinsmen. Therefore, might it not be better to have the land transferred to someone she chooses, as she has choice in the person she marries, rather than to someone she has no choice in, such as her near kinsmen?
Also, it appears to me that there is much more to life than owning land. Such a heiress should therefore get on with life, rather than try to hang on to a piece of land, which she will still leave behind to others upon her death.
No one should bother a woman who does not have a man in authority over her to marry a particular man, as she is free to marry whomever she chooses. Such a woman could be one whose father died while she was still unmarried in his house or one who is a widow whose late husband is survived by a son.
Followers Of Yahweh Forbidden From Marrying Those
Who Do Not Follow Yahweh
Deuteronomy 7:1-11 reads,
7:1When
Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and
shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and
the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the
Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you; 7:2and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them
up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you
shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them; 7:3neither shall you make marriages with them;
your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to
your son. 7:4For he will turn away
your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger
of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly. 7:5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall
break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their
Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire. 7:6For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God: Yahweh your
God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who
are on the face of the earth. 7:7Yahweh
didn’t set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number
than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples: 7:8but because Yahweh loves you, and because he
would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, has Yahweh brought you out
with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand
of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 7:9Know
therefore that Yahweh your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant
and lovingkindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a
thousand generations, 7:10and repays
those who hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him
who hates him, he will repay him to his face. 7:11You
shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances,
which I command you this day, to do them.
The Authority Of Fathers In Marriage
Verse 3: Under Yahweh’s law marriage arrangements are the domain of the fathers of those to be married. It is for the son’s father to take a wife for him, and it is for the daughter’s father to give her away in marriage.
A son’s father therefore has some authority over his life with respect to his marriage, for it is upon him to determine whether or not he will take a wife for him.
What about a scenario whereby a son has already left the household of his father?
Well it appears that the time a son should leave his father’s household is when his father has taken a wife for him. Once married he begins his own household. Should he then desire to have another wife then it appears that he no longer needs his father to take her for him as his wife. He can take her with or without his father’s participation. His father’s involvement in the additional wife’s marriage to himself would only be by way of courtesy, and not by legal requirement.
Also a daughter’s father has authority over her life with respect to her marriage, for it is upon him to give her away in marriage to a husband. If he refuses to give her to a particular man then she is not to be married to that man.
What about the scenario whereby a woman elopes away with a man without her father’s consent, or against her father’s consent? Is such elopement considered a valid marriage before Yahweh?
I think not! For even in a case of rape of a virgin the father of a raped daughter can still refuse to give her in marriage to the rapist, even whereby the rapist’s father offers to pay dowry to him. A father therefore has complete authority over a daughter with respect to her marriage, and without his acquiescence no legally valid marriage exists! A father’s consent must therefore be sought to validate a marriage between his daughter and a man.
Why Marriage To Non-Israelites Forbidden
Verse 4: Yahweh's reason for forbidding the Israelites from entering into marriage unions with the Canaanites was the enormous risk that the Canaanites in such marriages would turn the hearts of the Israelites away from Yahweh and unto their worship objects. And if and when they did so, Yahweh’s anger would be aroused against them and he would subsequently destroy them. Therefore, for their protection, Yahweh forbade the Israelites from marrying those who did not worship him, because of the enormous risk that these who did not worship Yahweh would turn the hearts of his people, the Israelites, from worshipping him and only him.
What Is Holy Should Not Be United With What Is
Profane
Verse 6: The reason why Yahweh gave the Israelites all these laws was because they were to him a holy people - a people he had set apart for a holy use. For he had chosen them to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples of the whole earth. In other words, that which is holy ought not to be united with that which is profane.
Why Yahweh Chose The Israelites
Verses 7-8: The main reason why Yahweh made the Israelites a special treasure to himself was in honour of his oath or promise which he made to their ancestors, to Avraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. For Yahweh is a promise keeping individual, even when the promise is to be fulfilled over several millennia.
Newly Married Excused From War
Deuteronomy 20:7 reads,
20:7What
man is there who has pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? Let
him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take
her.
Men betrothed to women, but not yet taken them into their households, are excused from military campaigns or other campaigns with a risk of death. This is to allow such men to give pleasure to their wives and also to partake of the same pleasure for at least a year. Such men are excused from such service for the purpose of marriage, just as newly married men who have taken their wives into their households are also excused from such service.
When A Woman Is Released From Her Betrothal
It should also be noted that the time a woman betrothed to a man is released from her betrothal is with the death of her husband. For if her husband dies prior to his marrying her she is released from that betrothal, and can then be wife to another man.
Rights Of A Female Slave Who Is Also A Wife
Deuteronomy 21:10-14 reads,
21:10When
you go forth to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them
into your hands, and you carry them away captive, 21:11and
see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire to her, and
would take her to you as wife; 21:12then
you shall bring her home to your house; and she shall shave her head, and pare
her nails; 21:13and she shall put
the clothing of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house, and
bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that you shall go in
to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 21:14It shall be, if you have no delight in
her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at
all for money, you shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled
her.
An Israelite man who took a female slave as his wife could not subsequently sell her for money or other consideration. Her rights were equivalent to those of other women married to Israelites, including the elevation of her status from that of a slave woman with inferior rights.
As Yah'shuah clarified that divorce is permitted only in the case of a wife’s sexual immorality, it appears to me that a man who takes a female slave as his wife cannot divorce her for any other reason. He ought to provide for her as his wife as long as they both are alive.
Deuteronomy 21:15-17 reads,
21:15If
a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne
him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers
who was hated; 21:16then it shall
be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he
may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn before the son of the hated,
who is the firstborn: 21:17but he
shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double
portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right
of the firstborn is his.
A man must ensure that his double-portion inheritance, which belongs to the firstborn son, must be given to him to whom it belongs. It must not be given to another son of his.
The scriptural precedent that exists for a firstborn not inheriting the double-portion that rightfully belongs to him is whereby the firstborn has engaged in some disqualifying act, such as Reuben, Jacob’s son, did when he sexually lay with one of his father’s wives (concubines). In that case the double-portion inheritance went to the firstborn son of Jacob’s second wife, the one whom he loved more.
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 reads,
22:13If
any man take a wife, and go in to her, and hate her, 22:14and lay shameful things to her charge, and
bring up an evil name on her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came near
to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity; 22:15then shall the father of the young lady,
and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the young lady’s virginity
to the elders of the city in the gate; 22:16and
the young lady’s father shall tell the elders, I gave my daughter to this man
to wife, and he hates her; 22:17and,
behold, he has laid shameful things to her charge, saying, I didn’t find in
your daughter the tokens of virginity; and yet these are the tokens of my
daughter’s virginity. They shall spread the garment before the elders of the
city. 22:18The elders of that city
shall take the man and chastise him; 22:19and
they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father
of the young lady, because he has brought up an evil name on a virgin of
Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. 22:20But if this thing be true, that the tokens
of virginity were not found in the young lady; 22:21then
they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the
men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done
folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father’s house: so shall you put
away the evil from the midst of you.
It is Yahweh’s intention that unmarried women should remain in their father’s household while their fathers are alive, and that they should remain virgins, until they are given away in marriage to a man.
When the man pays dowry to such a woman’s father, the dowry is that for a virgin, which is higher than that for one who is not a virgin.
If a man who has paid such a dowry subsequently suspects, after taking her as his wife and laying with her, that she is not a virgin, then he has the right to charge her with shameful conduct prior to marriage, that is charge her with fornication. The matter must then be investigated. If the man is proved right, the woman deserves to die, for she did not make it known prior to her being given away in marriage that she was not a virgin. But if she is proved innocent of the charge, the man must pay the woman’s father a hundred shekels of silver, for bringing his wife’s name into disrepute. He is also barred for putting her away.
A Woman Not A Virgin Should Declare That Fact
Prior To Her Marriage To Her Husband
The other important point to note here is that if the woman had declared that she was not a virgin prior to the time dowry was paid, and the man still did not mind taking her as his wife, then the woman would survive the death penalty. For the dowry that would have been paid in that case would have been less than that paid for a virgin woman, and there would not have been a breach of faith in the entire matter. Therefore the death penalty would only come upon the woman because of her lack of declaration of the truth that she was not a virgin at the time of her marriage if she indeed was not a virgin at the time.
In fact in cases whereby a woman in her father’s house loses her virginity, and the matter becomes known to her father, the man so seducing her and depriving her of her virginity ought to both pay the bride price for virgins to her father, and also to marry her. He will only be barred from marrying her if her father resolutely refuses to give her to him in marriage.
A Territory Ought Not To Be Filled With Harlotry
The purpose of these laws of Yahweh was to ensure that the land was not filled with harlotry. Rather men were to sexually lie only with their wives, and if a man sexually lay with a virgin who was not his wife, he was compelled to both pay the bride price for virgins to her father, and also to marry her if her father did not object. Otherwise harlotry is punishable by death under Yahweh’s laws. Also, bearing of false witness in the matter of non declaration of one’s virginity at the time of marriage is punishable by death.
Penalty For Bringing False Shameful Charge
It should be noted from 22:19 that the penalty for bringing a false shameful charge against one's wife is a fine of one hundred shekels of silver. This is TWICE the dowry paid for a virgin! It therefore appears that besmirching someone's name is a very serious offence, and must be compensated for, with payment being made to those whose names have been besmirched.
Penalty For Committing Adultery
Deuteronomy 22:22 reads,
22:22If
a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of
them die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman: so shall you put away
the evil from Israel.
Adultery is punishable by death - death to both the man and the woman who is married to another man.
It Is Adultery For A Betrothed Woman To Have Sex
With A Man Not Her Husband
Deuteronomy 22:23-24 reads,
22:23If
there be a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a
man find her in the city, and lie with her; 22:24then
you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone
them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city;
and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife: so you shall put away
the evil from the midst of you.
A virgin woman betrothed to a man is for all intents and purposes considered to be the wife of the man she is betrothed to. For she has already, in principle, been given into marriage to the man by her father. Maybe the only outstanding matter is the payment of dowry and the consummation of that marriage.
Therefore, if a man lies with a betrothed woman, and the betrothed woman does not object to the man lying with her, this is adultery, and both the adulterous man and woman deserve to die.
Penalty For A Man's Covetousness And Theft
Deuteronomy 22:25-27 reads,
22:25But
if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man
force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die: 22:26but to the lady you shall do nothing;
there is in the lady no sin worthy of death: for as when a man rises against
his neighbor, and kills him, even so is this matter; 22:27for he found her in the field, the pledged
to be married lady cried, and there was none to save her.
In the case of rape of a virgin woman betrothed to a man, the offence has been committed only by the man. Only the man deserves to die. The woman is innocent.
It appears to me that prior to the execution of the death penalty upon the guilty man he ought to be made to pay the bride price for virgins to the woman’s father. For the man to whom she is betrothed will now have no obligation to pay dowry for virgins, as the woman he now will be marrying will not be a virgin upon the consummation of the marriage.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 reads,
22:28If
a man find a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, and lay
hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 22:29then
the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of
silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her; he may not put
her away all his days.
In the case of rape of a virgin not yet betrothed to a man, the rapist is spared the death penalty, for he has not lain with the wife of another. Nevertheless he must still pay the woman’s father the dowry for virgins - fifty shekels of silver, and must take the woman as his wife, provided her father does not object, and he will lose all rights to divorce her for the rest of his life.
Escaped Slaves Are Not To Be Returned To Their
Masters
Deuteronomy 23:15-16 reads,
23:15You
shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to
you: 23:16he shall dwell with you,
in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your
gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him.
Escaped slaves are not to be returned to their masters, but are to be allowed to live wherever it is they choose.
Why should they not be returned to their masters?
Wages Of Sin Should Not Be Used For Yahweh's Service
Deuteronomy 23:17-18 reads,
23:17There
shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a
sodomite of the sons of Israel. 23:18You
shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a dog, into the house
of Yahweh your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination to
Yahweh your God.
Sexual immorality is not allowed among Israelites. And the proceeds of sexual immorality shall not be offered to Yahweh by way of offering or otherwise, for these are the proceeds of sin. In fact, the proceeds of any sin should not be offered to Yahweh. Only lawfully earned money or wages - lawful under Yahweh’s law, should be brought to him by way of offering or tithes.
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