Money, marriage, dowries (In The Bible)
There were two forms of payment made on the occasion of a wedding:
⦁ the Bride Price
⦁ the Dowry
⦁ the Bride Price
⦁ the Dowry
Bride price, best called bridewealth, also known as bride token, is an amount of money, property or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the parents of the woman he has just married or is just about to marry. Bride price can be compared to dowry, which is paid to the groom, or used by the bride to help establish the new household; and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The bride price agreed may or may not be intended to reflect the perceived value of the woman.
Despite this safety net, the Bible constantly commands its people to look after the vulnerable in society, especially widows and orphans.
Marriage In The Bible
The Bride Price
Money, money, money. Love is all very well but the practicalities have to be attended to. A widow or divorced woman wanted to be independent, not at the mercy of a husband who might or might not provide for her and her children.
With this in mind, the prospective groom gave the bride’s father a present, either a sum of money or its equivalent in goods – cattle, land, woven goods, work, etc.
Jacob paid for ⦁ Leah (so he thought) with seven years work (Genesis 29:15-30)
Jacob paid for ⦁ Leah (so he thought) with seven years work (Genesis 29:15-30)
David paid for Saul’s daughter ⦁ Michal with the grisly gift of one hundred Philistine foreskins – probably meaning their death, since they would not have willingly submitted (1 Samuel 18:25-27)
⦁ Othniel conquered a town as payment for Achsah (Judges 1:11-15).
The amount of this bride price was geared to the status and wealth of the girl’s family. It was seen as compensation to the family for the loss of the girl, as well as the means of providing her with certain necessities.
We do not know what the Israelite custom was regarding disposal of this money, but in Babylon the goods belonged to the girl. The father was given the interest or other income on it for life, but he was not allowed to touch the capital.
Rachel and Leah were deeply angry that their father flouted this practice, and robbed them of what was their rightful inheritance: ‘
Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. All this property belongs to us and our children.’ (Genesis 31:14-16)
They had good reason to be resentful: the purpose of the bride price was to insure the woman against being left unsupported if she was widowed.
The Dowry
There are many passages in the Bible relating to dowries, but specific details are not given, which is frustrating.
However, in Babylon a bride’s parents had to make a settlement on her which remained her property even though the husband received the interest from the capital and was entitled to invest the money in business.
If a woman was later widowed, or divorced through no fault of her own, the capital reverted to her.
Something similar must have existed in Israel, for example
⦁ Pharaoh gave his daughter the city of Gezer as a marriage settlement when she married ⦁ Solomon (1 Kings 9:16)
⦁ Rebecca, Leah and Rachel were each given a handmaid as a wedding gift from their parents.
The sum of money or goods was registered in the marriage contract. If it was money which the husband wanted to invest, he contracted to repay his wife the full amount, plus one-third interest.
If it was something that would depreciate, such as clothing or household goods, the husband only had to repay one-fifth of the original value.
In anthropological literature, bride price has often been explained in market terms, as payment made in exchange for the bride’s family’s loss of her labor and fertility within her kin group.
The bride price may be seen as similar to the payment of alimony (maintenance) to the wife in the event of divorce and the payment of family maintenance in the event of the husband not providing adequately for the wife in his will. Another function of the bride price was or is to provide a disincentive for the husband to divorce his wife: If the amount is high enough, it isn’t easy for him to be able to pay for a new wife.
Money & Marriage in the Bible
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