Jagella

I remember seeing a fascinating documentary on the History Channel about Mary, the perhaps legendary mother of Jesus. According to this documentary, Mary, like most Jewish girls of her day, was considered marriageable at a very young age. The Jewish priests checked these young girls when they were naked to see if they had breasts and pubic hair. If so, they were then considered fair game to be married off. These girls had no say in whom they married, and they were simply sent to the homes of their new husbands to begin the marriage.

My question therefore is how accurate is this portrayal of the treatment of women by the Jews? How young were Hebrew girls when they married? Was it a common practice for men to have several wives like many of the Old Testament patriarchs did? What exactly were these men’s “concubines�? Did women have any say over when or even if they had sex with their husbands?

Thanks!

Jagella

Gavriel

It wasn't super common to have multiple wives but it was w/in the law. You did need to be able to provide for all of them. Further more you had to with all your wives:

Toto

What is described here is pretty much how marriages were made in most pre-modern societies. A girl's family decided who she would marry, often based on the need for a political or commercial alliance between the fathers of the young couple.

In the ancient world and most of the pre-20th century world, girls were married shortly after puberty.

Here's a helpful list of all the mentions of concubines in the Bible: Daily Bible Study

jonesg

Do you not read newspapers, do you not know what happens in the USA, Jerry Lee Lewis married a girl how young ? His cousin?

Roll that back a coupla thousand yrs.