As to the ethical cause of the prescribed mar riages, or the cases specified, including parallels by affinity, the ancient Jews, to whom the oracles of God were committed, and who had to explain and administer the law in practical life, knew nothing about it. The Palestinian doctors regarded the proscribed degrees as a positive law, the cause of which cannot be divined by human reason (Sifra, .Kedoshint, ix. 12; Talmud Sabbath, 13o a ; 7oma, 75 a). The only attempt to rationalize on the subject is on the apparent inconsistency of the Mosaic law in prohibiting marriage with the wife of the father's brother, in case she is divorced or left a widow, and not forbidding the wife of the mother's brother. Upon this the Talmud remarks, that a man visits his father's relations more than his mother's IrrzL," nrI5 IT7V Yebamoth, 21 a), and Rashi on this passage l'ZN nr;nnA ; and it is mitted, and we believe with perfect reason, and based on Num. i. 2, that it is the father's relations who constitute the family, and not the mother's ("rp rll ate !Inn= nntwn "tip zN.rinnvn nrimtvn). We thus see that up to the time of the Ptolemies, when the Greek loose barriers of consanguinity threatened to fall among the Jewish families, the ancient Hebrews were bound only by the specific proscriptions in the Mosaic law, and that even after the prohibitions were extended by the Scribes, the proscription of a male relative by blood did not imply the wife's relatives of the like degree, because of the strong distinction made by them between consanguinity and affinity by marriage ; the former being permanent and sacred, and the latter uncertain and vague, as a man might any moment divorce his wife, or take as many as he pleased, and because the husband's family were regarded as the relations, whilst the wife's were not esteemed beyond those who are especially mentioned.
The proscribed degrees were sacredly avoided by the Jews during this period, and no dispensa tion could be obtained by any one, no matter how high his position, as Judaism never invested any spiritual functionary with power to absolve, even in extraordinary cases, from the obligations of the law. Hence the outcry against Herod the Great, who married his half-sister (Joseph. Antiq. xvii. I, 3) ; against Archelaus, who took his deceased brother's widow when she was the mother of children (ibid. xvii. 13. 1) ; and against Herod Antipas, for which John the Baptist had to atone with his life (Joseph. Antig. xviii. 5. i ; Matt. xiv. 3).
Besides the proscribed degrees, the Rabbinic law also enacted—i. A man must not marry a divorced woman with whom he has committed adultery prior to her divorcement (Sota, 27), or even if he is only suspected of it 24 ; Maimonides, Sota, ii. is) ; ii. A man who attested the death of the husband is not allowed to marry the widow, nor is the bearer of a divorce per mitted to marry the divorced woman, to avoid suspicion (7ebantoth, ii. 9, so) ; iii. If a man's wife dies, he must not marry again till three festivals after his wife's death (hfoed Katon, 23) ; iv. A man is not to marry a woman who has lost two hus bands (Yebamoth, 64) ; v. A father is not to give a young daughter in marriage to an old man, nor is a young man to marry an old woman (,ebamoth, tot ; Maimonides, Isere Bia, xxi. 26) ; vi. A man is not to marry within thirty days of the death of a near relation (Hoed Kato; 23) ; vii. Widows are not to marry within ninety days of the loss of their husbands, nor are divorced women to marry within ninety days of their being divorced, in order that the paternity of the newly-born child might be distinguished 711 p ?NI:4 =1, 7ebamoth, 41 a) ; viii. If a widow or a di
vorced woman is nursing an infant, she must not marry within twenty-four months of the birth of the baby (Yebamoth, 41 ; Kethuboth, 60 ; and Tos safoth on these passages).
5. Sanctity of Marriage, and Mutual Rights of Husband and Wife.—Thc notions about sanctity of marriage were loftier during this period than in the preceding epochs, as may be judged from the fact that unfaithfulness to a wife is denounced by the prophet Malachi as violating a sacred covenant to the transaction of which God himself was a witness (ii. 14). And though it may be questioned whether the prophet's appeal to God as having been witness to the marriage-contract refers to the above-named seven benedictions (min which the bridegroom had to pronounce at the marriage-feast, and in which he invoked God's presence and blessing to the compact, as Abrava nel will have it, yet there can be no doubt that marriage is here for the first time expressly de scribed as a covenant (rl'iM) made in the presence of God. W ith such a view of the sanctity of marriage, the notion that a wife is a plaything for a leisure hour rapidly disappeared, and the sages who had to expound the law to the people in the time of Christ, taught that the declaration Peace shall be in thy house' (Job v. 24), will be realised by him r11=11 Iv= IlltVN TIN znt.tri Tim rnnal won) 'who loves his wife as himself, and honours her more than himself, and trains his sons and daughters up in the way of righteousness' (yebamoth, 62 b). Moreover, marriage was regarded as illegal if the man had not given to his wife the instrument (r121/1), in which he promises his wife, ' I will work for thee, honour thee, maintain thee, and provide for thee, according to the custom of Jewish husbands.' The Rabbinic laws both de fine this promise and insist upon its being ful filled, as may be seen from the following enact ments :—i. A wife is to be kept in proportion to the circumstances of her husband, and have her meals with him at the table ; if he ill-treats her and she removes from him, he is obliged to send her maintenance (Yebamoth, 64 b) ; ii. If the husband goes on a three months' journey without mak ing provision for his wife, the legal authorities of the place are to maintain her from his property (Kethuboth, 48 a, 107) ; iii. He is obliged to per form the duties of a husband within a stated period (Mishna, Kethuboth, v. 6); iv. If her husband dies, she is to be maintained from his property, or by the children, in the manner as she was in his lifetime, till she is betrothed to another man, and her rights must he attended to before the claims of any one else (Kethuboth, 43, 51, 52, 68, 103 ; yerusalem Kethuboth iv. 14). v. II 2 woman marries a man of higher rank than her. self, she rises with him, but if he is inferior to her she does not descend to him (Iny ri$ly rmr), Kethuboa 48 a, 61 a). For other rights which the wife possesses we must refer to the Kethuba or the marriage-instrument given in sec tion z of this period. The husband, on the other hand, has a right to expect from his wife chastity which is beyond the reach of suspicion, unreserved obedience, and to do the work of a housewife. The latter is defined in the Mishna as follows She must grind corn, bake, wash, cook, suckle her children, make his bed, and work in wool. If she brings a bondwoman with her, she is not required to grind, bake, or wash. If she brings two, she need not cook nor suckle her child ; if three, she need not make his bed nor work in wool ; and if four, she may sit in her easy chair (Ka rninpn 11:n1 Mishna, Kethuboth v. 5). Other rights are given in the following section on Divorce.