[B-Greek] Mt 1:18 hEUREQH EN GASTRI ECOUSA
L. Harris
ljoharris at ckt.net
Thu Feb 2 08:05:28 EST 2006
> According to Jewish custom, the betrothal was one year. The main purpose
> of this was to make sure the bride was not pregnant and thus one way to
> prove her purity.
>May we have your source for this please? Where might the evidence for the
>existence of this "custom" be found?
I was fortunate to take a real good class on Jewish law and customs many
years ago, but I found a site on the web that speaks of the custom in part.
http://www.ldolphin.org/risk/ult.shtml
Scroll down to the "The Betrothal"
It also states there that the espoused bride had to take a ritual bath
called Mikvah. However it dose not tell you why she took that ritual bath to
purify herself.
This ritual bath had to do with what is called the Naddah, which is the time
of separation of a woman from her husband when they cannot have intercourse
due to ministration as is written also in the law of the OT.
She is considdered unclean durring that time and up to
7 days afterwards, until she takes the ritual Mikvah bath.
The father of the groom would choose the basic time after the years
betrothal. The message would be sent to the bride to prepair durring her
next menstral cycle and take the ritual bath after 7 days for purification.
Now if the
espoused bride fails to have that cycle, it's sure sign that she is or may
be found to be pregnant. Therefore she would be examined, by two reputable
midwifes hired by the parents of the bride and groom. You have to remember
this
wasn't just custom or tradition, it all dealt with legalities and the law of
the nation
in general, which was OT law.
You see they had to give proof of all this, and I mean ALL of this. Talk
about an invasion of privacy, we have no real idea. Some cultures, I think
even Jewish examined the sheets after the marriage had been consumated for
signs of blood showing the girl was in fact truly a virgin. And then they
kept them for proof in case the husband should try and falsely accuse his
wife later.
Gad, what a thing for some poor kid to have to go through huh!
Linda Harris
----- Original Message -----
From: "L. Harris" <ljoharris at ckt.net>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibilio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 11:52 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Mt 1:18 hEUREQH EN GASTRI ECOUSA
>> According to Jewish custom, the betrothal was one year. The main purpose
>> of
>> this was to make sure the bride was not pregnant and thus one way to
>> prove
>> her purity.
>
>>May we have your source for this please? Where might the evidence for the
> existence of this "custom" be found?
>
> I learned this many years ago in a class on Jewish Customs, but I found a
> sight on the web that states the same basic thing.
>
> http://www.ldolphin.org/risk/ult.shtml
>
> Scroll down to the "The Betrothal"
>
> It also states there that the espoused bride had to take a ritual bath
> called Mikvah. However it dose not tell you why she took that ritual bath
> to purify herself.
>
> This ritual bath had to do with what is called the Naddah, which is the
> time of separation of a woman from her husband when they cannot have
> intercourse due to ministration. She is considdered unclean durring that
> time and up to 7 days afterwards, until she takes the ritual Mikvah bath.
>
> The father of the groom would choose the basic time after the years
> betrothal. The message would be sent to the bride to prepair durring her
> next menstral cycle and take the ritual bath after 7 days. Now if the
> espoused bride fails to have that cycle, it's sure sign that she is or may
> be found to be pregnant. Therefore she would be examined, by two reputable
> midwifes hired by the parents of the bride and groom.
>
> You see they had to give proof of all this, and I mean ALL of this. Talk
> about an invasion of privacy, we have no real idea. Some cultures, I think
> even Jewish examined the sheets after the marriage had been consumated for
> signs of blood showing the girl was in fact truly a virgin. And then they
> kept them for proof in case the husband should try and falsely accuse his
> wife later.
>
> Gad, what a thing for some poor kid to have to go through huh!
>
> Linda Harris
>
>
>
>
>
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