Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions (9 page)

15But confident in your beauty and fame, you played the harlot: you lavished your favors on every passerby; they were his. . . . 17You took your beautiful things, made of the gold and silver that I had given you, and you made yourself phallic images and fornicated with them. . . . 26You played the whore with your neighbors, the lustful Egyptians—you multiplied your harlotries to anger Me. . . .

28In your insatiable lust you also played the whore with the Assyrians; you played the whore with them, but were still unsated. 29You multiplied your harlotries with Chaldea, that land of traders; yet even with this you were not
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satisfied. . . . 31Yet you were not like a prostitute, for you spurned fees; 32[you were like] the adulterous wife who welcomes strangers instead of her husband. . . . 38I will inflict upon you the punishment of women who commit adultery and murder, and I will direct bloody and impassioned fury against you.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–8

p r o v e r b s 3 1 : 1 0 – 3 1

10What a rare find is a capable wife! / Her worth is far beyond that of rubies.

11Her husband puts his confidence in her, / And lacks no good thing.

12She is good to him, never bad, / All the days of her life. . . .

15She rises while it is still night, / And supplies provisions for her household, /

The daily fare of her maids. . . .

17She girds herself with strength, / And performs her tasks with vigor.

18She sees that her business thrives; / Her lamp never goes out at night.

19She sets her hand to the distaff; / Her fingers work the spindle.

20She gives generously to the poor; / Her hands are stretched out to the needy. . . .

23Her husband is prominent in the gates, / As he sits among the elders of the land. . . .

26Her mouth is full of wisdom, / Her tongue with kindly teaching.

27She oversees the activities of her household / And never eats the bread of idleness.

28Her children declare her happy; / Her husband praises her, 29Many women have done well, / But you surpass them all.”

30Grace is deceptive, / Beauty is illusory; It is for her fear of the Lord / That a woman is to be praised.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–9

e x o d u s 2 0 : 1 2

12Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.

[New JPS translation]

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Document 1–10

d e u t e r o n o m y 2 1 : 1 8 – 2 1

18If a man has a wayward and defiant son, who does not heed his father or mother and does not obey them. . . . 19His father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the public place of his community. 20They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is disloyal and defiant; he does not heed us. . . . 21Thereupon the men of his town shall stone him to death. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst. . . .

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–11

d e u t e r o n o m y 4 : 9 – 1 0

9But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes. . . . And make them known to your children and to your children’s children: 10The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, “Gather the people to Me that I may let them hear My words, in order that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live on earth, and may so teach their children.”

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–12

d e u t e r o n o m y 6 : 4 – 7

4Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

6Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. 7Impress them upon your children. . . .

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Document 1–13

d e u t e r o n o m y 6 : 2 0 – 2 1

20When, in time to come, your children ask you, “What mean the decrees, laws, and rules that the Lord our God has enjoined upon you?” 21you shall say to your children, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and the Lord freed us from Egypt with a mighty hand. . . . ”

[New JPS translation]

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THE ELEPHANTINE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

In the Persian period (ca. 536–332 bce), Jews lived in the small province of Yehud and in other parts of the empire, including a garrison in the southern Egyptian called Elephantine. While they saw themselves as Jews, some of their practices diverged from those developing in Judea, including marriage with Egyptians and worship of other deities in addition to Yahweh.

Excavations at the garrison unearthed a number of papyrii, written in Aramaic, that deal with legal transactions such as marriage, divorce, and property transfer. Taken together, they exemplify the contractualizing trend in Persian society, which clearly affected Jewish practice. In this document we see that marriage is a status achieved after fulfilling several stages involving declarations and payment of a brideprice to the woman’s family. Most noteworthy is the right of the woman written into the document to divorce her husband, a practice that would not be normative within Rabbinic Judaism; its prevalence, however, is purely speculative.

Document 1–14

On the 26th [of] Tishri, [that is the __ ]6th month of Epiph, [y]ear [ __ of]

Kin[g Atraxerx]es,

Eshor, son of Se[ha], a builder of the king, said to Mah[seiah, an A]ramean of Syene of the detachment of Varyazata, saying: I [c]ame to your house (and asked you) to give me your daughter Mipta(h)iah for wifehood. She is my wife and I am her husband from this day and forever.

I gave you (as)
mohar
for your daughter Miptahiah: [silver], 5 shekels by the stone(-weight)s of [the] king. It came into you and your heart was satisfied herein.

[Your daughter] Miptahiah brought into me in her hand: silver money 1

karsh by the stone(-weight)s of the king, silver 2 (quarters) to the 10.

She brought into me in her hand:

1 new woolen garment, striped with dye doubly-well, worth (in) silver 2 karsh, shekels by the stone(-weight)s of the king; 1 new shawl, worth (in) silver 8 shekels by the stone(-weight)s of the king; another woolen garment, finely-woven, worth (in) silver 7 shekels; 1 bronze mirror, worth (in) silver 1 shekel, 2 q(uarters); 1 bronze bowl worth (in) silver 1 shekel, 2 q(uarters); 2 bronze cups, worth (in) silver 2 shekels; 1 bronze jug, worth (in) silver 2 q(uarters).

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All the silver and the value of the goods: (in) silver 6 karsh, 5 shekels, 20

hallurs, silver 2 q(uarters) to the 10, by the stone(-weight)s of the king.

Tomorrow or (the) n[ex]t day, should Eshor die not having a child, male or female, by Mipta[h]iah his wife, it is Miptahiah (who) has the right to the house of Eshor and [hi]s goods and his property and all that he has on the face of the whole earth.

Tomorrow or (the) next day, should Miptahiah die not having a child, male or female, by Eshor her husband, it is Eshor (who) shall inherit from her goods and her property.

Tomorrow or (the) next day, should Miptahiah stand up in assembly and say: “I hated Eshor my husband,” silver of hatred is on her head. She shall place upon the balance-scale and weigh out to Eshor silver, 6[ם1] ( ס 7) shekels, 2 q(uarters), and all that she bought in in her hand she shall take out, from straw to string, and go away wherever she desires, without suit or without process.

Tomorrow or (the) next day, should Eshor stand up in assembly and say: “I hated my [wif]e Miptahiah,” her
mohar
[will be] lost ( ס forfeit) and all that she brought in in her hand she shall take out, from straw to string, on one day in one stroke, and she shall go away wherever she desires, without suit or without process.

And I shall not be able to re[lease] my goods and my property from Miptahiah.

Nathan son of Ananiah wrote [this document at the instruction of Eshor].

And the witnesses herein: Penuliah son of Jezaniah; [ . . . ]iah son of Ahio; Menahem son of [Za]ccur; witness
Vyzblw
(endorsement missing) [B. Porten and A. Yardeni,
Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt:
Contracts
(Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1989), vol. 2, doc. B2.6.]

HELLENISTIC JEWISH PHILOSOPHY IN THE

WISDOM OF BEN SIRACH (ECCLESIASTICUS)

Alexander’s conquests of the fourth century bce brought Jews under the influence of Hellenism. One outgrowth of this encounter was the emergence of a genre known as “wisdom literature,” which advised readers on the importance of wisdom and virtue, often expressed in poetic aphoristic form.

Simeon Ben Sira was a second century bce Judean sage who likely composed this work in Hebrew ca. 170 bce. Its maxims are very similar to those of the Book of Proverbs and are arranged by subject with headings. In 132 bce a Greek translation was done that ultimately entered the Christian Apocrypha under the name Ecclesiasticus (by the author known as Jesus ben Sira). While the work did not formally enter the Jewish canon, many of Ben Sira’s sayings, both homiletic and legal, are quoted in Rabbinic literature, and Rabbinic liturgy shows the influence of this text.

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The selections below warn men of sexual intemperance and stress the importance of the family circle in nurturing virtuous behavior.

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e c c l e s i a s t i c u s 3 : 1 – 1 4 , 9 : 2 – 9 , 2 3 : 1 6 – 2 6 , 2 5 : 1 3 – 2 6 : 1 6 , 3 0 : 1 – 1 3

3:1Children listen to me, for I am your father; do what I tell you, if you wish to be safe. 2It is the Lord’s will that a father should be honoured by his children, and a mother’s rights recognized by her sons. 3Respect for a father atones for sins, 4and to honour your mother is to lay up a fortune. 5A son who respects his father will be made happy by his own children; when he prays, he will be heard.

6He who honours his father will have a long life, and he who obeys the Lord comforts his mother; 7he obeys his parents as though he were their slave. . . .

12My son, look after your father in his old age; do nothing to vex him as long as he lives. 13Even if his mind fails, make allowances for him, and do not despise him because you are in your prime. 14If you support your father it will never be forgotten, but be put to your credit against your sins. . . .

9:2 Do not surrender yourself to a woman and let her trample down your strength. 3Do not go near a loose woman, for fear of falling into her snares. 4Do not keep company with a dancing-girl, or you may be caught by her tricks. 5Do not let your mind dwell on a virgin, or you may be trapped into paying damages for her. 6Never surrender yourself to prostitutes, for fear of losing all you possess, 7nor gaze about you in the city streets or saunter in deserted corners. 8Do not let your eye linger on a woman’s figure or your thoughts dwell on beauty not yours to possess. Many have been seduced by the beauty of a woman, which kindles passion like fire. 9Never sit at table with another man’s wife or join her in a drinking party, for fear of succumbing to her charms and slipping into fatal disaster. . . .

23:16Two kinds of men add sin to sin, and a third brings retribution on himself.

Hot lust that blazes like a fire can never be quenched till life is destroyed. A man whose whole body is given to sensuality never stops till the fire consumes him. 17To a seducer every loaf is as sweet as the last, and he does not weary until he dies. . . . 21This man will pay the penalty in the public street, caught where he least expected it. 22So too with the woman who is unfaithful to her husband, presenting him with an heir by a different father: 23first, she disobeys the law of the Most High; secondly, she commits an offence against her husband; thirdly, she has prostituted herself by bearing bastard children. . . . 25Her children will not take root, nor will fruit grow on her branches. 26A curse will rest on her memory, and her shame will never be blotted out. . . .

25:13Any wound but a wound in the heart! Any spite but a woman’s! . . .

16I would sooner share a home with a lion or a snake than keep house with a spiteful wife. 17Her spite changes her expression, making her look as surly 24

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as a bear. 18Her husband goes to a neighbour for his meals and cannot repress a bitter sigh. 19There is nothing so bad as a bad wife; may the fate of the wicked overtake her! . . . 23A bad wife brings humiliation, downcast looks, and a wounded heart. . . . 24Woman is the origin of sin, and it is through her that we all die. 26If she does not accept your control, divorce her and send her away.

26:1 A good wife makes a happy husband; she doubles the length of his life.

2A staunch wife is her husband’s joy; he will live out his days in peace. 3A good wife means a good life; she is one of the Lord’s gifts to those who fear him. . . .

13A wife’s charm is the delight of her husband, and her womanly skill puts flesh on his bones. 14A silent wife is a gift from the Lord; her restraint is more than money can buy. . . . 16As beautiful as the sunrise in the Lord’s heaven is a good wife in a well-ordered home.

30:1A man who loves his son will whip him often so that when he grows up he may be a joy to him. 2 He who disciplines his son will find profit in him and take pride in him among his acquaintances. 3He who gives his son a good education will make his enemy jealous and will boast of him among his friends.

4When the father dies, it is as if he were still alive, for he has left a copy of himself behind him. . . . 7A man who spoils his son will bandage every wound and will be on tenterhooks at every cry. . . . 9Pamper a boy and he will shock you; play with him and he will grieve you. . . . 11Do not give him freedom while he is young or overlook his errors. 13Discipline your son and take pains with him or he may offend you by some disgraceful act.