A study on intermarriage and impurity in the hebrew bible

Take the idea of the purity of the family as secured by its unity. We may let the book make its own case. If it is only for this polyphony, the issue is raised more intensively in biblical studies today: The priest Ezra commands the divorce of any mixed marriage without considering the hard fate of the children who are put aside along with their indigent mothers Ezra 10whereas the priest Phineas even spears a mixed couple to death in his outrage Num 25 ; they were probably engaged in sexual intercourse within the sacred precinct, which was not tolerable as such, but which moreover made the mixed marriage between Zimri and Kozbi, a Midianite bachelor girl, public.

The poem is illustrative of an experience as widely known as any in the life of the human race--an experience in which sin is no necessity.

Both are concerned with mixed marriages and both are zealous, harsh, and unsympathetic. This is remarkable, for it is a vast history over which its narrative sweeps, and in it every species of literature is represented. We should continue to give our love and by that retain a measure of influence in their lives, Jewishly and otherwise.

We can read therein what sounds like the hygienic orders of a general to his soldiers on the march, or like the rules of the board of health to preserve a city from pestilence.

Ezra emphasizes a state of holiness to the people of Israel which otherwise is attributed to the priests cf. It sets forth the acts and views of a people in all the stages of civilization, from wandering nomads to dwellers in cities embellished by architecture and every device of man to set forth riches and splendor.

The watchfulness is as tender as that for an infant.

The record of what they did is history, not law. One prophet after another, and over and over again, illustrates this highest of crimes by infidelity in the marriage relation. The verb appears about forty times, most occurrences with an ethical, moral, or forensic sense.

Psychological action he must have had; what is it?

Talk:Interfaith marriage in Judaism

And who shall stand in his holy place? It may be sensuous, but it is not sensual. And these Levitical directions for cleanliness are connected inseparably with the worship of Yahweh, as though physical purity were to that an essential. The terminology used in Deut 7 points at a relation here. Oxford University Press Furthermore, the intent of the Ezra ban was different in that it was based on the preservation of a holy seed, as opposed to the idea in the Torah that contact with the Canaanites would lead to the Israelites imitating their idolatrous and immoral ways.

Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence. It is but a more particular elaboration of what is boldly brought to notice in the quotations above.

We have discussed how intermarriage has changed in the past, particularly when considering the book of Ezra and how he banned exogamous marriage.

Katholisches Bibelwerk Otherwise its existence in the land would be endangered. It is pleasant to turn from the tense severity of law, since it must deal largely with crime and sin, to the idealism of poetry. All this liberty is swept away in one sentence: Both texts, however, develop them further.

Here is familiar Scripture Psalms This development points at the late Persian Period.


What is the subsequent psychology of a sinner as he disappears from our view? To understand that marriage rules and marital customs are sociologically identity related and politically always an instrument of power is helpful at first hand.

But that depends upon the conditions to which it is applied. How can one be so rigorous and merciless? By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Regardless of attitudes to intermarriage, there is now an increasing effort to reach out to descendants of intermarried parents, each Jewish denomination focusing on those it defines as Jewish; [58] secular and non-denominational Jewish organisations have sprung up to bring the descendants of intermarried parents back into the Jewish fold.

Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. If she were to speak, her words would picture the peace and calm joy of a heavenly realm. Take art--compare a Venus and a Madonna. Under the Mosaic legislation, certain not onerous forms of legal proceeding intervening, the termination of marriage might be said to be optional with the parties.

They were interpretative of something spiritual--were a parable way of illustrating the necessity of purity of heart in order to gain acceptance with God.The following paragraph is a summary of Christine Hayes' article entitled "Intermarriage and Impurity in Ancient Jewish Sources." I would like to add this information in the "In the Bible" section of the page.

Interfaith marriage in Judaism


An integrated digital Bible study library - including complete notes from the NIV Study Bible and the NKJV MacArthur Study Bible - is just a step away! Try it free for 30 days. Try it free for 30 days.

Mixed Marriages as a Challenge to Identity in Second Temple Judaism 1. When analyzing the development of marriage prohibitions in the Hebrew Bible, Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to Talmud, Oxford: Oxford University Press Hebrew-English Text I.

Summary Ezra is informed about the prevalence of Jewish intermarriage. He laments the current state of affairs, confesses the people’s sins to God, and begs Him for mercy. Thissuperb study goes far beyond previous studies in providing a comprehensive look at the interlocking phenomena of temple, sacrifice, and purity in a wide range of literature, from the Hebrew Bible through early Judaic, Christian, and Rabbinic literature."5/5(3).

A study on intermarriage and impurity in the hebrew bible
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