Topical Bible: The Jews: Prohibited From: Marry With Others

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The prohibition against intermarriage with other nations is a significant theme in the Hebrew Scriptures, reflecting the desire to maintain the religious and cultural purity of the Israelite people. This prohibition is rooted in the covenantal relationship between God and Israel, emphasizing the need for the Israelites to remain distinct and devoted to the worship of Yahweh alone.

Biblical Foundation

The primary scriptural basis for this prohibition is found in the Torah, where God explicitly commands the Israelites not to intermarry with the surrounding nations. In Deuteronomy 7:3-4 , the Lord instructs, "Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you."

This command is reiterated in Exodus 34:15-16 , where God warns against making covenants with the inhabitants of the land, "Otherwise, when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same."

Purpose of the Prohibition

The prohibition against intermarriage served several purposes. Primarily, it was intended to prevent the Israelites from being led astray into idolatry and the worship of foreign gods. The surrounding nations practiced various forms of pagan worship, which often included rituals and customs that were abhorrent to the God of Israel. By forbidding intermarriage, God sought to protect His people from these influences and ensure their exclusive devotion to Him.

Additionally, the prohibition was a means of preserving the unique identity and holiness of the Israelite nation. As God's chosen people, the Israelites were called to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). Intermarriage with other nations threatened to dilute this distinctiveness and compromise their calling.

Historical Context and Enforcement

Throughout Israel's history, the issue of intermarriage recurred as a challenge to the nation's faithfulness to God. In the post-exilic period, leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah took decisive action to address the problem. Ezra 9:1-2 records the concern over intermarriage: "The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the peoples of the lands with their abominations... Indeed, the leaders and officials have been foremost in this unfaithfulness."

Nehemiah also confronted the issue, as seen in Nehemiah 13:23-27 , where he rebukes those who had married foreign women, reminding them of Solomon's downfall due to similar actions: "Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations, there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women."

Theological Implications

The prohibition against intermarriage underscores the importance of faithfulness to God's covenant and the dangers of syncretism. It highlights the need for God's people to remain separate from practices and beliefs that are contrary to His will. This theme of separation and holiness is echoed throughout the Scriptures, emphasizing the call for believers to be in the world but not of it.

While the New Testament does not impose the same ethnic restrictions, the principle of spiritual compatibility remains. Believers are encouraged to marry "only in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 7:39), ensuring that their union is grounded in shared faith and commitment to Christ.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Deuteronomy 7:3
Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to your son.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Joshua 23:12
Else if you do in any wise go back, and join to the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you:
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Book 20 Footnotes
... Suetonius in Claudius, sect.28, assures us] did once marry such a ... according to them,
some things were permitted the Jews, and others prohibited; which last ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/book 20 footnotes.htm

Whether There was any Reasonable Cause for the Ceremonial ...
... Hence He prohibited them to "boil a kid in the ... led by avarice into idolatry to which
the Jews were inclined ... They were also forbidden to marry a "harlot" or "one ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether there was any reasonable.htm

The Captions of the Arabic Canons Attributed to the Council of ...
... to the clergy, also conversation and fellowship with Jews. ... cleric, but if a layman
shall be prohibited from entering ... the case may be, if he marry another woman ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/the captions of the arabic.htm

On the Journey to Jerusalem - Departure from Ephraim by Way of ...
... on the unsavoury question of Divorce' among the Jews, [4902] to ... whose divorce had
just before been prohibited, and not ... 4931] it is not good to marry,' could not ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xxii on the journey.htm

Faustus Fails to Understand Why He Should be Required Either to ...
... if he dies without children, should marry the surviving ... a woman, His being circumcised
like the Jews, His offering ... of all the kinds of food prohibited in the ...
/.../faustus fails to understand why.htm

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and ...
... 5196] while one Rabbi absolutely prohibited it, although ... the opinion that the command
to marry a brother's ... there was lively intercourse between Jews and Jewish ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter iv the third day.htm

Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
... mind that the apostle there argues with Jews, and that ... 10; Ezekiel 16:12), which
was also prohibited after the ... that a divorced woman might not marry her seducer ...
/.../edersheim/sketches of jewish social life/chapter 9 mothers daughters and.htm

The Clean and the Unclean
... nation would be, not only, as it was, prohibited by the ... as ever meats and drinks
could make the Jews a separate ... propose to lift the world up and marry it with ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 9 1863/the clean and the unclean.htm

Book ii.
... none but women, during their courses, were prohibited to pass ... mankind; for no other
people but the Jews have avoided ... It commands us also, when we marry, not to ...
//christianbookshelf.org/josephus/against apion/book ii.htm

Prolegomena.
... have been of necessity in sacred orders, and might marry and have ... seem hard upon
Jewish owners, and though Jews were legally prohibited from proselytising ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leo/writings of leo the great/prolegomena.htm