Torah Teaches About Marriage & Family

God gives the following commands and instructions to the seed of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob who are covenanted with Him to be His people, while they are in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. And these people have vowed to obey all that He says to do.

Marriage Laws

• In Exodus 20:17 God commands those in covenant with him, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.
• In Exodus 21:2-11 God lays judgement before them concerning the acquisition of Hebrew servants, their service and what is to come of them. He also states what is to happen if/when the manservant and/or maidservant is (or gets) married.
• Exodus 22:16 says if a man entice[s] a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
• Exodus 34:14-16 forbids the children of Isreal from making a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which they were going,stating concerns that they might take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. Deuteronomy 7:1-4 reiterates this point.
• Deuteronomy 20:1-7 says for men who are drawing near to battle who betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her…let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
• Deuteronomy 21:10-14 gives instruction concerning the marrying of female captives.
• Deuteronomy 24:5 saysWhen a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.

Adultery

• In Exodus 20:14 God commands, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
• Leviticus 20:10 states the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife…the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
• Numbers 5:11-31 provides a test for adultery.
• Deuteronomy 22:13-21 speaks of tokens of virginity.
• Deuteronomy 22:22 says, If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
  • While the act of laying with a woman in this situation is what is being condemned, the core issue is that she belongs to another man.
• Deuteronomy 22:23-27 explains, If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her…and lie with her, then a death by stoning is required.
  • Again, the core issue, which makes the punishment deserving of death is that the damsel/virgin belongs to another man. This is made evident by the next instruction:
    Verses 28-29 say, ²⁸ If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; ²⁹ Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife…

Divorce

Virgin Birth advocates claim the reference in Matthew 1:19 to Joseph, being a just man, and not willing to make her [Mary] a public example, was minded to put her away privily is referring to divorce, and the matter of divorce is covered in Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

However, the text in Matthew never says “divorce”, and I think that is notable. (I’ll address Matthew 1:19 in part six of this series.)

Children

• Exodus 34:18-20 says in conjunction with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, thatall that openeth the matrix is mine and that all the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem.
• Numbers 3:40-42 speaks more on the redemption of the firstborn, saying to Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
• Leviticus 12:1-8 gives instruction concerning the circumcision of male children in the eighth day of their birth and the purification of the mother after childbirth.
• Deuteronomy 21:15-17 gives instruction concerning inheritance rights of the firstborn.
• Deuteronomy 25:5-10 gives instruction concerning how to handle the situation when a married man among brothers, dies childless. [T]he wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. ⁶ And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
  • This was the circumstance of Judah’s daughter-in-law in Genesis 38. If you are unfamiliar with that story, I highly recommend reading it.
  • I believe this torah instruction is what the words “(as was supposed)” used in Luke 3:23 was referring to when that text reads, And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli… (I’ll address Luke 3:23 in part five of this series.)

Genealogies

There are many genealogies given throughout the Old Testament, and I’ve found one thing consistent in all of them. They are always reckoned through the fathers.

While mothers may be identified through which a child is born, the succession of generations is always through the father.

That is because, I believe, it is the man who is always the progenitor since he is the sower of seed.