III. Marriage Ceremonies. — 1. In the pre-Mosaic pe- riod, when the proposals were accepted, and the mar- riage-price ("lira), as well as the sundry other gifts ("n'S), were duly distributed, the bridegroom driri) could at once remove the bride (n^iS) from her father's house to his own liouse, and this removal of the maiden, under the benedictions of her family, but without any definite religious ceremony whatever, and cohabitation, consummated and expressed mai-riage (ri'i'X Hp?). Thus we are told that Isaac, when meeting Eleazar and Ecbckah in the field, as soon as he was informed by the former of what had transpired, took Kebekah to the tent of his departed mother, and this without further cere- mony constituted the marriage, and she thereby became his wife (!T>;Nb 1^ inni, Gen. xxiv, 63-G7). Under more ordinary circumstances, however, when the bride had not at once to quit her parental roof under the pro- tection of a friend, as in the case just mentioned, but where the marriage took place in the house of the bride's parents, i,t was celebrated by a feast, to which all the friends and neighbors were invited, and which lasted seven days (Gen. xxix, 22, i?). On the day of the mar- riage, the bride was conducted to her future husband veiled, or, more properly, in an outdoor wrapper or shawl (r)"^":^), which nearly enveloped her whole form, so that it was impossible to recognise the person, thus account- ing for tlie deception practiced on Jacob (Gen, xxiv, 65 ; xxix, 23) and on Judah (Gen, xxxviii, 14).
2, With regard to age, no restriction is pronounced in the Bible. Earl}' marriage is spoken of with approval in several passages (Prov. ii, 17 ; v, 18 ; Isa. Ixii, 5), and in reducing this general statement to the more definite one of years, we must take into accomit the very early age at which persons arrive at puberty in Oriental coun- tries. In modern Egypt marriage takes place in gen- eral before the bride has attained the age of sixteen, frequently when she is twelve or thirteen, and occasion- ally when she is only ten (Lane, i, 208). The Mosaic law prescribes no civil or religious forms for the cele- bration of marriage. The contract or promise made at the payment of the marriage-price, or when the service which was required in its stead was rendered, constitu- ted the solemn bond which henceforth united the es- poused parties, as is evident from the fact pointed out in the preceding sections, that a betrothed maiden was both called a viarried woman, and was legally treated
as such. There can, however, be no doubt that the an- cient custom of celebrating the consummation of the marriage by a feast, which lasted seven days (Gen, xxix. 22, 27), must have become pretty general by this time. Thus we are told that when Samson went to Timnath to take his wife, he made there a feast, which continued for seven days, according to the usage of young men on such occasions (D'^lin jil Ti;"i 'p "'Z), that the parents of the bride invited thirty j'oung men {vioi rob vv^i<pa,- voQ, Matt, ix, 15) to honor his nuptials, and that to re- lieve their entertainment, Samson, in harmony with the prevailing custom among the nations of antiquity, pro- posed enigmas (Judg. xiv, 10-18). We afterwards find that the bridal pair were adorned with nuptial crowns (Cant, iii, 11; Isa. Ixi, 10) made of various materials — gold, silver, myrtle, or olive — varying in costliness according to the circumstances of the parties (Mish- na, Sota, ix, 1-i; Gemnra, 49 a and b; Selden, Ux. Ebr. ii, 15), and that the bride especially wore gorgeous ap- parel, and a pecidiar girdle (Psa. xlv, 13, 14 ; Isa. xlix, 18; Jer. ii, 12), whence in fact she derived her name Kallah (HPD), which signifies the ornamented, the adorned. Thus attired, the bridegroom and bride were led in joyous procession through the streets, accompa- nied by bands of singers and musicians (Jer. vii, 34; XXV, 10; xxxiii, 11), and saluted by the greetings of the maidens of the place, who manifested the liveliest interest in the nuptial train (Cant, iii, 11), to the house of the bridegroom or that of his father. Here ths feast was prepared, to which all the friends and the neighbors were invited, and at which most probably that sacred covenant was concluded which came into vogue during the post-Mosaic period (Prov. ii, 17; Ezek. xvi, 8; Mai. ii, 14), The bride, thickly veiled, was then conducted to the ("I'lH) bridal chamber (Gen. xxix, 23 ; Judg. XV, 11 ; Joel ii, 6), where a nuptial coucli (nsn) was prepared (Psa. xix, 5 ; Joel ii, IG) in such a nanner as to afford facility for ascertaining the following morn- ing whether she had preserved her maiden purity ; for in the absence of the signa rirginitatis she was stoned to death before her father's house (Deut. xxii, 13-21).
3. In the period after the exile the proper age for marriage is fixed in the Mishna at eighteen {Ahoth, v, 31), and though, for the sake of preserving morality, puberty was regarded as the desirable age, yet men gen- erally married when they were seventeen {Jehamoth, 62; Kiddushin, 29). The Talmudists forbade marriage in the case of a man under thirteen years and a day, and in the case of a woman under twelve years and a day (Buxtorf, Synagog. cap. 7, p. 143). The day originally fixed for marriage was Wechiesday for maidens and Fri- daj' for widows (jVIishna, Kethuboth, i, 1), But the Tal- mud already partially discarded this arrangement (Ge- mara, ibid.o a), and in the Middle Ages it became quite obsolete (^Eben Ha-Ezar, Ixv). The primitive practice of the sages, however, has been resumed among the or- thodox Jews in Russia, Poland, etc. The wedding-feast was celebrated in the house of the bridegroom (Kethu- both, 8 a, 10 a), and in the evening, for the bridal pair fasted all day, since on it, as on the day of atonement, they confessed their sins, and their transgressions were forgiven. On the day of the wedding, the bride, with her hair flowing, and a myrtle wreath on her head (if she was a maiden, Mishna, Kethuboth, ii, 1), was con- ducted, with music, singing, and dancing, to the house of the bridegroom by her relations and friends, who were adorned with chaplets of myrtle, and carried palm branches in their hands {Kethuboth, 16, 17 ; Sabbath, 110 a ; Sota, 49 b). The streets through which the nuptial procession passed were lined with the daughters of Is- rael, who greeted the joyous train, and scattered before them cakes and roasted ears of wheat, while fountains freely poured forth wine {Kethuboth, \b b; Berachoth, 50 b). Having reached the house, the bridegroom, ac- companied by the groomsmen, met the bride, took her by the hand, and led her to the threshold. The Kethu-