Some further details, gathered almost at random, will give glimpses of Jewish home life and of current views. It was by a not uncommon, though irreverent, mode of witticism, that two forms of the same verb, sounding almost alike, were made to express opposite experiences of marriage. It was common to ask a newly-married husband: “Maza or Moze?”—“findeth” or “found”; the first expression occurring in Proverbs 18:22, the second in Ecclesiastes 7:26. A different sentiment is the following from the Talmud (Yeb. 62 b; Sanh. 76 b), the similarity of which to Ephesians 5:28 will be immediately recognised: “He that loveth his wife as his own body, honoureth her more than his own body, brings up his children in the right way, and leads them in it to full age—him the Scripture saith: ‘Thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace’ (Job 5:24).”
Of all qualities those most desired in woman were meekness, modesty, and shamefacedness. Indeed, brawling, gossip in the streets, and immodest behaviour in public were sufficient grounds for divorce. Of course, Jewish women would never have attempted “teaching” in the synagogue, where they occupied a place separate from the men— Rabbinical study, however valued for the male sex, was disapproved of in the case of women. Yet this direction of St. Paul (1 Timothy 2:12): “I suffer not a woman to usurp authority over the man” findeth some kind of parallel in the Rabbinical saying: “Whoever allows himself to be ruled by his wife, shall call out, and no one will make answer to him.”
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Author: Alfred Edersheim
Keywords: Finding a wife, Seeking a wife, Godly wife
Bible reference(s): Genesis 2:22, Proverbs 18:22, Proverbs 19:14, Ecclesiastes 7:26, 1 Corinthians 7:27, 1 Timothy 2:9
Source: Sketches of Jewish Social Life, 1876.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.