St. Paul’s warning (2 Corinthians 6:14) against being “unequally yoked together,” which is an allegorical application of Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:10, finds to some extent a counterpart in mystical Rabbinical writings, where the last-mentioned passages is expressly applied to spiritually unequal marriages. The admonition of 1 Corinthians 7:39 to marry “only in the Lord,” recalls many similar Rabbinical warnings, from which we select the most striking. Men, we are told (Yalkut on Deu. 21:15), are wont to marry for one of four reasons—passion, wealth, honour, or the glory of God. As for the first-named class of marriages, their issue must be expected to be “stubborn and rebellious” sons, as we may gather from the section referring to such following upon that in Deuteronomy 21:11.
In regard to marriages for wealth, we are to learn a lesson from the sons of Eli, who sought to enrich themselves in such manner, but of whose posterity it was said (1 Samuel 2:36) that they should “crouch for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread.” Of marriages for the sake of connection, honour, and influence, King Jehoram offered a warning, who became King Ahab’s son-in-law, because that monarch had seventy sons, whereas upon his death his widow Athaliah “arose and destroyed all the seed royal” (2 Kings 11:1). But far otherwise is it in case of marriage “in the name of heaven.” The issue of such will be children who “preserve Israel.” In fact, the Rabbinical references to marrying “in the name of heaven,” or “for the name of God,”—God and for God—so frequent and so emphatic, that the expressions used by St. Paul must have come familiarly to him.
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Author: Alfred Edersheim
Keywords: Marriage in the Lord, Marrying in the Lord, Marrying an unbeliever, Mixed marriage, Unequally yoked
Bible reference(s): Exodus 34:16, Leviticus 19:19, Deuteronomy 7:3, Deuteronomy 22:10, Ezra 9:2, Ezra 9:11-12, Nehemiah 13:23, 1 Corinthians 7:39, 1 Corinthians 7:14, 2 Cor 6:14, James 4:4
Source: Sketches of Jewish Social Life, 1876.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.