ped into its shoes. Man now became a private
property-holder: he had an interest in children, whom he could look upon
as legitimate, and whom he made the heirs of his property: hence _he
forced upon woman the command of abstinence from intercourse with other
men_.

At the same time man assumed the right of taking unto himself, beside
his own wife, or several of them, as many concubines as his condition
allowed; and the children of these concubines were likewise treated as
legitimate. On this head we find two valuable illustrations in the
Bible. In I Book of Moses, chapter 16, verses 1 and 2, we read: "Now
Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children: and she had a hand-maid, an
Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now,
the Lord has restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my
maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened
to the voice of Sarai." The second remarkable illustration is found in I
Book of Moses 30, 1 and sequel: "And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob
no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me
children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel;
and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit
of the womb? and she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and
she shall bear upon my knees that I may also have children by her. And
she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her."

Jacob, accordingly, had not only the daughters of Laban, two sisters,
simultaneously for wives, they also helped him to their maids, all of
which, according to the usage of the times, was wholly free from taint
of impropriety. The two principal wives he had bought, as is well known,
by serving Laban seven years for each. The purchase of a wife was at the
time common among the Jews, but, along with the purchase of wives, whom
they were compelled to take from among their own people, they practiced
on an extensive scale the rape of women from among the peoples that they
conquered. The Benjaminites raped the daughters of Silos.[8] In such
wars, it was originally customary that all the men who fell into the
hands of the vanquisher were killed. The captured woman became a slave,
a concubine. Nevertheless, she could be raised to the dignity of a
legitimate wife so soon as she had fulfilled certain conditions of the
Jews: she had to cut her hair and nails; to lay off the dress she was
captur