d must induce him to give her by gifts. The transfer
was made publicly that it might be known that she was the wife of such
an one. The old Hebrew marriage seems to have consisted in this form of
giving a daughter, in all its simplicity. We find a taboo on the union
of persons related by consanguinity or affinity. Later there was a taboo
on exogamic marriage. In the prophets there are metaphors and
symbolical acts relating to marriage, which show a development of the
mores in regard to it. The formulas which are attached to the
prohibitions in Levit. xviii are in the form of explanations of the
prohibitions or reasons for them, but they furnish no real explanations.
Their sense is simply: For such is the usage in Israel, or in the Jahveh
religion. That was the only and sufficient reason for any prescription.
"After the consent of the parents of the bride had been obtained, which
was probably attended by a family feast, the bridegroom led the bride to
his dwelling and the wedding was at an end. No mention is made anywhere
of any function of a priest in connection with it. It is not until after
the Babylonian exile, after the Jews had become more fully acquainted
with the mores and usages of other civilized peoples of that age, that
weddings amongst them were made more solemn and ceremonial. After a
betrothal a full year (if the bride was a widow, one month) was allowed
the pair, after the captivity, to prepare their outfit, in imitation of
the Persian custom (Esther ii. 12)." "At the end of the delay, the bride
was led or carried to the house of the groom, in a procession, with
dancing and noisy rejoicing, as is now the custom in Arabia and Persia.
Ten guests must be present in the groom's house, as witnesses, where
prayer formulas were recited and a feast was enjoyed." There were also
prayers by all present at a betrothal "in order to give the affair a
religious color." The pair retired then to a room where they first made
each other's acquaintance. Then two bridesmen led them to the nuptial
chamber where they watched over them until after the first conjugal
union. This last usage was not universal, and after some experience of
its ambiguous character it was abolished. The purpose was that there
might be witnesses to the consummation of the marriage, not merely to
the wedding ceremony. The whole proceeding was a domestic and family
affair, in which no priest or other outsider had any part, except as
witness, and there was