How does one become betrothed in Biblical Times?  If you do not decide
to get married, how do you break a betrothal?

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Request for Question Clarification by answerfinder-ga on 29 Oct 2002 09:24 PST

When you say biblical times can you clarify which dates as the bible
(Old and New Testaments) cover many centuries. It also covers several
cultures and societies. Do you mean the Jewish culture?
answerfinder-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 29 Oct 2002 09:25 PST

"Biblical times" spanned a number of centuries. Can you be more
specific about what era you are inquiring about? Also, marriage was/is
considered a religious event in many cultures and the laws pertaining
to marriage differ according to one's beliefs. Is it possible to
narrow the search to one particilar belief or culture?

Some examples of betrothals in the Bible are found in Deut. 20:7, Jer.
2:2, and Luke 1:27.

In Biblical times, fathers determined who their sons and daughters
married. Sometimes the bride or groom's preferences were taken into
consideration, but often they were not.

When two fathers agreed to have their children wed, a betrothal
followed. This included not just a public ceremony, but a legal
contract confirmed by witnesses. Oaths were made. Sometimes gifts were
given to the bride and the bride's parents. A feast followed.

Betrothals could not be broken except with severe consequences. A
bride or groom's father would need an excellent reason to back out of
the betrothal, and often monetary fines followed the break up. For a
bride-to-be's betrothed to back out of their agreement was humiliating
and often insinuated something negative about the girl's virtue.

Like marriage, Hebrew betrothals could only be broken if the man gave
the woman a certificate of divorce.

Betrothals often lasted a year or longer before they culminated in
marriage; during this time, the couple could be called husband and
wife, although they could not sleep together or have sex.

Much of this information comes from  "The Illustrated Dictionary of
the bible" (Herbert Lockyer, Sr., Editor, Nelson Reference, 1997).
This book is available in most bookstores, but if you wish to see
Amazon.com's listing for it, go here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785212302/qid=1035991510/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-8991896-2384805?v=glance

For a good article on Hebrew betrothal and marriage, try this site:
http://www.haydid.org/pot2.htm

Keywords Used:
betrothal Biblical
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=betrothal+Biblical

Hope this helps!
kriswrite

There also were generally significant differences in marriage
practices between the upper classes and the lower classes.

Generally speaking, one became betrothed when one's father chose a
spouse for you. Although I'm sure many parents asked their children's
opinions on the choice of mate, it was considered perfectly acceptable
to make the decision without the groom-to-be or bride-to-be's consent.

Betrothal was a legally binding contract signed with witnesses (unlike
an engagement); a man could not break a betrothal off without very
serious legal consequences, although if he could prove that his
bride-to-be was unfaithful, he'd have better luck. A bride-to-be
usually had no way to break off a betrothal, although her father might
attempt to do so if the groom-to-be had committed some serious crime
or broke a religious law.

Yes, during the Old Testament and the Jewish people.