Hebrew Humor and Other Essays

he Hebrew woman almost on the same footing as the low-born slave, and denied her all mental and spiritual enjoyments; that, because polygamy was silently tolerated by the law, a

is without foundation. A consideration of her life during Biblical times will, in fact, show that she enjoyed more freedom than other Orien

(???), "man," the Greeks had separate words for man and wife, namely, ?ν?ρ, γυν?, suggesting, perhaps, the inferior rank of the weaker sex among them. Again, while the Greeks called their first woman Pandora as the bringer of all evil to man, the first woman of the Bible, Eve, is introduced to us as a part of her husband's being, and as having been created to be "a helpmeet for him" (??? ?????) (Gen. ii. 18). Except Eve, who seems to have lived with her family in the open air, the women belonging to that period dwelt in tents. Such a tent was called in Hebrew ohel (???), and sometimes ba?t (???)[37-1], and consisted of a walled-in enclosure covered with cu

gum cantu s

x percurrit

n. xviii. 5). Sometimes a nurse was kept for the younger children of the family, and was held in great estimation by her employers (ibid. xxxv. 8). T

eceded marriage, as in the cases of Jacob and Samson; but the mediation of a third party was usual in marriage negotiations (Gen. xxiv. 4). When the parents approved of the bridegroom's proposals, the bride was sometimes asked for her consent; but when she was of a higher rank than the bridegroom, the father offered her hand to him as a mark of special favour. Thus Jethro did to Moses, Caleb to Othniel, and Saul to David. The wedding itself had no definite ceremonies connected with it. At the wedding of Rebekah and of Ruth only a blessing was pro

ogamy was the only legitimate practice. In Gen. ii. 24 it is said, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto hi

s, which were then made of a mixture of copper and tin. These mirrors they gave freely for the fabrication of the laver of the Tabernacle (Exod. xxxviii. 8). At that time they appear also to have acquired some proficiency in singing, dancing, and playing on musical instruments; for on the shore of the Red Sea we find them singing an ode together with Miriam. Later on, they shared with the men the privilege of being summoned to hear the reading of the l

characterized the first period gave place in course of time to luxurious living-the result of residing in large towns and in permanent dwelling-houses, and of closer social intercourse with men of their own and foreign nations. The females of the poorer and middle

e not allowed to see any one but their nearest relations (cp. Wieland, Attisches Museum, II, 131), the latter moved about freely, and sometimes took an active part in public life. As instances of this may be mentioned Jephthah's daughter, Deborah, Jezebel, Athalia, Huldah, Esther, and Noadiah. Deborah and Hannah, as composers of excellent odes, have the honour of being the first

to the description of the dresses and trinkets worn by the Hebrew women of his time; and even as far back as the days of King Saul, women wore rich dresses of scarlet and gold. David, when bewailing Saul's death, says: "Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet with other delights, who put ornaments of gold upon your dresses" (2 Sam. i. 24). This extravagance in women's attire continued to the time of Christ; and according to Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus), a lady could then get in Jerusalem "from a false tooth to an Arabian veil, a Persian shawl, or an Indian dress." The Jewish women, like the Egyptian, the Greek, and the Roman, used precious ointments and perfumes for t

prove the high estimation in which the Hebrew women were held by their husbands. They joined the latter at meals (

me of Luther, who in his Table Talk quotes, and as it seems approvingly, the old Latin proverb: Tria mala pessima: ignis, aqua, femina. And finally, the liberty granted by the Mosaic law to the Hebrew women was never condemned by contemporary poets or prophets, while modern writers and philosophe

the Hebrew woman was held is shown throughout the Bible, as the following few quotations from it will prove:-"Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord" (Prov. xviii. 22). "A gracious woman retaineth

tno

rm ba?t has the same si

Hebrew term means