Biblical Marriage Definitions

I received the following through a list I am on. It was frightening enough on its own, before I realized the most horrific part of this removal of the separation of church and state. That is, how many denominations of Christianity are there? And why? The reason is, even within this one worship, there are vastly differing opinions, and a great many groups of people who staunchly refused to live as some other groups insisted that the Bible clearly states that they must. Do we want America as fractured as Christianity?
The point that many Americans are not Christian at all (What about Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Pagans, Atheists and Agnostics?) is only a start� How horrific can it get to be for Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, etc., should this become a Christian nation?

Just think for a moment about how many things you love and would be denied if the �wrong� Christian managed to secure the presidency. Let�s start with science, particularly evolutionism, since Dubya has installed monuments to creationism on federal land. Dancing is the devil�s gateway drug. Art, even simple sketching, was prohibited by Quakers in New England at one time. Rock and Roll was �the devil�s music�. Sex is for procreation only. That means no �love making�, only baby making. Do we really want some fanatic deciding that we cannot have marital relations unless the intention is children? That means none at all after menopause, while pregnant, or after (what would be deemed sinful in itself, I�m sure) tubal ligation or vasectomy. VERY not cool for me!
These simple things can be lost one at a time if this disturbing movement is not halted. We were intended as a FREE country, where people can choose how or even IF they want to worship Who/What Ever they feel is right for them.

I do not know who penned the original, it was a forwarded forward, so may very well have been sent by supporters of gay marriage and designed to show how extreme it could be taken, rather than the actual demands of religious extremists as it alleges. I also do not know the reason for the random italicizing in the bible bits, they were lifted from www.Bartleby.com, a bible search engine, and in hopes of the most leniency I used King James version.

From Protestants for the Common Good:

Gen 29:17-28
Ok, in Genesis, this is the incestuous story of Jacob serving "Laban, his mother's brother," for seven years each to pay for the purchase of two of his daughters, Jacob's cousins, as his wives. The sentence immediately following those quoted below is about slavery in the family as far as I can tell, so I include the remainder of the verse, although not included in the numbers above.
17 Le'ah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well-favored.
18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
19 And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.
20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
21 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Le'ah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.
24 And Laban gave unto his daughter Le'ah Zilpah his maid for a handmaid.
25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Le'ah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?
26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Le'ah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Certainly worse than being tolerant of someone else being gay and in love (and daring to hope for the same rights and freedoms as any heterosexual couple), if you ask me.

II Sam 3:2-5
This one, I don�t see the point of inclusion (where the point is about marriage), other than the fact that David�s sons all had different mothers, only one of whom is credited as being David�s wife, and another was married to someone else!
2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahin'o-am the Jez'reelitess;
3 and his second, Chil'e-ab, of Ab'igail the wife of Nabal the Car'melite; and the third, Ab'salom the son of Ma'acah the daughter of Tal'mai king of Geshur;
4 and the fourth, Adoni'jah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephati'ah the son of Abi'tal;
5 and the sixth, Ith're-am, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines, in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)
II Sam 5:13
This verse seems pretty cut and dried: David was a horn dog to out-do Don Juan AND Hugh Hefner.
13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

I Kings 11:3
Next, well, King Solomon was out-horn-dogging David! When does one find the time?
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

II Chron 11:21
Next� I was planning on disproving this list, but, my, the bible sure is chock-full of guys hoarding girls. Oh, that�s sexist too, isn�t it?
21 And Rehobo'am loved Ma'achah the daughter of Ab'salom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)
This one� According to the following line, David should have been executed too, for that son by another man�s wife. So, I include the remainder again. Yet again, it actually supports the freaks� claim.
Laws concerning Chastity
13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,
14 and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:
15 then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
16 and the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17 and, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;
19 and they shall amerce him in a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
21 then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die; because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24 then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die:
26 but unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
27 for he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
29 then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. Ex. 22.16, 17
30 A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt. Lev. 18.8 ; 20.11 � Deut. 27.20

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)
Should I even bother with this one, it is, after all, unconstitutional in itself, and would anyone really go for any law stating that changing religions is verboten? If so, we�re already a Nazi-esque regime, unworthy of even these minor efforts. Remember �Freedom of Religion�?

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)
This one, should we bother with? Clearly, the divorce rate of Christians, especially in America, indicates that this is more unwelcome than having a gay couple in the neighborhood, right? Plus, that�s what King James changed it for, right? And after all, since he was obviously a higher authority than God, who are we to disagree? Ok, fine, I�ll do the homework here too.

Deuteronomy 22:19
Never mind copying and pasting on this one, just look at the last paste. For it to make sense and state the whole thing, it takes from 13 to 21. It boils down to, if he wants a divorce, and he took her virginity, no. However, if he wants a divorce and she wasn�t able to prove her virginity, she gets stoned for it. No mention of her feelings or opinions, of course. But I�m sure that American women wouldn�t mind being forced back into biblical roles should the regime/government require it of them, right?

Mark 10:9
Again this is pretty cut and dried, 200th hand from Christ�s own mouth. I guess there�s no refuting it, most Americans are adulterers by biblical definition. Should modern law really reflect this? Are you willing to be associated with so many criminals? How about to become one? This is what a certain big mouthed jackass of a priest used (admonishing children for their parents' divorce), turning my brother against the Bible when we were just kids. May said jackass be blessed with clear sight and a very revealing mirror.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Mt. 5.32 � 1 Cor. 7.10, 11

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe, and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen. 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)
This one too I am tempted to just leave alone, without including bible verses to back it up. I think it�s worth the penalty, whether a mere shoe or a jail term, not to marry and impregnate someone I don�t love.
But then too, maybe that is a good reason TO include it, to point out how much of this actually is supported by even King James� version. To be quite frank, the bible is more concerned with the rules and the man�s fertility than the welfare of the children, or whether or not they ever know love.

Genesis 38:6 I cannot figure out the point of this one, it just seems like it�d be rated �R� at least if published and rated for content today. An ancient soap opera, if I�m not mistaken. I do know that I don�t want my daughters reading it!!!

1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adul'lamite, whose name was Hirah.
2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shu'ah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12 And in process of time the daughter of Shu'ah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adul'lamite.
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
14 And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; because she had covered her face.
16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law:) and she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?
18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adul'lamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the wayside? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
25 When she was brought forth she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.
30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

Deuteronomy 25:5-10
This clearly states �if brethren dwell together�. I would think that in today�s terms, that would mean if one is kind enough to let his brother�s family live with them, and the brother dies, the wife has the right to stay (treating/taking him �in unto her� as a husband) for the rest of her life or he�ll be publicly humiliated. It makes no mention of what happens if the widow does have a child.
5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her.
6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. Mt. 22.24 � Mk. 12.19 � Lk. 20.28
7 And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.
8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
9 then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.
10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. Ruth 4.7, 8

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