§ Debates · Ch. 2 · Becoming the People of the Book
What does the Bible say about marrying foreigners?
3 positions · no single answer
Position A · held by Nehemiah and the laws against marriage with Canaanites
Strong opposition (Nehemiah)
Nehemiah curses and beats Judahites married to women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab; the biblical ban seems to have arisen from fear that such marriages lead to worship of Canaanite gods, but Nehemiah's worry is that the children lose the language of Judah.
Rests on: p. 38
Reads the same page as , : the same source, different readings.
Where the debate comes up
Statements tied to the debate
- Nehemiah, who played an important role in rebuilding Jerusalem, seems to have been troubled by marriages between Israelites and non-Israelite women, and cursed and beat Judahites married to women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. The ban seems to have arisen from fear that such marriages would lead to worship of Canaanite gods, but Nehemiah's worry was different: that the children were losing the ability to speak the language of Judah.
- Other parts of the Hebrew Bible are less plainly opposed. The ban is aimed at non-Israelites living within Canaan; there is no general ban on marrying foreigners, and Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses marry Arameans, Egyptians, Midianites and Ethiopians, women who were not Canaanites.
- The Bible even portrays mixed marriages in a positive light. The most famous case is Ruth, a book many scholars think was written in the age of Ezra and Nehemiah, which holds that David himself descended from the marriage of the Israelite Boaz and the Moabite Ruth. Esther's marriage to Ahasuerus likewise does not trouble the author of Esther.