Nehemiah versus Ruth
Date
450BCE
c. 450 BCEapproximate date
Nehemiah worried about Judahite marriages to non-Israelite women, but other parts of the Bible are less hostile to mixed unions.
Sourced narrative
Each block is a verifiable statement. The number opens the cited page; amber or coral blocks flag tradition or contested interpretation.
4 statements
01Nehemiah's reaction
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.
02Other voices
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.
Context
Historians often tie this turn to Ezra the scribe, a priest and learned leader of the Judahite community under Persian rule, who may have been active around 450 BCE.
§ 01Geography
Where it happened
§ 03Historiography
What scholars debate
Scholarly debate · 01
What does the Bible say about marrying foreigners?
3 positions · no single answer · take a seat →
- A
Strong opposition (Nehemiah)
Nehemiah and the laws against marriage with Canaanites
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.
- B
No blanket ban
Other texts of the Hebrew Bible
The ban targets non-Israelites living in Canaan; there is no general veto on marrying foreigners, and Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses marry Arameans, Egyptians and Midianites.
- C
Mixed marriage as blessing
Ruth and Esther
In Ruth, David descends from the marriage of the Israelite Boaz and the Moabite Ruth; the author of Esther likewise is not troubled by Esther's marriage to Ahasuerus.
§ 04Network
Connections
§ 05Bibliography
Further reading
Adele Berlin et al., The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford, England, and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Translation of the Bible with notes and essays on its significance for Jews · recommended in Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 60
§ 06Apparatus
Sources on this page
- 01Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 38inspect
- 02Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 38inspect
- 03Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 38inspect
- 04Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman, p. 38inspect
- Documented evidenceAttested by contemporary evidence: texts, inscriptions, coins, papyri or archaeology.
- Scholarly reconstructionHistorians' inference from indirect evidence.
- Tradition or narrativeA literary, traditional or religious account; significant in itself, but not independently verified.
- Contested interpretationScholars explicitly disagree; see the positions in the debate.
- Illustrative reconstructionA hypothesis or visual scheme to guide reading; not a historical claim.