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Re-Examining Israelite Patriarchy through Marriage Laws of Deuteronomy

The book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible contains an extensive list of laws, from cultic regulations tolaws addressing everyday affairs. As a legal collection, it can be observed as a symbol of practices and valuesof the ancient Israelites (the people by and for whom the Hebrew Bible was formed). Many prescriptionsin the Bible are perplexing and controversial according to our modern Western standards, especially thoseregarding gender equality in marital provisions. This essay examines the marriage laws of Deuteronomywithin its specific geographical, cultural, and historical context (the ancient Near East) including comparisonsto various law codes of nearby regional and other Biblical traditions, to argue that perspectives found inDeuteronomy are relatively progressive in protecting women’s rights. I challenge the common and oftenunquestioned assumption amongst scholars, religious followers and general readers that the Bible is sexistand misogynistic. More broadly, I advocate for the need to assess historical and religious works on gender intheir appropriate context, in order to obtain a more complex and earnest understanding of ancient traditions.1