This Daughter post is part of a collection that I never thought I would make; God has a sense of humor and a lot of patience. I did not realize how long this one has been in my thinking and writing. “Bride price” is a term I found in Hebrew/Jewish marriage customs and it made sense and I started using it. Many English translations use the term dowry. I am not sure what the term meant in 1599 but by 1828 Webster shows the overlapping thinking about dowry. For my part I never could figure out why some used the term dowry for when the bride’s family paid for a young woman to be married and when a groom paid for the privilege to marry a woman.
The 1599 Geneva Bible and then the 1611 KJV uses the term dowry four times; I will point out who is paying who.
- Genesis 30:20 – Leah is saying that Father God has given HER a present that she named Zebulun. Remember that Jacob worked for years (he paid) to marry Rachel. Genesis 31:14-16 adds to that thought when Leah and Rachel agree on something.
- Genesis 34 – This is Hamor, father of Shechem, bargaining the price for Dinah. He offers to pay Jacob whatever he wants and give a gift.
- Exodus 22:17 – If a man seduces a virgin, he must pay the ‘bride price’ (NIV) to the father.
- 1 Samuel 18:25 – King Saul is asking David to pay 100 foreskins to marry his daughter.
- Leah uses the word zê-ḇeḏ, which probably means gift. The other references use mō-har.
Why does this matter? Who paid for us to become the Bride of the Lamb? Did Father God pay with the life of Jesus or are we paying God to marry His Son? When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He was going to pay the bride price.
