more it might be),23 and to increase her own dowry (which, in the case of a poor orphan,
the authorities supplied) by at least one half, and that he also undertook to lay it out for
her to the best advantage, all his own possessions being guarantee for it.24 Then, after the
prescribed washing of hands and benediction, the marriage -supper began, the cup being
filled, and the solemn prayer of bridal benediction spoken over it. And so the feast lasted,
it might be more than one day, while each sought to contribute, sometimes coarsely,25
sometimes wisely, to the general enjoyment,26 till at last 'the friends of the bridegroom'
led the bridal pair to the Cheder and the Chuppah, or the bridal chamber and bed. Here it
ought to be specially noticed, as a striking evidence that the writer of the fourth Gospel
was not only a Hebrew, but intimately acquainted with the varying customs prevailing in
Galilee and in Judæa, that at the marriage of Cana no 'friend of the bridegroom,' or
'groomsman' (Shoshebheyna ), is mentioned, while he is referred to in St. John iii. 29,
where the words are spoken outside the boundaries of Galilee. For among the simpler and
purer Galileans the practice of having 'friends of the bridegroom,' which must so often
have led to gross impropriety,27 did not obtain,28 though all the invited guests bore the
general name of 'children of the bridechamber' (bené Chuppah).29
18. Jer. Yeb. Md.
19. Some of these joyous demonstrations, such as the wearing of crowns, and even the
bridal music, were for a time prohibited after the destruction of Jerusalem, in token of
national mourning (Sot. ix. 14). On these crowns comp. Wagenseil, Sota, pp. 965-967.
20. Comp. Tob. vii. 14.
21. I quote the very words of the formula, which, it will be noticed, closely agree with
those in our o wn Marriage Service.
22. If the Zuz be reckoned at 7d., about 5l. 16s . 8d.
23. This, of course, represents only the minimum. In the case of a priest's daughter the
ordinary legal minimum was doubled.
24. The Talmud (Tos. Kethub.) here puts the not inapt question, 'How if the bridegroom
has no goods and chattels?' but ultimately comforts itself with the thought that every man
has some property, if it were only the six feet of ground in which he is to be buried.
25. Not a few such instances of riotous merriment, and even dubious jokes, on the part of
the greatest Rabbis are mentioned, to check which some were wont to adopt the curious
device of breaking valuable vases, &c.
26. Comp. Ber. 6 b.
27. Comp. Kethub. 12 a; Jer. Kethub, i. p. 25 a.
28. This, and the other great differences in favour of morality and decency which
distinguished the customs of Galilee from those of the rest of Palestine, are enumerated in
Jer. Kethub. i. 1, p. 25 a, about the middle.
29. Comp. St. Matt. ix. 15.