belonged to the wife, the husband being obliged to add to it one-half more, if it

consisted of money or money's value; and if of jewellery, etc., to assign to her four-fifths

of its valu e. In case of separation (not divorce) he was bound to allow her a proper

aliment, and to re -admit her to his table and house on the Sabbath-eve. A wife was

entitled to one-tenth of her dowry for pin -money. If a father gave away his daughter

without any distinct statement about her dowry, he was bound to allow her at least fifty

sus; and if it had been expressly stipulated that she was to have no dowry at all, it was

delicately enjoined that the bridegroom should, before marriage, give her sufficient for

the necessary outfit. An orphan was to receive a dowry of at least fifty sus from the

parochial authorities. A husband could not oblige his wife to leave the Holy Land nor

the city of Jerusalem, nor yet to change a town for a country residence, or vice versa,

nor a good for a bad house. These are only a few of the provisions which show how

carefully the law protected the interests of women. To enter into farther details would

lead beyond our present object. All this was substantially settled at the betrothal,

which, in Judaea at least, seems to have been celebrated by a feast. Only a bona fide

breach of these arrangements, or wilful fraud, was deemed valid ground for dissolving

the bond once formed. Otherwise, as already noted, a regular divorce was necessary.

According to Rabbinical law certain formalities were requisite to make a betrothal legally

valid. These consisted either in handing to a woman, directly or through messengers, a

piece of money, however small, or else a letter,44 provided it were in each case expressly

stated before witnesses, that the man thereby intended to espouse the woman as his

The marriage followed after a longer or shorter interval, the limits of which, however,

were fixed by law. The ceremony itself consisted in leading the bride into the house of

the bridegroom, with certain formalities, mostly dating from very ancient times. Marriage

with a maiden was commonly celebrated on a Wednesday afternoon, which allowed the

first days of the week for preparation, and enabled the husband, if he had a charge to

prefer against the previous chastity of his bride, to make immediate complaint before the

local Sanhedrim, which sat every Thursday. On the other hand, the marriage of a widow

was celebrated on Thursday afternoon, which left three days of the week for "rejoicing

with her." This circumstance enables us, with some certainty, to arrange the date of the

events which preceded the marriage in Cana. Inferring from the accompanying festivities

that it was the marriage of a maiden, and t herefore took place on a Wednesday, we have

the following succession of events:--On Thursday (beginning as every Jewish day with

the previous evenint), testimony of the Baptist to the Sanhedrim-deputation from

Jerusalem. On Friday (John 1:29), "John seeth Jesus coming unto him," and significantly

preacheth the first sermon about "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the

world." On Saturday (v 35), John's second sermon on the same text; the consequent

conversion of St. John and St. Andrew, and the calling of St. Peter. On Sunday (v 43),

our Lord Himself preacheth His first Messianic sermon, and calls Philip and Nathanael.

On "the third day" after it, that is, on Wednesday, was the marriage in Cana of Galilee.

The significance of these dates, when compared with those in the week of our Lord's

Passion, will be sufficiently evident.

But this is not all that may be learned from the account of the marriage in Cana. Of

course, there was a "marriage-feast," as on all these occasions. For this reason,

marriages were not celebrated either on the Sabbath, or on the day before or after it, lest

the Sabbath-rest should be endangered. Nor was it lawful to wed on any of the three

annual festivals, in order, as the Rabbis put it, "not to mingle one joy (that of the

marriage) with another (that of the festival)." As it was deemed a religious duty to give

pleasure to the newly -married couple, the merriment at times became greater than the

more strict Rabbis approved. Accordingly, it is said of one, that to produce gravity he

broke a vase worth about 25 pounds; of another, that at his son's wedding he broke a

costly glass; and of a third, that being asked to sin, he exclaimed, Woe to us, for we

must all die! For, as it is added (Ber. 31 a): "It is forbidden to man, that his mouth be

filled with laughter in this world (dispensation), as it is written, 'Then our mouth was