Dr. Alice C. Linsley
Most Hebrew women married, but some chose to remain unmarried. Among them were women whose service in the temple involved celibacy, and women who became independently wealthy and started businesses. High-status women were sometimes denied marriage by their fathers or patrons. Hebrew concubines did not have the same status as Hebrew wives.
Fathers who denied marriage opportunities to their noble daughters were wary of fortune seeking men who sought to advance their careers, raise their social status, increase their wealth, or expand their territories through marriage to royal daughters. Such ambitious suitors posed a threat to the kingdom. As with rulers throughout the ages, royal marriages required consideration of the lines of descent, the ancestral marriage and ascendancy pattern, rights of inheritance, political alliances, and avoidance of war and potential bloodshed.
A Roman narrative tells of how the daughter of Numitor Silvius was forced to become a Vestal Virgin after Numitor's younger brother Amulius seized the throne and killed Numitor's son. Amulius then forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin who was sworn to celibacy, thus ensuring that the line of Numitor had no heirs. In Greek accounts, the Delphic oracle warned Aleus of Tegea that if his daughter Auge had a son, the grandson would kill Aleus' sons. To prevent this, Aleus made Auge a priestess of Athena, requiring her to live a celibate life as a temple-dedicated virgin.
The accounts of marriage being denied to royal daughters reveals a great deal about the political, social, and religious concerns of biblical rulers. Some Bible scholars believe that Jephthah dedicated his daughter to the service of God to avoid having to give her in marriage to the son of one of his brothers. Jephthah’s vow to dedicate the first living thing that he saw to God helped him avoid giving his daughter's hand in marriage. As the clan ruler, Jephthah probably had social and political reasons to deny her marriage. It may also be that his daughter was privy to the plan and played her part perfectly to avoid marriage.
The story of Jephthah’s daughter is usually cited as an example of child sacrifice, yet the biblical text states only that she was dedicated to God’s service. Jephthah was a ruler who led his men in a successful battle against the Ammonites. He vowed to offer to God “whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me” (Jg. 11:30). Had he seen a sheep, goat, or a cow, he would have sacrificed that to God. However, no livestock were in sight upon his return. Instead, as if one cue, his daughter came running to meet him. It may be that by dedicating her to God Jephthah saved face and avoided open refusal of his daughter's hand to the son of one of his brothers.
Likely his daughter was privy to the scheme because it is she who insisted that he fulfill his vow to God (Jg. 11:36). Jephthah’s daughter may have wished to follow the career of her paternal grandmother who served at a shrine and is wrongly described as a “prostitute” in Judges 11:1. Perhaps Jephthah’s daughter hoped that by giving up worldly aspirations, she might be chosen to bring forth the promised Messiah. It was long believed that the mother of the Messiah would be a temple woman who would conceive by divine overshadowing. This is why Sargon claimed that his mother conceived him while in the temple at Azu-pir-Anu. It should be noted that the Virgin Mary was the temple-dedicated daughter of the priest Joachim, and she conceived Jesus by the “overshadowing of the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:35).
When marriage was to be avoided, some royal women were sent to the temples or to monasteries. Some lived saintly sequestered lives and others lived much as they had in their father’s palaces. Some attained high rank as abbesses in charge of monastic communities. Abbess Hildegard of Bingen became known as the “Sibyl of the Rhine” because of her accomplishments in literature, natural science, and music. In ancient Egypt, royal daughters were appointed to the two highest ranks a woman could hold: the temple positions of the God’s Wife (Hemet Netjer) and the Divine Adoratrice (Duat Netjer).
The accounts of marriage being denied to royal daughters reveals a great deal about the political, social, and religious concerns of biblical rulers. Some Bible scholars believe that Jephthah dedicated his daughter to the service of God to avoid having to give her in marriage to the son of one of his brothers. Jephthah’s vow to dedicate the first living thing that he saw to God helped him avoid giving his daughter's hand in marriage. As the clan ruler, Jephthah probably had social and political reasons to deny her marriage. It may also be that his daughter was privy to the plan and played her part perfectly to avoid marriage.
The story of Jephthah’s daughter is usually cited as an example of child sacrifice, yet the biblical text states only that she was dedicated to God’s service. Jephthah was a ruler who led his men in a successful battle against the Ammonites. He vowed to offer to God “whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me” (Jg. 11:30). Had he seen a sheep, goat, or a cow, he would have sacrificed that to God. However, no livestock were in sight upon his return. Instead, as if one cue, his daughter came running to meet him. It may be that by dedicating her to God Jephthah saved face and avoided open refusal of his daughter's hand to the son of one of his brothers.
Likely his daughter was privy to the scheme because it is she who insisted that he fulfill his vow to God (Jg. 11:36). Jephthah’s daughter may have wished to follow the career of her paternal grandmother who served at a shrine and is wrongly described as a “prostitute” in Judges 11:1. Perhaps Jephthah’s daughter hoped that by giving up worldly aspirations, she might be chosen to bring forth the promised Messiah. It was long believed that the mother of the Messiah would be a temple woman who would conceive by divine overshadowing. This is why Sargon claimed that his mother conceived him while in the temple at Azu-pir-Anu. It should be noted that the Virgin Mary was the temple-dedicated daughter of the priest Joachim, and she conceived Jesus by the “overshadowing of the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:35).
When marriage was to be avoided, some royal women were sent to the temples or to monasteries. Some lived saintly sequestered lives and others lived much as they had in their father’s palaces. Some attained high rank as abbesses in charge of monastic communities. Abbess Hildegard of Bingen became known as the “Sibyl of the Rhine” because of her accomplishments in literature, natural science, and music. In ancient Egypt, royal daughters were appointed to the two highest ranks a woman could hold: the temple positions of the God’s Wife (Hemet Netjer) and the Divine Adoratrice (Duat Netjer).
According to the British historian, Barbara Yorke, “All the Anglo-Saxon nunneries in southern England for which we have the relevant evidence were founded by members of a royal house, usually by either the reigning monarch or one of his close female relatives; it is not always clear which should be described as the founder. Not only were the nunneries founded by one of the ruling houses, but they continued to be regarded as possessions of the royal house throughout their existence.”
The custom of placing royal daughters in monasteries has an ancient precedent. In a shrewd political move to secure power in the south of his kingdom, Sargon (reigned 2334–2284 B.C.) appointed his daughter Heduanna as the “En” of the shrine at Ur. The Akkadian term En means lord, master, royal official, priest or priestess. En-Heduanna is credited with a large body of cuneiform poetry.
The custom of placing royal daughters in monasteries has an ancient precedent. In a shrewd political move to secure power in the south of his kingdom, Sargon (reigned 2334–2284 B.C.) appointed his daughter Heduanna as the “En” of the shrine at Ur. The Akkadian term En means lord, master, royal official, priest or priestess. En-Heduanna is credited with a large body of cuneiform poetry.
The possibility of marriage remained open for some women dedicated to the temples and monasteries. Occasionally, political necessity or matters of inheritance required a sequestered noble woman to marry. Among the endogamous Hebrew rulers, a virgin might be released from her temple vow when a favorable match could be found between Hebrew relatives. That appears to be the case with the Virgin Mary who married Joseph of Nazareth. Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth division of Hebrew ruler-priests. The ancestors of those ruler-priests lived in the Nile Valley where they served at temples. The Nilotic Hebrew were organized into two moieties, the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew.
