21
associated elsewhere with divorce.
42
The verb sent away is the piel of sala
H
that is often used for
divorcing wives (Deut 22:19; 24:1, 3; Jer 3:8), and the verb used to "drive her out," the piel of
garas, is also used for divorce (Lev 21:7, 14; 22:13). In this narrative, God told Abraham to
drive out Hagar as Sarah had requested (Gen 21:12), thus lending divine sanction for this
divorce. Arguably the row between Sarah and Hagar (as well as Hagars unruliness) had made it
impossible for Abraham to function as Hagars and Sarahs husband at the same time. Yet
according to Exod 21:11, if a slave-wife ceases to be a wife, she cannot remain on as a slave, but
is to be released. Read in the light of Exod 21:11, Abraham was in fact following the what
later would be Mosaic law, and this helps to explain why God was willing to go along with
Sarahs request.
Another place where the law is illuminating for narratives has to do with Jacobs working
seven years each for his wives Rachel and Leah (Gen 29:18, 27). The requirement for Jacob to
work for Laban in order to obtain a daughter in marriage has to do with the widespread cultural
phenomenon of brideprice. In the ancient Near East and some third world cultures to this day, it
was customary to give a significant gift to the brides family (the father if alive) in conjunction
with a marriage contract of betrothal. The brideprice in turn would be given back in part or
whole as a dowry for the bride. The dowry in the Bible is mentioned only in 1 Kgs 9:16 and Mic
1:14, but is well-known from 2
nd
millennium Mesopotamia and 5
th
century and later Jewish
marriage contracts. In the Laws of Hammurabi, the dowry belonged to the woman and in case of
her death before bearing children went back to her father (cf. LH §§162-164), and in case of
divorce ordinarily left with the woman unless forfeited though her bad behavior (cf. LH §§138,
141f, 149), a fact that would discourage divorce. In the book of the covenant, the brideprice
(Heb. mohar) is mentioned as a cultural institution in Exod 22:16-17 where it is required of a
man who has seduced an unbetrothed maiden regardless of whether the marriage is then allowed
to take place. This protected the maiden economically, insuring that the woman could have an
42
G. Wenham, Genesis 16-50 (WBC 2; Dallas: Word, 1994), 82.