Today let’s talk about the marriage cloth that was to serve as the sure-fire evidence that a girl on her marriage night had never before slept with another man before becoming intimate with her husband.
In Hebrew, this marriage cloth is called SIMLAH.
In Hebrew culture, the first step towards marriage was that an arrangement was negotiated between the father and the potential bridegroom.
If the negotiation was successful, the bridegroom would pay a price and once the money exchanged hands, the couple would be considered officially betrothed.
Now understand that once a couple was betrothed to each other, for all practical purposes, they were considered married.
Being betrothed was NOT considered extended dating.
Once a couple was betrothed, minus a very strong legal reason, neither party could so easily get out of the arrangement.
However, although I just said they were “considered” married, at this point in time, they were still NOT officially married.
So what was the one thing separating them from a state of betrothal and being officially married?
The answer in one word is…consummation.
After the usually very simple and quick marriage ceremony, the husband took his new bride and entered into a sexual union with her.
Once this happened, the couple was legally and officially married.
And from God’s perspective, they were now one flesh.
This is the true Biblical definition of marriage.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s why from a Scriptural perspective, the term “sex before marriage” doesn’t really make sense.
Why?
Because sex itself (or to be specific, sexual intercourse) equals marriage.
Now what actually happened during the sexual act is interesting.
A fairly large and clean cloth which in earlier times was just the bride’s new and clean undergarment was spread out on the bed.
Since this marriage cloth would later serve as legal evidence that the girl was indeed a virgin, before the cloth was used it was turned over to specially elected elder women who would carefully check the cloth to make sure it was spotless of any stains.
If some kind of blotch that could even remotely pass for blood was on the cloth, it was discarded and another cloth had to be used.
I don’t think it’s necessary for me to go into explicit detail here but if the girl was indeed a virgin, it was expected that some bleeding would occur on the night the couple consummated their marriage.
After the sexual union, if there was a blood smear on the marriage cloth, then all was well.
The blood was undeniable evidence that the new wife had never before been with another man before this night and everyone could breathe a huge sigh of relief.
The next day, the young no-longer-virgin wife, beaming with pride would present the blood-stained wedding cloth to her mother and father as proof that she had indeed been an obedient and faithful daughter.
Now here’s where things get a bit…shall I say spicy or dicey?
Do you know how parents today will proudly hang up 8 by 10 glossies in their homes as mementos of their sons’ and daughters’ weddings?
Well, in ancient Israel, it was the blood-stained marriage cloth that was laid out for all to see as a remembrance!!!
Afterwards, this cloth was put in a safely guarded place in the event that what we’re studying here in Deuteronomy 22 occurred; namely that a husband accuses his wife of not being a virgin.
If the husband leveled such an accusation towards his new wife, the blood stained wedding cloth was all that was needed as evidence to prove otherwise.
That’s why it was so important for the elder women to confirm that the cloth had no stains on it BEFORE the couple consummated their marriage.
After all, it would have been totally possible for an unchaste young woman to sneakily prepare a pre-stained cloth to show that she was a virgin when she really wasn’t.
So what happened to the husband after he was shown to be a liar and his dishonesty was exposed for all to see?
His punishment was quite extreme.
First, he was publicly lashed with a whip.
Second, he had to pay the father a fine of 100 silver shekels which was a hefty sum of money in those days.
Third, the man is not allowed to ever divorce his new wife ever!
It doesn’t matter what his wife does afterwards.
He is stuck with her until the end of his or her days.
Now I need to add a caveat here.
It was understood even in those days that even if the girl was a virgin, for certain anatomical reasons, a blood smear just might NOT appear on the wedding cloth on the night the couple consummated their marriage.
This was understood and considered normal.
In that case, according to the sages, it was required that the bride undergo a physical examination by the elder women to determine the REAL reason behind why there was no blood stain on the cloth.
Now all of this leads us to the $64,000 question.
What if the next morning, there was no blood smear to be found on the marriage cloth, not even one drop AND…
…after being physically inspected by the elder women, it was found that the young bride was NOT a virgin on the night of her marriage?
Oh boy, that’s where the trouble starts.
To be continued…
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