The Biblical Prohibition on Intermarriage?

You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they will lust after their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifices. And when you take wives from among their daughters for your sons, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.

What questions can you ask about these two verses? What exactly is prohibited?

And if you take from there daughters for your sons... If you think that the man rules over his wife and will blot out from her hand so that she will not engage in idol worship, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.

What question(s) does Malbim answer?

How is his comment similar to Fox's? How is it different?

How would you describe Malbim's approach in one word?

(1) ואכלת מזבחו AND THOU EAT OF HIS SACRIFICE — You might perhaps think that there is no punishable offence in eating of it, this is not so, but I will account it unto you as though you consent to his idolatrous worship because through this (through partaking of his meals) you will be induced to take of their daughters for your sons (cf. Avodah Zarah 8a).

What question(s) does Rashi answer?

How would you describe his approach in one word?

Lest you make a covenant. And the reason I said (that) you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land is because if you are (joined) with him in a covenant you will be misled (to follow) another god, in one of two ways: If he invites you to eat of his sacrifices, you will serve his god together with him, so as to satisfy his desire; (or) you will do it because of love for women, as occurred at Peor (Numbers 25).

How would you describe Seforno's approach?

What lesson(s) could you teach based on his comment?

(1) While Israel was staying at Shittim, the menfolk profaned themselves by whoring with the Moabite women, (2) who invited the menfolk to the sacrifices for their god. The menfolk partook of them and worshiped that god. (3) Thus Israel attached itself to Baal-peor, and יהוה was incensed with Israel.

(1) When your God יהוה brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and [God] dislodges many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you— (2) and your God יהוה delivers them to you and you defeat them, you must doom them to destruction: grant them no terms and give them no quarter. (3) You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. (4) For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods, and יהוה’s anger will blaze forth against you, promptly wiping you out.

What do these verses seem to prohibit?

How are they different from Exodus 34?

For he will turn your son away from me. If the son of the gentile will marry your daughter, he will turn away your son (grandson) who your daughter will beaur for him, from following after Me. From this we learn that your daughter's son, who is born of a gentile, is considered your son; but your son's son, born of a gentile woman, is not considered your son, but rather her son; for it is not said (regarding the prohibition:) "Do not take his daugher for your son," because she will turn [your (grand)son away from Me], but only that he (the gentile) will turn your son, etc.

What question(s) does Rashi answer in this comment?

(12) For should you turn away and attach yourselves to the remnant of those nations—to those that are left among you—and intermarry with them, you joining them and they joining you, (13) know for certain that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you; they shall become a snare and a trap for you, a scourge to your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

What actions does Joshua seem to warn against?

(4) No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of יהוה; no descendants of such, even in the tenth generation, shall ever be admitted into the congregation of יהוה, (5) because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse you.— (6) But your God יהוה refused to heed Balaam; instead, your God יהוה turned the curse into a blessing for you, for your God יהוה loves you.— (7) You shall never concern yourself with their welfare or benefit as long as you live. (8) You shall not abhor an Edomite, for such is your kin. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in that land. (9) Children born to them may be admitted into the congregation of יהוה in the third generation.

What do these verses prohibit?

(1) When this was over, the officers approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land whose abhorrent practices are like those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. (2) They have taken their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed has become intermingled with the peoples of the land; and it is the officers and prefects who have taken the lead in this trespass.” (3) When I heard this, I rent my garment and robe, I tore hair out of my head and beard, and I sat desolate. (4) Around me gathered all who were concerned over the words of the God of Israel because of the returning exiles’ trespass, while I sat desolate until the evening offering. (5) At the time of the evening offering I ended my self-affliction; still in my torn garment and robe, I got down on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, (6) and said, “O my God, I am too ashamed and mortified to lift my face to You, O my God, for our iniquities are overwhelming^-a and our guilt has grown high as heaven. (7) From the time of our fathers to this very day we have been deep in guilt. Because of our iniquities, we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to foreign kings, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to humiliation, as is now the case. (8) “But now, for a short while, there has been a reprieve from the LORD our God, who has granted us a surviving remnant and given us a stake in God's holy place; our God has restored the luster to our eyes and furnished us with a little sustenance in our bondage. (9) For bondsmen we are, though even in our bondage God has not forsaken us, but has disposed the king of Persia favorably toward us, to furnish us with sustenance and to raise again the House of our God, repairing its ruins and giving us a hold in Judah and Jerusalem. (10) “Now, what can we say in the face of this, O our God, for we have forsaken Your commandments, (11) which You gave us through Your servants the prophets when You said, ‘The land that you are about to possess is a land unclean through the uncleanness of the peoples of the land, through their abhorrent practices with which they, in their impurity, have filled it from one end to the other. (12) Now then, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or let their daughters marry your sons; do nothing for their well-being or advantage, then you will be strong and enjoy the bounty of the land and bequeath it to your children forever.’ (13) After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and our deep guilt—though You, our God, have been forbearing, [punishing us] less than our iniquity [deserves] in that You have granted us such a remnant as this— (14) shall we once again violate Your commandments by intermarrying with these peoples who follow such abhorrent practices? Will You not rage against us till we are destroyed without remnant or survivor? (15) O LORD, God of Israel, You are benevolent, for we have survived as a remnant, as is now the case. We stand before You in all our guilt, for we cannot face You on this account.”

What does Ezra prohibit?

(29) “And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to [follow] the Teaching of God, their wives, sons and daughters, all who know enough to understand, (30) join with their noble brothers, and take an oath with sanctions to follow the Teaching of God, given through Moses the servant of God, and to observe carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, God's rules and laws. (31) “Namely: We will not give our daughters in marriage to the peoples of the land, or take their daughters for our sons.

What do these leaders pledge themselves (not) to do?

(10) Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? (11) Judah has broken faith; abhorrent things have been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned what is holy to the LORD—what God desires—and espoused daughters of alien gods. (12) May the LORD leave to him who does this no descendants^-a dwelling in the tents of Jacob and presenting offerings to the LORD of Hosts. (13) And this you do as well:^-e You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping, and moaning, so that God refuses to regard the oblation any more and to accept what you offer.^-f (14) But you ask, “Because of what?” Because the LORD is a witness between you and the wife of your youth with whom you have broken faith, though she is your partner and covenanted spouse. (15) Did not the One make [all,] so that all remaining life-breath is God's? And what does that One seek but godly folk? So be careful of your life-breath, and let no one break faith with the wife of his youth.

What is Malachi upset about?

Rava said: This is no proof, as is that to say that the prohibition there against marrying Canaanites is due to sanctity or lack of sanctity? Rather, the reason for the prohibition is that perhaps one will father a child from his Canaanite wife and that child will later go off and engage in idolatrous worship. Now, this concern applies only when they are still gentiles, but when they convert, as did the Gibeonites, they are permitted to Jews. And it is the Sages who decreed that Gibeonites are forbidden like mamzerim even after their conversion. And when the Sages decreed that one may not marry them, the decree was limited to those who are capable of having children, but with regard to this one, a man with crushed testicles who is incapable of having children, the Sages did not issue a decree.

How does the Talmud here explain the prohibition against intermarriage?

§ The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that betrothal with a gentile woman is ineffective? The verse states: “Neither shall you make marriages with them” (Deuteronomy 7:3), which teaches that marrying gentile women is halakhically meaningless. The Gemara asks: We have found that betrothal is ineffective with her; from where do we derive that her offspring is like her? Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: As the verse states with regard to the same issue: “Your daughter you shall not give to his son…for he will turn away your son from following Me” (Deuteronomy 7:3–4). Since the verse is concerned that after one’s daughter marries a gentile, the father will lead his children away from the service of God, this indicates that your son, i.e., your grandson, from a Jewish woman is called “your son” by the Torah, but your son from a gentile woman is not called your son, but her son.

What does this text add to our understanding of intermarriage?

Rebbi Eleazar said, in seven places it is written do not intermarry with them. Rebbi Abun said, to forbid seven peoples.

It was stated that the prohibition against marrying the daughters of gentiles was decreed on account of idolatry. The Gemara raises an objection: But the prohibition against marrying their daughters is prescribed by Torah law, as it is written: “Neither shall you make marriages with them” (Deuteronomy 7:3). The Gemara explains: By Torah law intermarriage is prohibited only with the seven Canaanite nations, but intermarriage with the other nations of the world is not prohibited, and the students of Shammai and Hillel came and decreed that intermarriage is prohibited even with the other nations. The Gemara asks: And according to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, who says that the subsequent verse: “For he will turn away your son from following Me” (Deuteronomy 7:4) serves to include all who turn away one’s son from God, i.e., all gentiles, what is there to say? Rather, by Torah law only sexual relations by way of marriage are prohibited, and they came and decreed that sexual relations are prohibited even by way of licentiousness.

What question(s) does this text answer?

(4) On that day Judah, an Ammonite convert, came and stood before them in the house of study. He said to them: Do I have the right to enter into the assembly? Rabban Gamaliel said to him: you are forbidden. Rabbi Joshua said to him: you are permitted. Rabban Gamaliel said to him: the verse says, "An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord: even to the tenth generation" (Deuteronomy 23:4). R. Joshua said to him: But are the Ammonites and Moabites still in their own territory? Sanheriv, the king of Assyria, has long since come up and mingled all the nations, as it is said: "In that I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants" (Isaiah 10:1. Rabban Gamaliel said to him: the verse says, "But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon," (Jeremiah 49:6) they have already returned. Rabbi Joshua said to him: [another] verse says, "I will return the captivity of my people Israel and Judah" (Jeremiah 30:3). Yet they have not yet returned. So they permitted him to enter the assembly.

What issue does this raise with the prohibition on intermarriage?

(1) If a Jewish person sleeps with a non-Jew in the way of married people, they receive biblically ordained lashes, as it says “You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughter to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.” (Deuteronomy 7:3) The same law is true concerning the seven nations of the land of Canaan and all other nations. This is also explained by Ezra, “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the peoples of the land, or take their daughters for our sons.” (Nehemiah 10:31)

How does the Rambam rule about intermarriage?

It appears to me that this only applies to the seven idol-worshipping nations, and that we do not hold according to Rabbi Shimon [ben Yochai]. And even with members of the seven nations, there are no lashes for [the transgression of] do not marry with them other than after they have converted. However, while they are gentiles, marriage is not possible.

How does the Tur resolve the issue?