Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions by Witte Green Browning

that would not be normative within Rabbinic Judaism; its prevalence, however, is purely speculative.
    Document 1–14
e l e p h a n t i n e m a r r i a g e c o n t r a c t
    On the 26th [of] Tishri, [that is the __ ]6th month of Epiph, [y]ear [ __ of]
    Kin[g Atraxerx]es,
    Eshor, son of Se[ha], a builder of the king, said to Mah[seiah, an A]ramean of Syene of the detachment of Varyazata, saying: I [c]ame to your house (and asked you) to give me your daughter Mipta(h)iah for wifehood. She is my wife and I am her husband from this day and forever.
    I gave you (as) mohar for your daughter Miptahiah: [silver], 5 shekels by the stone(-weight)s of [the] king. It came into you and your heart was satisfied herein.
    [Your daughter] Miptahiah brought into me in her hand: silver money 1
    karsh by the stone(-weight)s of the king, silver 2 (quarters) to the 10.
    She brought into me in her hand:
    1 new woolen garment, striped with dye doubly-well, worth (in) silver 2 karsh, shekels by the stone(-weight)s of the king; 1 new shawl, worth (in) silver 8 shekels by the stone(-weight)s of the king; another woolen garment, finely-woven, worth (in) silver 7 shekels; 1 bronze mirror, worth (in) silver 1 shekel, 2 q(uarters); 1 bronze bowl worth (in) silver 1 shekel, 2 q(uarters); 2 bronze cups, worth (in) silver 2 shekels; 1 bronze jug, worth (in) silver 2 q(uarters).
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    m i c h a e l s . b e r g e r
    All the silver and the value of the goods: (in) silver 6 karsh, 5 shekels, 20
    hallurs, silver 2 q(uarters) to the 10, by the stone(-weight)s of the king.
    Tomorrow or (the) n[ex]t day, should Eshor die not having a child, male or female, by Mipta[h]iah his wife, it is Miptahiah (who) has the right to the house of Eshor and [hi]s goods and his property and all that he has on the face of the whole earth.
    Tomorrow or (the) next day, should Miptahiah die not having a child, male or female, by Eshor her husband, it is Eshor (who) shall inherit from her goods and her property.
    Tomorrow or (the) next day, should Miptahiah stand up in assembly and say: “I hated Eshor my husband,” silver of hatred is on her head. She shall place upon the balance-scale and weigh out to Eshor silver, 6[ם1] ( ס 7) shekels, 2 q(uarters), and all that she bought in in her hand she shall take out, from straw to string, and go away wherever she desires, without suit or without process.
    Tomorrow or (the) next day, should Eshor stand up in assembly and say: “I hated my [wif]e Miptahiah,” her mohar [will be] lost ( ס forfeit) and all that she brought in in her hand she shall take out, from straw to string, on one day in one stroke, and she shall go away wherever she desires, without suit or without process.
    And I shall not be able to re[lease] my goods and my property from Miptahiah.
    Nathan son of Ananiah wrote [this document at the instruction of Eshor].
    And the witnesses herein: Penuliah son of Jezaniah; [ . . . ]iah son of Ahio; Menahem son of [Za]ccur; witness Vyzblw (endorsement missing) [B. Porten and A. Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt: Contracts (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1989), vol. 2, doc. B2.6.]
    HELLENISTIC JEWISH PHILOSOPHY IN THE
    WISDOM OF BEN SIRACH (ECCLESIASTICUS)
    Alexander’s conquests of the fourth century bce brought Jews under the influence of Hellenism. One outgrowth of this encounter was the emergence of a genre known as “wisdom literature,” which advised readers on the importance of wisdom and virtue, often expressed in poetic aphoristic form.
    Simeon Ben Sira was a second century bce Judean sage who likely composed this work in Hebrew ca. 170 bce. Its maxims are very similar to those of the Book of Proverbs and are arranged by subject with headings. In 132 bce a Greek translation was done that ultimately entered the Christian Apocrypha under the name Ecclesiasticus (by the author known as Jesus ben Sira). While the work did not formally enter the Jewish canon, many of Ben Sira’s sayings, both homiletic and