How Betrothal by Money Is Learned From Ephron's Field

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 102:18

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

(Genesis 23:13) There we learned: A woman is acquired in three ways: by money, by document, and by intercourse. By money, from where do we derive it? We learn it by a verbal analogy [gezeira shava] of "taking" and "taking" from the field of Ephron. It is written here, "When a man takes a woman and has relations with her" (Deuteronomy 24:1), and it is written there, "I have given the money of the field; take it from me" (Genesis 23:13). And "taking" is called an acquisition, as it is said, "the field that Abraham acquired" (Genesis 25:10); or alternatively, "fields shall be acquired with money" (Jeremiah 32:44). [Bracketed gloss: a gezeira shava is a tradition-based linkage of two passages through a shared term, here the verb "to take."]

Themes

MarriageWisdomCommandments

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