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Well, I did it! I purchased my wife!!

Man_in_the_Middle

Man_in_the_Middle

Seasoned Member
In 1996, I married my lovely wife who has been with me ever since. We were taught the MO lie and were married in a traditional setting with mostly traditional ideas in place. As time marched on I began to study the bible in earnest and came to understand that we are to keep God's commandments as he laid them out to Moses. In the reading of the bible, over and over again, I have read Exodus 22 and Duet 22 where they speak of the price of a virgin.

Exo 22:16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
Exo 22:17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

Deu 22:28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
Deu 22:29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

I see both of these verses as describing the same thing which leads me to the conclusion that the normal bride price for a virgin was fifty shekels of silver.

Fast forward to present time. My mother-in-law came up from Texas a little over 2 weeks ago to visit which ended today as we dropped her off at the airport for her return trip. While she was here, I was pondering on the fact that I never paid her the dowry of virgins. I did the some math to estimate what the fifty shekels of silver would equal in OZ of silver today. I then laid coins and rounds out on a table equal to that amount. Then I invited my mother-in-law over to see them and explained to her that I had a debt to her that had never been paid and why. I showed her the scriptures and told her that all that silver is hers as payment for my wife. (no LONGER a virgin but was! ). She initially protested as she had never heard of such a thing before but as my wife then explained to her, we want to do this, she gave in. I then told her that I would give her the equal amount in cash if she would prefer it and she took the cash. Afterwards, I gave her one silver OZ round as a memento of our exchange.

I know that she would never have even known that was in the bible but it had suddenly struck me that I wanted to pay her this to honor the Word of God as I understand it.

So, today, 28 years late, I bought my wife!!! And, she is a KEEPER!!! :)

Bonus, today is also my wife's birthday. So, I bought me a really great present today!
 
Man_in_the_Middle said:
In 1996, I married my lovely wife who has been with me ever since. We were taught the MO lie and were married in a traditional setting with mostly traditional ideas in place. As time marched on I began to study the bible in earnest and came to understand that we are to keep God's commandments as he laid them out to Moses. In the reading of the bible, over and over again, I have read Exodus 22 and Duet 22 where they speak of the price of a virgin.

Exo 22:16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
Exo 22:17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

Deu 22:28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
Deu 22:29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

I see both of these verses as describing the same thing which leads me to the conclusion that the normal bride price for a virgin was fifty shekels of silver.

Fast forward to present time. My mother-in-law came up from Texas a little over 2 weeks ago to visit which ended today as we dropped her off at the airport for her return trip. While she was here, I was pondering on the fact that I never paid her the dowry of virgins. I did the some math to estimate what the fifty shekels of silver would equal in OZ of silver today. I then laid coins and rounds out on a table equal to that amount. Then I invited my mother-in-law over to see them and explained to her that I had a debt to her that had never been paid and why. I showed her the scriptures and told her that all that silver is hers as payment for my wife. (no LONGER a virgin but was! ). She initially protested as she had never heard of such a thing before but as my wife then explained to her, we want to do this, she gave in. I then told her that I would give her the equal amount in cash if she would prefer it and she took the cash. Afterwards, I gave her one silver OZ round as a memento of our exchange.

I know that she would never have even known that was in the bible but it had suddenly struck me that I wanted to pay her this to honor the Word of God as I understand it.

So, today, 28 years late, I bought my wife!!! And, she is a KEEPER!!! :)

Bonus, today is also my wife's birthday. So, I bought me a really great present today!
Click to expand...


I like it and did the math after reading the quantity of 50, before I read the rest.

Going with the larger weight of 17 grams, that gives us 30 ounces with a price today of $32 per ounce. A total of $960 sounds like a bargain.
Based on that figure and how it worked out for you, I will be fine with dropping a book of ingots I have which will cover three and leave some change in the event of haggling.
Not that I want three more but I am a bit of a prepper and so I like to buy in bulk for just in case.

If we go with original coins however it is closer to a 100k each. Guess I would still take three but gotta say they better have good attitudes and be ready to be good moms, wives and real helpmeets on a ranch.
Ugh...turning green at the idea of that sort of price but I imagine still worth it.

I like the fact that you went through with the ritual
 
paterfamilias said:
Going with the larger weight of 17 grams, that gives us 30 ounces with a price today of $32 per ounce. A total of $960 sounds like a bargain.
Click to expand...
About month of work for physical worker in Croatia. So pretty cheap. I was expecting bride price to be higher.

It's me or bride price are falling throught time? How much time did Hebrew worker had to work to buy wifey?
 
Man_in_the_Middle said:
In 1996, I married my lovely wife who has been with me ever since. We were taught the MO lie and were married in a traditional setting with mostly traditional ideas in place. As time marched on I began to study the bible in earnest and came to understand that we are to keep God's commandments as he laid them out to Moses. In the reading of the bible, over and over again, I have read Exodus 22 and Duet 22 where they speak of the price of a virgin.

Exo 22:16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
Exo 22:17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

Deu 22:28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
Deu 22:29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

I see both of these verses as describing the same thing which leads me to the conclusion that the normal bride price for a virgin was fifty shekels of silver.

Fast forward to present time. My mother-in-law came up from Texas a little over 2 weeks ago to visit which ended today as we dropped her off at the airport for her return trip. While she was here, I was pondering on the fact that I never paid her the dowry of virgins. I did the some math to estimate what the fifty shekels of silver would equal in OZ of silver today. I then laid coins and rounds out on a table equal to that amount. Then I invited my mother-in-law over to see them and explained to her that I had a debt to her that had never been paid and why. I showed her the scriptures and told her that all that silver is hers as payment for my wife. (no LONGER a virgin but was! ). She initially protested as she had never heard of such a thing before but as my wife then explained to her, we want to do this, she gave in. I then told her that I would give her the equal amount in cash if she would prefer it and she took the cash. Afterwards, I gave her one silver OZ round as a memento of our exchange.

I know that she would never have even known that was in the bible but it had suddenly struck me that I wanted to pay her this to honor the Word of God as I understand it.

So, today, 28 years late, I bought my wife!!! And, she is a KEEPER!!! :)

Bonus, today is also my wife's birthday. So, I bought me a really great present today!
Click to expand...
Must be good wife if you insist on paying after been given for free.
 
MemeFan said:
Must be good wife if you insist on paying after been given for free.
Click to expand...
He doesn’t want her to be repossessed?
Momma is getting older, might need her back.

It is sweet that you did this.
I’m reminded of a man in , I believe, an African country where the women are bought with livestock.
The man gave her father 7 cows for her. His friend asked him why so many, since she could have been purchased for 3 cows.
He answered: “I want her to always know that she is a 7 cow woman.”
(The details may not be perfectly accurate.)
 
MemeFan said:
About month of work for physical worker in Croatia. So pretty cheap. I was expecting bride price to be higher.

It's me or bride price are falling throught time? How much time did Hebrew worker had to work to buy wifey?
Click to expand...
From what I read it was five years worth of wages for a laborer.
 
steve said:
He doesn’t want her to be repossessed?
Momma is getting older, might need her back.
Click to expand...
Mooma doesn't have power or legal rights anymore. You can't give something for free and after several decades request payment.


steve said:
It is sweet that you did this.
I’m reminded of a man in , I believe, an African country where the women are bought with livestock.
The man gave her father 7 cows for her. His friend asked him why so many, since she could have been purchased for 3 cows.
He answered: “I want her to always know that she is a 7 cow woman.”
(The details may not be perfectly accurate.)
Click to expand...
I get this building wife self esteem.

Instead of receiving bride price I would prefer money being put into trust to provide head start for grandchildren.
 
MemeFan said:
Mooma doesn't have power or legal rights anymore. You can't give something for free and after several decades request payment.
Click to expand...
Well shucky darns, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your professional expertise on this!
 
paterfamilias said:
I like it and did the math after reading the quantity of 50, before I read the rest.

Going with the larger weight of 17 grams, that gives us 30 ounces with a price today of $32 per ounce. A total of $960 sounds like a bargain.
Based on that figure and how it worked out for you, I will be fine with dropping a book of ingots I have which will cover three and leave some change in the event of haggling.
Not that I want three more but I am a bit of a prepper and so I like to buy in bulk for just in case.

If we go with original coins however it is closer to a 100k each. Guess I would still take three but gotta say they better have good attitudes and be ready to be good moms, wives and real helpmeets on a ranch.
Ugh...turning green at the idea of that sort of price but I imagine still worth it.

I like the fact that you went through with the ritual
Click to expand...
SilverPriceLow_WivesOnSale.jpg
 
Man_in_the_Middle said:
How can you tell a man only has one wife? He still thinks he wants seven!!!!
Click to expand...

Closest I have ever been was two wives and a ex who after machinations convinced one of the other wives to help her press her case to get back into fiancé pole position.
I realize that with the right people in combination that could well be a blessed event but I would not go through that particular version again for....er something sparkling and valuable.

I like the idea of three however purely from the point of view of number of hands and minds to apply to tasks and problems as well as having a particular standard for attention given to wives and children. Given that I want a bunch of kids, pretty soon there is not enough dad or husband to go around very well. So three has always been in my mind as a good but also maximum number.
 
steve said:
He doesn’t want her to be repossessed?
Momma is getting older, might need her back.

It is sweet that you did this.
I’m reminded of a man in , I believe, an African country where the women are bought with livestock.
The man gave her father 7 cows for her. His friend asked him why so many, since she could have been purchased for 3 cows.
He answered: “I want her to always know that she is a 7 cow woman.”
(The details may not be perfectly accurate.)
Click to expand...
There is a similar story from Samoa.
 
paterfamilias said:
From what I read it was five years worth of wages for a laborer.
Click to expand...

This seems like so much. A wedding ring for me has always been around a year's worth of excess income after paying the bills. How long does it take to save five years worth of wages? (Don't say five years lol). If you could scrape together a third of your income that would take fifteen years.

Makes me think of Jacob working seven years though. Interesting.
 
Off-Grid Artist said:
This seems like so much. A wedding ring for me has always been around a year's worth of excess income after paying the bills. How long does it take to save five years worth of wages? (Don't say five years lol). If you could scrape together a third of your income that would take fifteen years.

Makes me think of Jacob working seven years though. Interesting.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, at that price the only men who could marry, would be in their mid 30s or older!
 
Heavens Declare said:
Hmmm, at that price the only men who could marry, would be in their mid 30s or older!
Click to expand...
30 is a good age to consider taking your first wife. Or perhaps, your first two wives in a double Mt. Sinai style ceremony.
At that age, your understanding of what you believe is more firmly rooted, your financial health is more likely to be established and your maturity to take on the whole of the family is more likely to be ready as well.
 
That actually does make sense to me. I've been developing the idea that men should be raised to stay at home with their parents much longer than normal, working long hours and building skills and a large savings. Then marry them in their late 20s to a girl in her late teens. It feels like the formula for a brilliant culture. This would establish the character building attributes of the young man and also the large income to the father would help repay him for all the years spent raising a strong family and sacrificing, in time for his older age.
 
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