Friday, July 03, 2026

Does the Bible prohibit intermarriage with non-Israelites?

DR. EVE LEVAVI FEINSTEIN: The Making of the Biblical Prohibition of Intermarriage (TheTorah.com).
Does the Bible prohibit intermarriage with non-Israelites? Not originally. Deuteronomy only prohibits intermarriage with the Canaanite nations. Faced with an intermarriage crisis in Persian Period Yehud, Ezra and Nehemiah reinterpret texts from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, thereby extending the prohibition of intermarriage to all the peoples of the land from their times.

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