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In biblical times people married very young 12/14 ... Was this because of a low life expectancy or....?
other reasons?
5 Answers
- CrazybirdLv 69 years agoFavorite Answer
It was probably for a multitude of reasons, life expectancy being one of them. You also have to consider that no one went to school, and whatever trade they would end up in they had learned from the time they could walk. In that day and age, the more kids you had, the better (for helping around the house, helping farm, helping sell things at market ect....), so when you only live to 40, you'd better start having them young. Parents also struggled to feed all those hungry mouths, so the earlier the child became independent, the less burden on the family. Virginity was also very important, and the longer you waited after puberty to marry, the higher the likelihood you'd loose your virginity outside of marriage. Not being a virgin at your wedding was frowned upon, to put it lightly (as in, you would be stoned to death if you had sex before marriage). Also, in some cultures children were "married" in infancy or early childhood to mutually benefit both families, but the marriage wasn't consummated until after puberty.
So long story short, it was a VERY different world, different living conditions, different though processes, and there wasn't really any reason to wait for marriage once you hit the age you could reproduce.
Source(s): I actually PAID ATTENTION in history class while at school. It's pretty interesting if you take the time to look into it. It's crazy how the world has changed post-industrial revolution. People from 2000 years ago could not even comprehend our world, and few modern people would be able to survive without modern conveniences - Anonymous9 years ago
Hi Pedro, I don't know where you read people got married at young ages in the Bible, but then again, it depends on what you think was young. If you read, you'll notice that people actually lived to be hundreds of years old. Some 700 hundreds years old some a Little older, so it's real hard to say the life expectancy was low. I'm not sure where in the Bible where the ages of some were mentioned but I definitely know it's in the Old Testaments. Genesis is a great place to look, all the way through Exodus. I think you'll find more than just the high life expectancy rates in the Bible rewarding though.
I hope this helps
-Necee
- Anonymous9 years ago
puberty hits at age 12-14, as soon as a girl has her first period, she was allowed to marry.
things were different back then.
these days, people get married in their late 20s/early 30s. they couldn't have possibly waited that long, which is why teenagers are out having sex. it's what considered as normal these days...
- JenniferLv 49 years ago
No it had everything to do with the fact that, 12-14 is when most girls reach puberty
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