Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 28:4 (Autumn 2014)
Article: The Legal Status Of Barren Wives In The Ancient Near East
Author: Kayla White

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PP 28:4 (Autumn 2014) p. 18

The Legal Status Of Barren Wives In The Ancient Near East

Kayla White

Kayla White has taught music and worship arts for the past 15 years, both in the classroom and at the local congregational level. Having recently completed an MA in Old Testament Biblical Studies at Denver Seminary, she is currently pursuing research and teaching opportunities that combine her interests in worship arts and empowering women in the local congregation. Kayla lives in Arkansas with her husband and their furry child, Sammie.

Biblical narratives of barren wives such as Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and the mother of Samson paint a picture of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness to fulfill promises to a burgeoning nation. In these narratives, the modern reader encounters polygyny and polycoity,1 wife rivalry, preferential treatment of certain wives and their children, and divorce, all of which are seemingly at odds with our biblical notions of marriage, divorce, and ethical treatment of others. Though scripture is mostly silent on the ramifications of barrenness, it is possible to look beyond the biblical witness to the broader ancient culture in order to understand its impact both on the women involved and society as a whole. Ancient legal, mythical, ritual, and medical records not only provide us with the broader cultural understanding of barrenness, but also, at times, mirror some of the personal and spiritual responses found in the biblical material. As a means of further understanding how this malady impacted ancient near eastern civilization, this article focuses on barrenness in legal records.

Akkadian legal material often signifies the biological status of the barren wife with the phrase, the one “who has not born children” (ša mārī lā uldūšum). Her title is often simply “wife” (aššatum).2 If she is the first of multiple wives, however, she is often distinguished as “first-ranking wife” or “wife of equal status” (ḫīrtum).3

A barren wife represents a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to one of the primary functions of marriage: to produce heirs capable of assisting with the subsistence and economic stability of the family. One could even say that in some situations, “a childless marriage was not a full-fledged marriage.”4 What avenues are left for a barren wife to secure her future? While the most obvious solution would be to adopt a child, a variety of legal parameters protecting a first-ranking wife suggest alternative options, s...

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