Ben Hur the novel, part 11

We are up to Book II chapter 3 of Ben Hur and I want to finish off something I said last time because it probably hasn’t occurred to most readers.

In chapter 3 we get to the exclusive services contract. I already said that a man could pay off a theft by getting somebody to buy his contract. The contract lasted 6 years, or 50, or ended when a yovel year came.

If the man refused the 6 year term limit, an awl was punched through his ear lobe. ONCE. He did not have to put an earring in it to keep it open. He did not have to get it punched again when it healed up. Those of us with piercings know that they do heal up and then we either try to re-open them ourselves or go get them punched again. Just went through this with a pair of favorite earrings.

The ear-punch rule did not apply to non-Jews. If a non-Jew took out a contract, he got paid the money as soon as he agreed to be circumcised. Then he became a Jew, and he had to learn to live Jewish for the smooth operation of the contract holder’s home. The contract terminated when this holder decided; he could bequeath the contract to his son. But if the holder hit the contractor and knocked out a tooth or his eye, THEN the contract ended.

No Jewish woman could be sold into one of these contracts. If you think it’s possible, you haven’t read your Bible. The case of Rebekah is instructive. First her father waffled about her marrying Isaac; he said let’s leave it overnight. We never hear from him again. The next day Rebekah’s brother and mother bargain for the marriage. Why?

Because in the culture that transmitted that story, if a man died leaving unmarried daughters, those daughters had to be supported from his property. It had to be kept together to provide the income for their support. The widow could not collect her jointure; the sons could not split the property up amongst themselves and, if the income wasn’t enough to support them and the daughters too, the sons went out to work or even to beg.

Meanwhile the husband was responsible for the girl’s food and shelter, and for clothing that reflected his status. If she was an adult, she could agree to take her conjugal rights but if she said “no” the husband had to leave her alone.

An underage girl was taught to say “no”. A pregnancy could kill her. Once she reached puberty, she could repudiate the marriage completely, if it was her mother or brother who married her off. And she was taught that she had this right. From then on she could never marry without her own free consent.

So when Wallace says that the female servant in Judah’s household had her ear punched, he shows his ignorance of what the Bible says, as well as what Jewish law says. Jewish law prohibits taking out an exclusive services contract on a Jewish woman. Jewish law also does not require punching the ear of a non-Jew who refuses to leave in the 6^th year, because his contract does not expire in the 6^th year. It can be terminated by the contract holder, or it can be terminated by the court for cause – battery. 

Amrah does not have a hole punched in her ear.