HUSBAND. The marriage relation imposed upon the husband certain obligations and conferred upon him certain rights more generally described in the Scripture but rather minutely regulated in the rabbinical law. The modern Jews, in all the civilized countries of the world, are more mindful of and govern themselves much more, if not entirely, by the laws of the countries whose citizens they are.

1. The husband’s duties. The OT and the Mosaic law in particular, do not contain express provisions concerning marital rights and responsibilities, except the injunction made in definitely clear terms: “Her food, her raiment and her conjugal right shall he not diminish” (Exod 21:10 KJV). It is upon this casual intimation that the elaborate regulations of the rabbinical code are based. The responsibilities of the husband can be included largely under the following headings:

a). The responsibility of the husband is to provide his wife with the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, and dwelling. The extent of this responsibility depended upon his fortune and situation in life, and also upon the local customs.

b) The responsibility of the husband is to have conjugal cohabitation with his wife. A continued refusal, on either side, regarding this duty was not excused by sickness and circumstances and offered sufficient grounds for divorce.

c) The responsibility of the husband is to provide proper medical care and nursing when the wife is sick.

d) The responsibility of the husband is to protect his wife and to ransom her in the eventuality of her falling into captivity. The frequent invasion of Bedouins in the Near Eastern countries and the continued wars in Europe during the Middle Ages made the provision for such an eventuality quite necessary.

e) The responsibility of the husband is to provide for her burial in case of her death. The duty of providing for the wife’s burial included also that of providing for her a tombstone and the covering of expenses for funeral solemnities according to his and her station in society.

2. The husband’s rights. The husband’s rights according to the Jewish law were as follows:

a) He was entitled to whatever the wife earned by her labor and industry. His right to her earnings was based on the consideration of his obligation to support her.

b) He was entitled to whatever she gained by chance, inheritance, donation, legacy, or in any other way.

c) He was entitled to the usufruct of all the property she brought into marriage at the time of their marriage.

d) He was entitled to become her sole heir on her death.

Bibliography L. A. Lambert, Thesaurus Biblicus (1880), 386-389; M. Mielzinger, The Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce (1901) 100-102.