Pilegesch
Pilegesch ( פילגש), also concubine is a Hebrew term for a concubine whose legal position differed from that of a wife only in the form of the marriage and her property rights claims.
Origin of the term
Pilegesch is related to the Greek term pallax / pallakis , which means " mistress " or "lover", also "favorite". The derivation from an Aramaic-Hebrew term Palga Ischa ("half woman"), however, is to be understood as a popular etymology.
Legal equipment
In ancient times, a pilegesh was recognized by the Hebrews and enjoyed the same rights in the home as the rightful wife. Since having many children was considered a blessing and childlessness was considered a calamity, rightful wives gave their maidservants to their husbands to compensate for their infertility, as in the cases of Sarah and Hagar , Lea and Silpa , Rachel and Bilha . The concubine deserved the same inviolability and respect as the wife, and it was considered a degradation of the man to whom she belonged if a hand was laid on her.
According to the Babylonian Talmud (Sanh. 21a), the difference between a Pilegesh and a legitimate full wife was that the latter received a ketubba , a marriage contract, and their marriage was initiated by a prior engagement, which was only partially true of the Pilegesch. According to Yehuda ha-Nasi , the Pilegesch also received a ketubba, but without written alimony.
All the children of a man with his concubine were treated on an equal footing with the children from the marriage, in contrast to the so-called mamserim .
Individual evidence
- ^ Marriage Law Dictionary of Jewish Law. 1980 reprint of the articles by Marcus Cohn, Goethe University , Frankfurt am Main that appeared in the "Jewish Lexicon" (1927–1930)
- ^ Walter Homolka : The Jewish marriage law , in: De Processibus Matrimonialibus. Journal on questions of canonical marriage and procedural law, 2006, pp. 37–55