Love and marriage: Revisiting patriarchy and matriarchy in biblical narrative

Abstract

The article deals with various patterns of marriage relationships which were depicted in the Old Testament (Book of Genesis). Three types of marriages are distinguished there based, inter alia, upon the love relationships of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Those patterns are founded upon the realism of the Bible narrative which provides for different, sometimes difficult and “loveless”, relationships among the couples. The article also argues that gender was not always determinative of the functional and even public role of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs where, for example, Rebecca, not Isaac, is in all but name the veritable “Patriarch”.