📖 Biblical Definition
The dowry — properly, the bride-price in biblical custom — was the payment a man made to the bride’s father in order to marry her. Scripture reflects the practice without condemning it: in Exodus 22:16-17, a man who seduces an unbetrothed virgin must pay the bride-price as he would have for a wife — and the father may still refuse. Jacob labored fourteen years (and then six more) for his wives Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:20-27). The bride-price was not the purchase of a slave but a covenantal demonstration that marriage was costly, serious, and binding — the man invested his labor before the woman invested her life. Modern Christian men do well to recover the principle: marriage should cost the groom before it costs the bride.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The money, goods, or estate which a woman brings to her husband in marriage.
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DOW'RY, n. 1. What a woman brings to her husband in marriage. 2. The reward paid for a wife. Webster recognized both directions of marriage-related transfer.
📖 Key Scripture
• Exodus 22:16-17 — "He shall pay the bride-price for her and make her his wife."
• Genesis 29:20 — "Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed but a few days because of his love."
• Genesis 34:12 — "Ask me for as great a bride-price as you will."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The dowry system has been both romanticized and demonized; its covenantal purpose is ignored.
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Modern Western culture has abandoned any bride-price concept, treating marriage as costless and easily dissolved. In some cultures, dowry has been corrupted into oppression. Neither reflects the biblical intent. The bride-price communicated that marriage was costly, binding, and protective of the woman's dignity and security.
Usage
• "Jacob worked fourteen years for Rachel — a picture of how costly true covenantal love should be."
• "The bride-price was a pledge of seriousness — something modern no-cost, no-fault marriage has lost."