Bridegroom

The bridegroom appears in scripture as a literal wedding-day figure — exempt from war for one year, attended by a retinue of friends, emerging from his chamber on the marriage morning — and as a figure for Yahweh's covenant-love for his people and, in the Gospels, for Jesus himself among his disciples. The literal practice and the figurative use sit close together: the dawn-joy of a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and the joy of Yahweh rejoicing over Zion as a bridegroom over a bride are spoken in nearly the same breath.

The Bridegroom's First Year

The Mosaic statute carves the opening year of marriage out of every other claim on the bridegroom: "When a man takes a new wife, he will not go out in the host, neither will he be charged with any business: he will be free at home one year, and will cheer his wife whom he has taken" (De 24:5). The new bridegroom is exempt from the muster and from any business-charge so that the first year of marriage may be spent at home cheering his wife.

The Bridegroom's Companions

At Samson's wedding-feast the Philistines bring thirty companions to attend the bridegroom: "And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty friends to be with him" (Jud 14:11). The bridegroom is the feast-centered figure whose social role is filled out by a retinue brought in by the bride's people.

The Bridegroom's Ornaments

The bridegroom is adorned for his wedding-day, and the prophet uses that adornment as the figure for Yahweh's clothing of his servant in salvation: "I will greatly rejoice in [the Speech of] Yahweh, my soul will be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels" (Isa 61:10). The bridegroom decking himself with a garland is the visible counterpart to the bride adorning herself with her jewels.

The Bridegroom's Chamber

The psalmist sees the dawning sun as a bridegroom coming out of the chamber where he has spent the wedding-night: "Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices as a strong man to run his course" (Ps 19:5). The bridegroom's chamber-emergence is paired with the strong man's joy at the start of his race — both images of a vigorous, joyful day-start.

The Bridegroom's Song to His Bride

In the Song of Songs the bridegroom-voice addresses the bride at length, naming her as "my sister, [my] bride" and praising her beauty in piled images of Lebanon, fragrant oils, garden-spices, and a sealed spring:

"You are entirely beautiful, my love; And there is no spot in you. Come with me from Lebanon, [my] bride, With me from Lebanon... You have ravished my heart, my sister, [my] bride; You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, With one chain of your neck. How fair is your love, my sister, [my] bride!" (So 4:7-10).

The bridegroom-figure goes on: "Your lips, O [my] bride, drop [as] the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under your tongue... A garden shut up is my sister, [my] bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (So 4:11-12). The bride is a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and the section closes with the bride's answering call: "Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits" (So 4:16).

Yahweh as Bridegroom

The figurative bridegroom in the prophets is Yahweh himself, betrothing his people to himself. In Isaiah the husband-figure is named: "For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he will be called the God of the whole earth" (Isa 54:5). And the bridegroom's joy over the bride is taken as the model of Yahweh's joy over Zion: "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you" (Isa 62:5).

In Jeremiah, Yahweh names himself the husband of backsliding sons and calls them home: "Return, O backsliding sons, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you⁺: and I will take you⁺ one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you⁺ to Zion" (Jer 3:14). In Hosea the betrothal-vow is given fourfold: "And I will betroth you to me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies" (Hos 2:19).

Ezekiel develops the same figure as a covenant entered at the bride's coming-of-age. The Sovereign Yahweh passes by, sees that her time was "the time of love," and enters covenant with her:

"Now when I passed by you, and looked on you, and saw your time was the time of love; and [my Speech] spread over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, [my Speech] swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Yahweh, and you became mine" (Ezek 16:8).

The bridegroom-figure then washes, anoints, clothes, and adorns the bride: "I clothed you also with embroidered work, and put sandals on you with sealskin... And I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head" (Ezek 16:10-12). She is decked with gold and silver and becomes "exceedingly beautiful," her renown going forth among the nations "through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Sovereign Yahweh" (Ezek 16:13-14).

The Bridegroom Among the Disciples

When asked why his disciples do not fast, Jesus answers with the bridegroom-figure: "Can the sons of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can't fast" (Mark 2:19). He turns the figure forward to the day of his removal: "But the days will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day" (Mark 2:20). The Lukan parallel preserves the same saying with a plural-you marking on the questioners: "Can you⁺ make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast in those days" (Luke 5:34-35). The presence of the bridegroom is the ground of joy; the taking-away of the bridegroom is the ground of fasting.

The Marriage of the Lamb

The bridegroom-figure runs out into Revelation's wedding-vision: "Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready" (Rev 19:7). The Lamb-bridegroom's wife has prepared herself, and the marriage that the prophets announced is now declared come.

The Bridegroom in the Wars of Liberation

Among the Maccabean narratives the bridegroom-figure carries both the inversion and the practice of wedding-joy. After the Antiochene sack of Jerusalem the universal-clause runs: "Every bridegroom took up lamentation: And the bride who sat in the marriage bed, mourned" (1Ma 1:27). The expected wedding-joy is wholly overturned, every bridegroom taking up lamentation in place of song. Later the narrator stages a wedding-procession the Jonathan-revenge will interrupt: "the sons of Jambri made a great marriage, and were bringing the bride out of Madaba, the daughter of one of the great princes of Canaan, with great pomp" (1Ma 9:37). And the canonical king-as-bridegroom appears at the Ptolemais royal-wedding: "And King Alexander met him, and he gave him his daughter Cleopatra: and he celebrated her marriage at Ptolemais, with great glory, after the manner of kings" (1Ma 10:58). The bridegroom in 1 Maccabees is by turns the lamenting bridegroom of the sacked city, the Jambri groom-side fetching the bride from Madaba, and the bridegroom-king receiving Cleopatra in royal state.