of renunciation in Selden's Uxor Ebr. Lib ii., chap. 3.
4. "A Hebrew wife was, in fact, comparatively little more than the husband's slave!" So says Omicron; and the Puritan makes the same assertion. (P. 7, at the bottom.) What proof is offered? None by either writer, except the law of divorce. This we shall examine presently. In the meantime we deny the fact. In Christian lands some wives are treated by their husbands worse than slaves. But such cruel treatment is not authorized by the Divine law; nor does it affect the relation of women to its binding authority. Did Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, treat their wives little better than slaves? Did Moses and Aaron act thus towards their wives? Did Elkanah treat his wives as slaves? (1 Sam. 1:4–8.) Did King David so treat his wives?
The Hebrews did, it is allowed, in corrupt periods, act toward their wives with great cruelty. But such conduct was unauthorized by their laws. It was acting in opposition to the original design of the marriage institution. Woman was formed by the Creator to be "a help-meet" for man. (Gen. 2:18.) It was always His will
