Bride Price as Cultural Covenant: Tracing the Hebrew Mohar Tradition and its Continuing Relevance for Christian Marriage Theology in Africa

Abstract

The practice of bride price, which is the transfer of gifts or payment from a prospective groom's family to the bride's household as part of the matrimonial process occupies a complex and contested place in African Christian communities. Proponents affirm its biblical grounding, while critics decry its susceptibility to commercialization and its potential to commodify women. This study argues that a responsible theological assessment of bride price must begin with a careful tracing of the Hebrew mohar tradition as it unfolds across the Old Testament, and must then engage the hermeneutical question of how a Hebrew cultural covenant functions as a normative resource for African Christian marriage theology. Drawing on comparative analysis of key Old Testament texts (Genesis 24:53; 29:15–30; 34:12; Exodus 22:16–17; Ruth 4:3–9; 1 Samuel 18:25), extra-biblical ancient Near Eastern documents (Akkadian terhatum texts, Nuzi tablets), and contemporary African theological scholarship, the paper demonstrates that the mohar tradition in the Hebrew Bible operates within a covenantal, rather than commercial-theological framework. The paper further contends that this covenantal framework retains hermeneutical relevance for African Christian communities, not as a cultural mandate but as a theological paradigm that dignifies women, honours familial bonds, and situates marriage within a broader economy of grace. The study concludes by proposing a biblically grounded, contextually sensitive theology of bride price for African Christianity.