19条关于订婚的圣经经文，以及为什么订婚本身就具有约束力

In the Bible an engagement, called betrothal, was already binding. Matthew says that Joseph, finding Mary pregnant before the wedding, “had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:19), and the same verse calls him “Joseph her husband.” The law of Moses treated a betrothed woman as a man’s wife (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), and a man pledged to a woman but not yet married was excused from battle (Deuteronomy 20:7). The nineteen verses below are grouped around that promise: what is…