83:3.2 The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride bride] shows were occasions for [[dressing]] up and decorating daughters for [[public]] exhibition with the [[idea]] of their bringing higher prices as [[wives]]. But they were not sold as [[animals]]—among the later [[tribes]] such a [[wife]] was not transferable. Neither was her purchase always just a cold-blooded [[money]] [[transaction]]; [[service]] was equivalent to cash in the purchase of a wife. If an otherwise desirable man could not pay for his wife, he could be [[adopted]] as a son by the girl's [[father]] and then could marry. And if a poor man sought a wife and could not meet the price demanded by a grasping [[father]], the [[elders]] would often bring [[pressure]] to bear upon the [[father]] which would result in a [[modification]] of his demands, or else there might be an [[elopement]]. | 83:3.2 The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride bride] shows were occasions for [[dressing]] up and decorating daughters for [[public]] exhibition with the [[idea]] of their bringing higher prices as [[wives]]. But they were not sold as [[animals]]—among the later [[tribes]] such a [[wife]] was not transferable. Neither was her purchase always just a cold-blooded [[money]] [[transaction]]; [[service]] was equivalent to cash in the purchase of a wife. If an otherwise desirable man could not pay for his wife, he could be [[adopted]] as a son by the girl's [[father]] and then could marry. And if a poor man sought a wife and could not meet the price demanded by a grasping [[father]], the [[elders]] would often bring [[pressure]] to bear upon the [[father]] which would result in a [[modification]] of his demands, or else there might be an [[elopement]]. |