Walter Jacob
The Book of Proverbs contains a number of references against associating with loose or foreign women(Prov. 2:16-17, 5:3-20, 7:5-27). These are hortatory statements, not prohibitions. The prophet Malachi denounced such marriages(Mal. 2:11). The clearest statements against mixed marriage appeared at the end of the Biblical period in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah , when we find specific legislation prohibiting such marriages and demanding that Israelites separate themselves from foreign wives(Ezra 9:12, 10:10 ff). Ezra scrutinized the marriages of the citizens of Jerusalem and neighboring villages. Considerable time was taken to complete this task against some opposition. A list of priests, Levites, and other Israelites who had intermarried and relinquished their foreign wives was provided(Ezra 10:18 ff). Among those listed by Ezra as having engaged in intermarriage we find many among the High Priests’ families, thirteen among other priests, ten Levites, and eighty-six Judeans . The problem was not entirely solved, as the same difficulty arose again in the days of Nehemiah , who railed against those who had taken wives from Ashdod , Ammon, and Moab. Nehemiah did not advocate the dissolution of these marriages, although he removed the son of a High Priest who had entered such an alliance.
Each of these statements prohibiting mixed marriage was subjected to detailed Talmudic discussion, which provided a totally different interpretation. We should remember that all of these Biblical statements which dealt with mixed marriage or prohibited it, did not declare such a marriage invalid. That thought was foreign to the Bible and did not appear until a later period.