in later portions of the book(Jub. 22:16 ff). Those who permitted their daughters to marry Gentiles were to die through stoning and the daughters through fire(Jub. 30:7 ff). There could be no atonement for this sin, and the act was considered akin to presenting the child to Molech.
The Book of Maccabees reported mixed marriages as part of the general pattern of assimilation to the Hellenistic culture and condemned them(1 Mace. 1:5, 11:18). The“Prayer of Esther”, an interpolation to the Biblical Esther, stressed her detestation“of the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien.” it was only necessity which brought her into the palace and into her position(“Prayer of Esther,” 115 f). Charles considered this and other additions as dating from the first century of our era or earlier. The same reluctance to engage in public intercourse or marriage with non-Jews was reflected in Josephus ’ tale of Joseph, who loved a pagan actress(Josephus , Antiquities XII, 4.6); he was eventually tricked into marrying the Jewish daughter of his own brother. Further evidence of mixed marriage is provided by some of the papyri.”* Those who left Judaism and probably were motivated by the desire to marry Gentiles were also vigorously denounced in Egypt by Philo (Moses 1, 147) and by the author of JI Maccabees(7:10£5).
Talmudic Period
The vast literature of the Talmud contains few discussions concerning mixed marriage. Each of the Biblical statements cited in the earlier section provided a basis for further development. Every effort was made to create a protective wall against the outer pagan world and to shield Jews from contact with non-Jews . During the most restrictive periods, non-Jewish bread, wine, and oil were prohibited, and anything cooked by non-Jews could not be consumed by a Jew (A.Z. 35b-38a); virtually all contact with non-Jews was prohibited(Nid. 34a; Shab. 1 6b; A.Z.36b). Naturally, this prohibition extended to casual sexual contact, and those who violated this injunction faced punishment without trial