Betroth

See also [[Marriage]] be-troth’, be-troth’ (’dras): On betrothal as a social custom see [[Marriage]]. Hosea, in his great parable of the prodigal wife, surpassed only by a greater Teacher’s parable of the Prodigal Son, uses betrothal as the symbol of Yahweh’s pledge of His love and favor to penitent Israel (Ho 2:19,20). In Ex 21:8,9 the [[Revised Version]] (British and American) renders "espouse" for the "betroth" of the [[King James Version]], the context implying the actual marriage relation.