"she enjoyed a better position and greater
freedom of divorce than was afforded either by the Christian Church or
English common law."[107]

Similar survivals of mother-right customs among the ancient Hebrews
are made familiar to us in Bible history. To mention a few examples
only: when Abraham sought a wife for Isaac, presents were taken by the
messenger to induce the bride to leave her home; and these presents
were given to her mother and brothers. Jacob had to serve Laban for
fourteen years before he was permitted to marry Leah and Rachel,[108]
and six further years of service were given for his cattle. Afterwards
when he wished to depart with his children and his wives, Laban made
the objection, "these daughters are my daughters, and these children
are my children."[109] Such acts point to the subordinate position
held by Jacob, which is clearly a survival of the servitude required
from the bridegroom by the relatives of the woman, who retain control
over her and her children, and even over the property of the man, as
was usual under the later matriarchal custom. The injunction in Gen.
ii. 24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife," refers without any doubt to the early marriage
under mother-right, when the husband left his own kindred and went to
live with his wife and among her people. We find Samson visiting his
Philistine wife, who remained with her kindred.[110] Even the
obligation to blood vengeance rested apparently on the maternal
kinsmen (Judges viii. 19). The Hebrew father did not inherit from his
son, nor the grandfather from the grandson,[111] which points back to
an ancient epoch when the children did not belong to the clan of the
father.[112] Among the Hebrews individual property was instituted in
very early times (Gen. xxiii. 13); but various customs show clearly
the ancient existence of communal clans. Thus the inheritance,
especially the paternal inheritance, must remain in the clan. Marriage
in the tribe is obligatory for daughters. "Let them marry to whom they
think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they
marry. So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove
from tribe to tribe."[113] We have here an indication of the close
relation between father-right and property.

Under mother-descent there is naturally no prohibition against
marriage with a half-sister upon the father's side. This explains the
marriage of