Summary

In this, the first of two historically oriented chapters that conclude Part One, Hyde discusses instances in which human beings are treated as gifts, namely marriage practices. He takes a passage from the Old Testament—“Let us take their daughters to us for wives and let us give them our daughters”—to be an insightful, if not problematic, point of departure. Hyde notes that inter-marriage between ancient tribes or clans serves no real economic function, but it does produce a cohesive community that operates according to the gift economy outlined in previous chapters. Hyde admits that this practice, while still referenced in some contemporary Protestant wedding liturgies, often disturbs modern understandings of justice and personhood. He is careful to note that women in ancient societies were not treated as chattel or commodities. A father may give his daughter as...