Are there bibilical references that say races should not intermarry?

Question

Dinner conversation last night partially consisted of whether or not whites and blacks should date, marry and have kids. This family is a Christian family who say they have no other "problems" (in other words they aren't prejudice -- EXCEPT for this) with black people, just that the two skin colors shouldn't be mixed.

Is this in the Bible, that races shouldn't mix?
(Beside God saying that the Israelites should marry other Israelites. That was a religious issue, that they shouldn't marry pagans and idol-worshipers, not a race thing.)

Wow! I'm glad I got 100% good answers (that actually answer my question). I was slightly afraid I'd get people berating and everything, which seems to happen to anyone asking an honest question relating to religion. (Usually there's one or two answers that are just uncalled for, you know?)

Thank you for the examples. I think a lot of people forget that the people in the Bible aren't all white! For some reason that's the picture people get, I guess just the world we live in. Movies like 'Jesus of Nazareth' (that's the only one I can think of at the moment) incorrectly portray Jesus (and all the disciples and other people) as blue-eyed and blonde haired people! So not true!

Answer 1

No, but God told Israel not to mix with Canaanites, it had nothing to do with race, because they both were black. But instead it was to do with culture. God wanted to separate Israel to him self, because the rest of the inhabitants of Canaan were practicing pagan worship. Needless to say they disobeyed God and intermarried with the Canaanites and adopted many of their pagan practices.

Abraham was married to Keturah an Ethiopian.
Moses wife was black, as was he.
Judah the progenitor of Christ's tribe was married to a black woman.
Joseph was married to an Egyptian woman.
Benjamin was married to an Egyptian woman.

Answer 2

The Bible says we should not be unequally yoked... which means we should not marry a non believer. Moses married a black woman. God did not have a problem with that as she was a believer. there are quite few people that married outside there own tribes which was acceptable as long as the person was a believer. Ruth & Boaz for instance
Race has nothing to do with it it is all about worship

Answer 3

You will never find a scripture stating that people of different races should not combine. The issue withe the Israelites is that we should not marry unequally yoked. This means that Christians who marry someone with beliefs outside of Christianity will surely have spiritual battles within their home because they are not on one accord.

Answer 4

I don't know about blacks and whites marrying. But the part about the children of Israel not marrying outside the nation was to keep Israel pure so that the promised Messiah would, indeed, be of the seed of Abraham, just as God had promised.

I DO know THIS much, however, that we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

Answer 5

You are right, there is no prohibition in the Bible about intermarriage with other races. Christians can marry anyone that is a true believers in Jesus. Regarding race / skin color there are no prohibitions. Marrying a non believer will bring conflicts to the marriage that can be avoided.

Answer 6

Let me correct you, if I may... The deal about marrying within EACH TRIBE in Israel was not for religious issues, but for economical reasons... money matters...!!! Of course marrying outside of Israel was absolutely verboten! (relax, every rule in the Bible has plenty of exceptions) Moshe married an Ethiopian girl... she must have been black and beautiful!

Numbers 6:8-9 - Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father's tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers. No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits."

Answer 7

in the beginning God made man in his own image and All man was created equal. and sweetie God has no respect of color. he loves everyone the same. and everyone to him is the same. ifanyone have a problem with what color people are you need to take that up with the devil. he is the one who set up hate. not God, he is love. my husband is black and i am white, our children are bi-racial. and I'm still blessed by God. and so is my family. and any way you show me one person that is not got some other race with in there family. whether there Irish or indian or what ever. no one is 100%. and moses did not have a jewish wife because he lived with the egyptians the first 40 years of his life,and he was in the desert the next 40 years. miriam and aaron began to talk against moses because of his cushite wife,for he had married a cushite. "has the lord spoken only through moses?" they asked. "hasn't he also spoken through us?" and the lord heard this. (now moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) at once the lord said to moses, aaron and miriam,"come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you." so the three of them came out. then the lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned aaron and miriam. when both of them stepped forward, he said, "listen to my words: "when a prophet of the lord is among you, i reveal myself to him in visions, i speak to him in dreams. but this is not true of my servant moses; he is faithful in all my house. with him i speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the lord. why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant moses?". and that was when the lord gave miriam leprosy, moses for forgiveness and moses went before the lord and the lord said it was a punishment and in 7 days she could return to the camp and they could move on. now i see the real issue was their growing jealousy of moses' position and influence. since they could not find fault with the way moses was leading the people, they chose to criticize his wife. rather face the problem squarely by dealing with their envy and pride, they chose to create a diversion from the real issue. it was not a race issue, it was a spiritual problem within there selves.

Answer 8

Two things come to mind...
First consider this from Numbers 12...I would read the whole chapter. The bottom line is that God struck Miriam with leprosy because she told Moses that he should not have married a black woman.

"Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!" So the three came out. Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. Then He said,


"Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream.
Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.
I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?"

So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper."

Second, when Paul made his case for God to the Greek philosophers at Mars Hill, he said something very profound especially for 2000 years ago...he said something that we now know to be true but that strains against some very strongheld beliefs both then and now...it is in Acts 17.

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,..."

I guess science has finally caught up with Paul's revelation.

As for your friends, I accept that they can have race based marriage "preferences" without being prejudiced. Everyone is entitled to preferences. I just wouldn't attempt to paint with a broad brush my preferences on others nor would I paint them as of God unless the Word backed it up.

The Word seems to be clear to me in the Moses example. And I agree with your interpretation of the Israelite marriage issue....it was clearly religious and not racial.

agapefromnc

Answer 9

They do have a problem, it's called racism. If all skin colors are equal, then there should be no problem with them dating amongst each other. The family who told you this are racists. Don't let them use their religion as a defense for their bigotry.

Answer 10

I dont think you will find a direct reference to different races marrying. Often folks like too site the "Jewish law".

Its a fact of life, so folks might as well get use to it.