Not a great example in a Jewish understanding then. Unless my Christian teaching of it was unusual the Christian understanding seems to be that she was less lovely.

Lots of water imagery around getting wives in the Bible.

I am terribly irreverent because this immediately made me laugh.

Hey babe, want me to fetch you some water, mmm? t eyebrow waggles.

Devi is trying to attack my typing fingers. Given she still hasn't turned up that damned mouse, maybe she's a little frustrated with the lack of active prey....

Not a great example in a Jewish understanding then. Unless my Christian teaching of it was unusual the Christian understanding seems to be that she was less lovely.

Hey babe, want me to fetch you some water, mmm?

Oh baby, I love how you pump that well....

Poets might pine for the beautiful maiden, but a farmer is a sucker if he doesn't marry someone who can get the best price for eggs.

And poets appeared from under logs? Stepped out of voids unrelated to the society they lived in? And people popularized the songs that they didn't like or relate to in any way?

And poets appeared from under logs? Stepped out of voids unrelated to the society they lived in? And people popularized the songs that they didn't like or relate to in any way?

For an average person, it's wishful thinking that the only consideration is what a person looks like. In real life, you not only need to live with the person, you have to build a life with them. So in an individual case, personality, skills, whatever else a person brings to the table is at least as important as a societal evaluation of their physical beauty.

I'm not saying that beauty isn't valued. Just that it isn't valued above all else.

Also, at least in some situations,

Because of the scarcity of women on the frontier and the wealth they could bring to a marriage, widows were in demand as brides.

[link] People might not write ballads about that, but it's what happened.

For an average person, it's wishful thinking that the only consideration is what a person looks like...

Right. The wish is for... beauty. It's the ideal.

Unless my Christian teaching of it was unusual the Christian understanding seems to be that she was less lovely.

As far as I can tell, the only place Rachel's beauty is mentioned, or Leah's: "Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful."

Rereading the part where Jacob first sees Rachel, it's him who waters the flock, not her. There's a whole lot of discussion about who will take the stone off the top of the well, and when, but I really don't get what's going on there.

I think ita and I are primarily arguing degrees. I'm saying "beauty mattered most". She seems to be saying "but beauty represents other things" and I'm saying "to some degree, but it is largely valued only for its self".