H5772 H5772
marital rights, conjugal duty (especially the wife's right to cohabitation within marriage)
This term refers to the marital rights owed within the covenant of marriage, particularly the physical intimacy that is part of the marriage bond. The Hebrew root likely connects to ideas of response or correspondence between husband and wife. In Exodus 21, it appears in a list of three basic rights a wife retains even if her husband takes an additional wife: food, clothing, and marital relations. The term underscores that physical intimacy is not merely optional but a covenant obligation, protecting the dignity and rights of the wife within the marriage relationship.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Appears in Exodus 21:10 within the Covenant Code's regulations on treatment of a female slave who becomes a wife. The multilingual glosses consistently interpret this as 'marital rights' or 'conjugal rights,' reflecting the understanding that this is a protected entitlement within the marriage covenant, not a mere preference. The context places it alongside food and clothing as non-negotiable provisions. 1×
AR["وَ-مُعاشَرَتَها"]·ben["এবং-তার-সহবাস"]·DE["und-ihr-marital-rights"]·EN["and-her-marital-rights"]·FR["et-sa-marital-rights"]·heb["ו-עונתה"]·HI["और-अधिकार-उसका"]·ID["dan-hak perkawinannya"]·IT["e-suo-marital-rights"]·jav["lan-kuwajiban-nikah-ipun"]·KO["그리고-그녀의-부부의-도리를"]·PT["e-seu-direito-conjugal"]·RU["и-супружеские-права-её"]·ES["y-su-derecho-conyugal"]·SW["na-haki-yake-ya-ndoa"]·TR["ve-evlilik-hakkını"]·urd["اور-اُس-کا-حق"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H1616 1. sojourner, resident alien (92×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H5608b 1. scribe, royal secretary (48×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [עֹנָה] n.f. cohabitation (NH עוֹנָה time, also = BH; poss. response or correspondence, commerce, from above √; or else euphemist., specific time, SS (cf. BaES17, from √ أنى); Thes from עוֹן dwell);—sf. עֹנָתָהּ Ex 21:10 (E) i.e. her marriage rights.—Ho 10:10 v. עָוֹן.