Woman’s Position According to the Bible by Annie Besant-1885

Passing from the forms in which marriage is found in the Bible, we will next consider biblical marriage laws. In the earlier times there appear to have been no laws concerning it; Sarah "gave" Hagar to be Abraham's wife (Gen. xvi., 3), and when she was tired of Hagar's presence Abraham "sent her away" (xxi., 14) without any formalities. The validity of a Hebrew marriage later depended on the social status of the husband.