Editing Marriageable age (section)

====Post-Classical period====

In [[Rabbinic Judaism]], males cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 13 years and a day and have undergone [[puberty]] and females cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 12 years and a day and have undergone [[puberty]]. Males and females are considered [[Minor (law)|minors]] until the age of twenty. After twenty, males are not considered adults if they show signs of impotence. If males show no signs of puberty or do show impotence, they automatically become adults by age 35 and can marry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10861-minority|title=MAJORITY |website=Jewish Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10888-mi-un|title=MI'UN |website=Jewish Encyclopedia}}</ref> Marriage involved a double ceremony, which included the formal betrothal and wedding rites.<ref name="Britannica Marriage Rituals">{{cite web |title=Marriage rituals |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/marriage/Marriage-rituals |website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=22 July 2024 }}</ref>

The minimum age for marriage was 13 years old for males and 12 years old for females but formal betrothal could take place before that and often did. Talmud advises males to get married at 18 years old or between 16 years old and 24 years old.<ref>{{cite web |title=Issues in Jewish Ethics: Marriage |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/marriage-in-judaism |website=jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>

A ''ketannah'' (literally meaning "little [one]") was any girl between the age of 3 years and that of 12 years plus one day;<ref name="JewEncMaj">{{Jewish Encyclopedia |article=Majority |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=M&artid=91}}</ref> she was subject to her father's authority, and he could arrange a marriage for her without her agreement, and that marriage remains binding even after reaching the age of maturity.<ref name="JewEncMaj" /> If a girl was orphaned from her father, or she was married by his authority and subsequently divorced, she, her mother, or her brother could marry her in a quasi-binding fashion. Until the age of maturity, she could annul the marriage retroactively. After reaching the age of maturity, intercourse with her husband renders her officially married.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/legal-religious-status-of-married-woman |title= Conditions Necessary for Legal Marriage | vauthors = Meacham T |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10435-marriage-laws |title= Marriage Laws | vauthors = Schechter S, Greenstone JH  |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref>