and would have to be restored to her upon divorce or given to her sons in inheritance. It must be noted, however, that the mohar was not (in the extant sources) burdensome, and to say that a Woman of Strength was literally more expensive than rubies would have been a meaningless exaggeration. The mohar was in effect a short-term investment, since it was typically added to the dowry, to which the husband had access. The mohar was, as Yoder says, a legal formality (p. 49, n. 50). The bride-prices at