Q&A: Marrying a Non-Jewish Woman
Marrying a Non-Jewish Woman
Question
Is the prohibition, according to Jewish law, against marrying a non-Jewish woman a Torah-level prohibition or a rabbinic one?
As is known, the prohibition “You shall not intermarry with them” applies only to the seven nations, according to the rabbis in Rabbi Shimon’s view, who do not interpret the reason for the verse.
If it is not a Torah-level prohibition, why were they so stringent about it that “zealots may strike him,” and why did they enact many decrees so that people would not come to this?
Discussion on Answer
Who said there is a source and a Torah prohibition?
By the way, in the plain sense of the Talmudic passage there, the discussion is about whether betrothal takes effect, not about the prohibition. So there is room to derive a prohibition from somewhere else, and then it would not necessarily apply only to the seven nations. For example, according to Maimonides, there would apparently be a prohibition in the sense of neglecting the positive commandment to be fruitful and multiply by having relations without betrothal.
However, in the Laws of Forbidden Relations 12:1, Maimonides writes that there is a prohibition of “You shall not intermarry with them.” See the Kesef Mishneh and the other commentators there, who address your difficulty. And in fact, the Kesef Mishneh brings that according to the Tur this applies only to the seven nations.
As for the severity of the prohibition even if it does not involve an explicit negative commandment, see the link I sent you.
What is the source for the prohibition from the Torah? After all, the prohibition “You shall not intermarry with them” applies only to the seven nations [Kiddushin 68b]. Even if it seems from the Torah that this is improper, apparently there is no explicit prohibition about it.