The Ring in the Marriage Ceremony

The use of the ring as a pledge is of very ancient date. "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

"And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand." (Gen. xli. 41, 42.)

Clemens tells us its use in the marriage service be gan in Egypt, and then, as now, signified a transfer of property. "With all my worldly goods I thee endow." The marriage-ring gave to an Egyptian woman the power to issue commands in the name of her husband, and made her in every way his representative.

Among the Anglo-Saxons, the bridegroom gave a pledge, or "wed" (a term from which we derive the word wedding), at the betrothal ceremony. This wed consisted, among other things, of a ring, which was placed on the maiden's right hand, and remained there until transferred at the marriage ceremony to the left hand, At this ceremony the bridegroom put the ring first on the end of the thumb, then on the first, and then on the second finger, naming the Trinity; and lastly placed it on the third or marriage finger, to signify that next to God her duty was to her husband. Our marriage ceremony is very nearly the same as that used by our forefathers, a few obsolete words being changed.

The ring by its form is a symbol of eternity, and in the marriage ceremony is a pledge before God of the intention of both parties to keep forever the solemn covenant into which they have entered. Wedding-presents, of various descriptions, have been customary from remote times.