New Moabites. The Old Testament, Mixed Unions and Christian Interpretations after the Reformation

This essay will examine some texts and biblical commentaries from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries that dealt with repudiation based on specific passages from the Old Testament that acquired significant meaning in the early modern period. In particular, the analysis will focus on some passages from the his- torical and prophetic books (Ezra 9-10; Neh. 13; Mal. 2:10-16) to understand how the Reformed communities and Catholics (for whom marriage remained indissoluble) legitimized their respective doctrinal positions and interpreted mixed marriages at a time when the division of Europe, growing mobility and the global expansion of Catholicism multiplied marital relationships that transcended original ethnic or religious affiliations.