Editing Jewish views on marriage (section)

===== Physical obligations =====
The Talmud argues that a husband is responsible for the protection of his wife's body. If his wife became ill, then he would be compelled, by the Talmud, to defray any medical expense which might be incurred in relation to this;<ref name="Ket46b47b"/> the Talmud requires him to ensure that the wife receives care.<ref name="Ket46b47b"/> Although he technically had the right to divorce his wife, enabling him to avoid paying for her medical costs, several prominent rabbis throughout history condemned such a course of action as inhuman behaviour, even if the wife was suffering from a prolonged illness.<ref name="JewEncHusWif"/>

If the wife dies, even if not due to illness, the Talmud's stipulations require the husband to arrange, and pay for, her burial;<ref name="Ket46a47b">''Ketubot'' 46a-47b</ref> the burial must, in the opinion of the Talmud, be one conducted in a manner befitting the husband's social status, and in accordance with the local custom.<ref name="Ket46a47b"/> Prominent rabbis of the Middle Ages clarified this, stating that the husband must make any provisions required by local burial customs, potentially including the hiring of mourners and the erection of a tombstone.<ref name="MaMiTorIs142324">Maimonides, ''Mishneh Torah'', ''Ishut'' 14:23-24</ref><ref name="JabAshEbEz89">Jacob ben Asher, ''Eben ha-'Ezer'', 89</ref> According to the Talmud, and later rabbinic writers, if the husband was absent, or refused to do these things, a rabbinical court should arrange the wife's funeral, selling some of the husband's property in order to defray the costs.<ref name="MaMiTorIs142324"/><ref name="JabAshEbEz89"/>

If the wife was captured, the husband was required by the Talmud and later writers to pay the ransom demanded for her release;<ref name="Ket51a">''Ketubot'' 51a</ref><ref name="MaMiTorIs141822">Maimonides, ''Mishneh Torah'', ''Ishut'' 14:18-22</ref><ref name="JabAshEbEz78">Jacob ben Asher, ''Eben ha-'Ezer'', 78</ref><ref name="JKShuArYD25210">[[Joseph Karo]], ''[[Shulkhan Arukh]]'', ''Yoreh De'ah'' 252:10</ref> there is some debate whether the husband was required only to pay up to the wife's market value as a slave,<ref>''[[Gittin]]'', 45a</ref> or whether he must pay any ransom, even to the point of having to sell his possessions to raise the funds.<ref name="JewEncHusWif"/> If the husband and wife were both taken captive, the historic Jewish view was that the rabbinic courts should first pay the ransom for the wife, selling some of the husband's property in order to raise the funds.<ref name="Ket51a"/><ref name="MaMiTorIs141822"/><ref name="JabAshEbEz78"/><ref name="JKShuArYD25210"/>