The Authority of a Father over an Adult Daughter

Mishpatim lists a seemingly random set of commandments, but a closer look shows that they are not really so random. The common theme is property rights.

Exodus 21:1	Introduction
Exodus 21:2-11	Rights of a master over a slave.
Exodus 21:12-36	Rights of a person over his own life and limb
Exodus 22:1-15	Rights of the owner of livestock, crops, and other property
Exodus 22:16-17	Rights of a father and future husband over a daughter and future bride
Exodus 22:18-23:19	God's expectations of those to whom he has delegated authority
Exodus 23:20-23	God's expectations of those under delegated authority
Exodus 23:24-33	Rights of God over his property
Exodus 24:1-18	Closing

A word about the rights of fathers over their daughters...I once wrote that a father always has the right to veto his daughter's choice of husband. I am no longer so strongly convinced.

Matot (Numbers 30-32) says that a father may annul the vows of his unmarried daughter still living in his house. I have had occasion since then to learn something of the life of an unmarried daughter who is not still living in her father's house, and it seems to me that Matot should be taken literally on that point. If she left her father's house with his consent and has lived on her own for many years, then she should probably be accorded the status of a widow or divorcee, responsible for her own finances, decisions, and vows. A situation like that would have been extremely rare in ancient Hebrew culture, so there would have been no particular reason to include it.