DEUT328 A "holy people" must remove all obstacles to the purity of family life and regard them as abominations [this verse]. Marriage is something more than a civil contract; it is an institution based on morality and implying the most sacred duties. It was wrong for one to betroth a wife before he had seen her (Kidd. 41a), or to marry a partner much younger or much older than himself (Yeb. 101b) In either case, the main object of marriage, procreation, would be jeopardized on account of age and impotency. The wife must be fully conscious of the implications of her marriage vow which, as the name Kiddushin implied, meant that she had been consecrated for her husband alone. It was R. Abba Areka of Sura (Rav) who emphatically protested against the practice of infant marriages, declaring it to be morally wrong for a father to contract a marriage on behalf of his daughter before she had attained the age of consent (Kidd. 41a).