Cousin couples in the Bible

The Bible does not forbid cousins from marrying, but it does prohibit sexual relations with several other close relatives.  Therefore, religion is not a valid reason to ban cousin marriage.  Protestant churches generally allow cousin marriage, in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by Martin Luther and John Calvin during the Reformation.  This includes most of the major US denominations, such as Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist. The Anglican Communion has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of King Henry VIII. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished. Protestants during the Reformation struggled to interpret the Biblical proscriptions against incest in a sensible manner, a task frustrated by facts like their omission of the daughter (but inclusion of the granddaughter) as a directly prohibited relation.  But in contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox Church prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.  The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia refers to a theory by the Anglican bishop of Bath and Wells speculating that Mary and Joseph, the mother of Jesus and her husband, were first cousins.  Jack Goody describes this theory as a "legend."

Isaac and Rebekah's firstborn son Esau married his cousin Mahalah, daughter of his father's brother Ishmael.

Jacob married his cousins Leah and Rachel, daughters of his mother's brother Laban.

According to many English Bible translations, another example is the five daughters of Zelophehad, who married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of Moses, although other translations merely say "relatives."

During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, Caleb gives his daughter Achsah to his brother's son Othniel according to the NAB (Joshua 15:17), though the Jewish Talmud argues Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b).

The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David (1 Chronicles 23:22).

King Rehoboam, son of Solomon and grandson of David, had two wives Maacah and Mahalath who were also grandchildren of David (2 Chronicles 11:20).