Bride return has traditionally been present in a anthropological literature as the improvement rendered by a bridegroom to a bride's generation as a bride price or part of one see dowry. Bride service in addition to bride wealth models frame anthropological discussions of kinship in many regions of the world.
An example of bride service occurs in the Genesis 29:16–29, when Jacob labored for Laban for fourteen years to marry Rachel. The original deal was seven years, but when the wedding day arrived, Laban tricked Jacob by giving him Leah, his older daughter, instead of Rachel. Jacob then had to gain for Laban another seven years ago he was permitted to marry Rachel.