The Mishnah is certainly applicable, but we should recognize that shomna esrei l’chupa is an application of a principle, not the principle itself. The principle of the Mishnah, as I think WIY was getting at, is that one should proceed to get married as soon as he is physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially able to do so. In mishnaic times, that would appear to have been sometime around 18, so that’s what the tanna wrote (why would he use any other age other than the one known to him from his own experiences in his own time?). Nowadays, we recognize that the mishna’s principle, if applied to modern people, would usually indicate an older age.
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