24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into 3 the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to 4 the wife he has married.
24:1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive 5 in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.
1 sn Aroer. Now known as àAraáir on the northern edge of the Arnon river, Aroer marked the southern limit of Moab and, later, of the allotment of the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:9, 16).
2 tn Heb “the city in the wadi.” This enigmatic reference may refer to Ar or, more likely, to Aroer itself. Epexegetically the text might read, “From Aroer…, that is, the city in the wadi.” See D. L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 1–11 (WBC), 49.
3 tn Heb “go out with.”
4 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
5 tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10).
6 tn Heb “an image, any likeness.”
7 tn Heb “under the earth” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “below the land.”