Deuteronomy 24:1-4

24:1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive ¹  in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 24:2 When she has left him ²  she may go and become someone else’s wife. 24:3 If the second husband rejects ³  her and then divorces her, ⁴  gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 24:4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry ⁵  her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. ⁶  You must not bring guilt on the land ⁷  which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Isaiah 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ⁸ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ⁹ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 3:1

3:1 “If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,

he may not take her back again. ¹¹ 

Doing that would utterly defile the land. ¹² 

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. ¹³ 

So what makes you think you can return to me?” ¹⁴ 

says the Lord.

Matthew 1:19

1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, ¹⁵  was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her ¹⁶  privately.

Matthew 5:31-32

Divorce

5:31 “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’ ¹⁷  5:32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:7

19:7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” ¹⁸ 

[24:1]  ¹ 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).

[24:2]  ² tn Heb “his house.”

[24:3]  ³ tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.

[24:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”

[24:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”

[24:4]  ⁶ sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.

[24:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).

[50:1]  ⁸ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ⁹ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ¹⁰ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[3:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[3:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.

[1:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.

[1:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “send her away.”

[5:31]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 24:1.

[19:7]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ Although the majority of witnesses (B C W 078 087 ˹³ 33 Ï sy^p,h) have αὐτήν (authn, “her”) after the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”), a variant lacks the αὐτήν. This shorter reading may be due to assimilation to the Markan parallel, but since it is attested in early and diverse witnesses (א D L Z Θ Ë¹ 579 700 pc lat) and since the parallel verse (Mark 10:4) already departs at many points, the shorter reading seems more likely to be original. The pronoun has been included in the translation, however, for clarity. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations regarding its authenticity.