Divorce(bill of divorce)
Summary
The legal dissolution of marriage, regulated in the Old Testament and more strictly limited by Christ's teaching to the sole ground of sexual unfaithfulness.
☩Old Testament Provision
The Mosaic law permitted a husband to divorce his wife if he found 'some uncleanness' in her, requiring him to give her a formal bill of divorcement. This document, drawn up by proper authorities, served as a check on hasty action and protected the woman's right to remarry. The wife, however, had no corresponding right under Jewish law, though ladies of higher classes sometimes acted as if they did. By the time of Christ, rabbinic schools disputed the grounds for divorce—the school of Shammai limiting it to moral delinquency, while Hillel's school extended it to trivial causes such as burning food.
☩Christ's Teaching
Jesus declared that Moses' permission was an accommodation to human hardness of heart, not God's original intention. From the beginning, God created male and female to become 'one flesh' in marriage—a union that man should not dissolve. Christ taught that whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication (porneia), and marries another commits adultery. This exception refers to a sexual crime since the beginning of the marriage, which breaks the 'one flesh' union and therefore permits divorce.
☩Apostolic Instruction
Paul affirmed the Lord's command against divorce for believing couples, adding that if a separation occurred, the parties must remain unmarried or be reconciled. For marriages where only one partner was a believer, Paul taught that if the unbeliever consented to remain, the believer should not seek divorce; but if the unbeliever departed, the believer was not bound. This 'Pauline privilege' recognized the unique difficulties facing converts whose spouses rejected their new faith.
☩Symbolism
Divorce is used figuratively in Scripture to express God's action in putting away Israel, who had been grossly unfaithful to the covenant relationship. The prophets portrayed Israel as an adulterous wife whom God had divorced, yet whom He promised to restore. This imagery emphasizes both the gravity of spiritual unfaithfulness and the wonder of divine grace that seeks reconciliation.
Related Verses13 mentions
References
- 1.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Divorce," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Divorce," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.John McClintock and James Strong, "Divorce, Christian Law Of," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Divorce," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 5.George Morrish, "Divorce," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 6.George Morrish, "Divorce," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).