Divorce

= Divorce =
Legal dissolution of the marital union. Hence the severance of the marriage bond between a husband and a wife. Various original-language terms for “divorce” literally mean “send away” (De 22:19, ftn), “release” or “loose off” (Mt 1:19, Int; 19:3, ftn), “drive out; cast out” (Le 22:13,  ftn), and “cut off.”​—Compare De 24:1, 3, where the expression “a certificate of divorce” literally means “a book of cutting off.”
When Jehovah united Adam and Eve in wedlock, he made no provision for divorce. Jesus Christ made this clear when answering the Pharisees’ question: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on every sort of ground?” Christ showed that God purposed for man to leave his father and his mother and stick to his wife, the two becoming one flesh. Then Jesus added: “So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Mt 19:3-6; compare Ge 2:22-24.) The Pharisees next asked: “Why, then, did Moses prescribe giving a certificate of dismissal and divorcing her?” In reply, Christ said: “Moses, out of regard for your hardheartedness, made the concession to you of divorcing your wives, but such has not been the case from the beginning.”​—Mt 19:7, 8.
Though divorce was allowed among the Israelites on various grounds as a concession, Jehovah God regulated it in his Law given to Israel through Moses. Deuteronomy 24:1 reads: “In case a man takes a woman and does make her his possession as a wife, it must also occur that if she should find no favor in his eyes because he has found something indecent on her part, he must also write out a certificate of divorce for her and put it in her hand and dismiss her from his house.” Just what “something indecent” (literally, “the nakedness of a thing”) was is not specifically stated. That it was not adultery is indicated by the fact that God’s law given to Israel decreed that those guilty of adultery be put to death, not merely be divorced. (De 22:22-24) Doubtless, originally the ‘indecency’ that would have given a Hebrew husband some basis for divorcing his wife involved serious matters, perhaps the wife’s showing gross disrespect for the husband or bringing shame on the household. Since the Law specified that “you must love your fellow as yourself,” it is not reasonable to assume that petty faults could be used with impunity as excuses for divorcing a wife.​—Le 19:18.
In the days of Malachi many Jewish husbands were dealing treacherously with their wives, divorcing them on all kinds of grounds, ridding themselves of the wives of their youth, possibly in order to marry younger, pagan women. Instead of upholding God’s law, the priests allowed this, and Jehovah was greatly displeased. (Mal 2:10-16) That Jewish men were using many grounds for divorce when Jesus Christ was on earth is indicated by the question the Pharisees put to Jesus: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on every sort of ground?”​—Mt 19:3.
Among the Israelites a man customarily paid a dowry for the woman who became his wife, and she was considered his possession. While enjoying many blessings and privileges, hers was the subordinate role in the marital union. Her position is further shown by Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which pointed out that the husband might divorce his wife but said nothing about the wife’s divorcing her husband. Being considered his property, she could not divorce him. In secular history, the first recorded instance of a woman in Israel trying to divorce her husband was when King Herod’s sister Salome sent her husband, the governor of Idumea, a bill of divorce dissolving their marriage. (Jewish Antiquities, XV, 259 [vii, 10]) That such divorce action by women had begun to crop up when Jesus was on earth or that he foresaw its development may be indicated by Christ’s words: “If ever a woman, after divorcing her husband, marries another, she commits adultery.”​—Mr 10:12.
Certificate of Divorce. It should not be concluded from the later abuses that the original Mosaic divorce concession made it easy for an Israelite husband to divorce his wife. In order to do so, he had to take formal steps. It was necessary to write a document, to “write out a certificate of divorce for her.” The divorcing husband had to “put it in her hand and dismiss her from his house.” (De 24:1) While the Scriptures do not provide additional details on this procedure, this legal step apparently involved consultation with duly authorized men, who might first endeavor to effect a reconciliation. The time involved in preparing the certificate and legally implementing the divorce would afford the divorcing husband opportunity to reconsider his decision. There would have to be a basis for the divorce, and when the regulation was properly applied, this would logically serve as a deterrent to rash action in obtaining divorces. Then, too, the wife’s rights and interests were thus protected. The Scriptures do not disclose the contents of the “certificate of divorce.”
Category:Divorce