When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
It come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes. It appears that the practice of divorces was at this early period very prevalent among the Israelites, who had in all probability become familiar with it in Egypt (Lane), where too great facilities, and that on the most frivolous pretexts, have always existed to the dissolution of the nuptial tie. Parties agree to live together as man and wife for a stipulated period-for a month, for a year, or two years-and then separate in the most friendly manner. The usage being too deep-rooted to be soon or easily abolished, was tolerated by Moses. Because he hath found some uncleanness in her, х `erwat (H6172) daabaar (H1697)] - any blemish (cf. Deuteronomy 23:15), something foul or corrupt; but whether a latent deformity and loathsome distemper of body, or a moral delinquency, was much debated among the later Jews, though, from want of data in the early books of the sacred history, it is impossible to determine the precise nature of the "uncleanness" referred to.
The law at first ordained that a woman convicted either of ante-nuptial fornication (Deuteronomy 22:13-21) or of adultery after marriage should be condemned to death. In a state of society which, like that of the emancipated Hebrews at the exodus, was marked by so much х skleerokardia (G4641)] hardness of heart - i:e., general depravity (Matthew 19:3-8; Romans 2:5) - Moses, who saw that such executions would, through the extreme laxity of morals among the Israelites, be painfully frequent, modified the original stringency of the marriage law, permitting a wife in some cases to clear herself, by a solemn oath, of a criminal imputation (Numbers 5:11-31), and in others allowing a husband to put her away privately without bringing her to trial. This latter alternative was afforded by the law of divorce enunciated in this passage; and that it had become the common rule of procedure in such cases, appears from the recorded intention of Joseph to take advantage of it on suspecting his betrothed wife Mary (Matthew 1:19).
The rival schools of Hillel and Schammai, about the time of our Saviour, took different views of this statute. The former, overlooking the second clause in the first half of the verse, and laying stress chiefly upon the preceding one - "that she find no favour in his eyes " - taught that Israelites possessed a legal right to divorce their wives at pleasure, and that the validity of the nuptial bond might be dissolved at any time, and on account of any cause, however trivial [ascheemon pragma], something uncomely, some defect of person or infirmity of disposition], such as the appearance of an unsightly pimple on her face, her going abroad without a veil, the untidy or tasteless style of her dress, the overcooking of her husband's dinner, or mere dissatisfaction with her manners (Josephus, 'Life;' also 'Antiquities,' b. 18:, 5; 20:, 7; Lightfoot, 'Horae Hebraicae,' on Matthew 5:27-32; Matthew 19:3-8).
The latter school held that the only ground of divorce warranted by this law of Moses was something criminal-a breach of conjugal fidelity. Among modern commentators, Lightfoot and Michaelis support the interpretation of the Shammai school-the first, however, considering that the Mosaic permission of divorce was granted only in case of adultery ('Horae Hebaicae,' on Matthew 5:32), while the second supposes it was intended to refer to cases of less magnitude-such as that detailed in Deuteronomy 22:13-21 ('Commentary,' b. 3:, art.
93). No nearer approach than the preceding conjectures can be made to ascertain the precise class of cases for which this legislation was provided.
Then let him write her a bill of divorcement, х wªkaatab (H3789) laah (H3807a) ceeper (H5612) kªriytut (H3748)] - a writing of cuttings-namely, of two in marriage; a certificate of separation. [Septuagint, biblion (G975) apostasiou (G647).] It was a practice in civil life which, in order to prevent greater evils among a rude and licentious people, who might have tried to get rid of their wives by poison or violence, the institution of Moses tolerated. But it was the doing of Moses-an enactment of human device and political expediency-not, as our Lord said, the original law of God х ap' (G575) archees (G746) de (G1161) ou (G3756) gegonen (G1096) houtoos (G3779)]; and Moses did not command х eneteilato (G1781)], as the Pharisees unwarrantably asserted (Matthew 19:7), but, as Christ stated in His answer, permitted epetrepsen (G2010). 'In fact, the very permission was virtual. The whole of the passage (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) is but one sentence. The first three verses contain a series of hypothetical statements respecting certain supposed successive divorces, and the apodosis does not occur until the fourth verse, which contains so stringent a prohibition of the possibility of a reunion of the original parties as to impose a powerful and salutary restraint on the caprice that might otherwise impel to a step which, in the case supposed, was declared to be irremediable' (Black's 'Exegetical Study of the Original Scriptures,' pp. 42, 43).
This permissive law of divorce was one of those 'statutes given to the Israelites that were not good' (Ezek This permissive law of divorce was one of those 'statutes given to the Israelites that were not good' (Ezekiel 20:25) - i:e., not absolutely, but only relatively good (see Montesquieu, 'Spirit of Laws,' b. 19:, ch. 21:); not the universal and perpetual law, but a provisional enactment suited to the demoralized state and special circumstances of the Hebrew people (Romans 5:20; Galatians 3:19).
They were allowed to divorce their wives without the assignation of any cause; but it was accompanied under the law with three conditions, which were calculated greatly to prevent the evils incident to the permitted system-namely:
1st. That the act of divorcement was to be certified on a written document, the preparation of which, with legal formality, probably by a Levite, who might admonish and counsel the parties, would afford time for reflection and repentance, as well as impart a solemn and deliberate character to the transaction (Michaelis, 'Commentary,' 2:, art. 317). (See the form of bill of divorcement in later times, Lightfoot's 'Horae Hebraicae,' in Matthew 4:3; Baxter's 'Synag. Judaic,' cap. 40; Surenhusii, 'Mishna' part 3:, p. 324).
2nd. That it was 'given in (into) her hand,' either privately or publicly. When delivered privately it was stamped with the husband's seal, and handed to the repudiated wife in presence of two witnesses; but when done publicly it was accompanied with increased formalities, and frequently taken to the sanhedrin, to be there deposited in their archives for preservation; and
3rd. That, in the event of the divorced wife being married to another husband, she could not, on the termination of that second marriage, be restored to her first husband, however desirous he might be to receive her.
In the circumstances of the Israelite people this law of divorce was of great use in preserving public morals, and promoting the comfort and permanence of married life. In later times-toward the period of our Saviour's advent, when the divorce system was carried to such an extreme that men freed themselves from the nuptial bonds on the most frivolous pretexts-the effect upon public morals was exceedingly baneful; and an idea may be formed of the social state of Palestine at the commencement of the Christian era from the existing condition of the Jews in that country.
'Wherever the teaching of the oral law prevails unchecked, as in the holy cities of the East, the concocting of divorces forms a chief branch of the business of a rabbi-he is occupied incessantly in putting asunder what God hath joined; and as a consequence, those cities are full of poor, unhappy, divorced women and girls, with all the intrigues inseparable from a state of things which saps the very foundations of society' ('Jewish Intelligence,' September, 1863).