Dear saints,
Biblical marriage is a contract, or covenant, between a heterosexual man and woman with stipulations, i.e., conditions to be met by each party or the covenant is broken.
Exodus 21:10-11 was the first recorded biblical marriage mandate from the heart of God. As with most things in life, that mandate eroded over the millennium to just about anything goes. By the time of the Romans, you just physically left the spouse to be divorced without a formal agreement. But Roman law said you had to remarry within 12-18 months or perhaps lose 50% of your goods to someone turning you in to the authorities. They wanted to keep up the birth rate to populate their empire.
By the time of Jesus, there were two schools of divorce and remarriage: the Hillelite and Shammaite. Rabbi Shammai had a strict and literal interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1 meaning “indecency” which also included abuse in the mind of God. Rabbi Hillel was liberal and tolerant, so his method became to be known as “for any reason.” This is where we get the “she burnt my toast” example regarding flippant reasons for divorce. Hillel died when Jesus was young, and Shammai died twenty years later. So, both were contemporaries of our Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry.
In those days, as with today, both speakers and readers share a common cultural background and knowledge. For example, when modern Western people say a teenager shouldn’t drink, they mean alcohol, not all beverages! And there’s no description of crucifixion in the New Testament, for everyone knew the details of this most barbarous practice of deterring rebellion against the stated order.
The two main Old Testament passages that all this is based upon look like this:
Deuteronomy 24:1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency [an ‘indecent thing’ meaning ‘ervah = indecent’ and ‘davar = thing’ in Hebrew; sexual in nature] in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house…
Exodus 21:10-11 “If he takes to himself another woman [most likely a slave girl as a 2nd wife], he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. If he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money…”
So, the Hillite school Pharisees ask Jesus to approve the liberal and tolerant approach “for any reason.” And Jesus will have nothing to do with it. This NALT translation is our contribution toward full understanding by clearing the air of all the smoke.
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Divorce “For Any Reason?” Jesus Responds – Matthew 19:3-9 NALT (New Amplified Living Translation by Walk Worthy)
Some conniving religious leaders but still part of the Pharisee sect came to Jesus, testing Him to get Him to agree to their false teaching on divorce that made it easy, and asking,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife [and vice-versa] for our preferred way of the newer liberal and tolerant Hillelite school of interpretation called ‘for any reason’ at all [like modern day ‘no-fault’] since everyone recognizes this these days as legitimate? We hate the traditional and conservative old-school Shammaite interpretation that states divorce is for only adultery like in Deuteronomy [24:1] in addition to the failure to provide the marriage minimums in Exodus [21:10-11] of food, clothing [including shelter], and sex, plus also many other worse abuses than the minimums.”
And Jesus answered and said, “Have you not read [in the Old Testament Torah in Genesis 1] that He [God our Father] who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,and said [in Genesis 2], ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO [‘two’ is not in the Hebrew text; it’s added for effect to negate polygamy and reinforce the male-female lifelong covenant-contract]SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate [not ‘no one can separate’].”
They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted but not ‘commanded’ you to divorce your wives when adultery and other abuses arise; but from the beginning, it has not been this way since divorce is not compulsory like you say it is but is allowable only under the right circumstances. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife for the wrong reason including using the false and flimsy Hillelite-inspired ‘for any reason’ excuse except for immorality like in Deuteronomy [24:1] and other abuses like in Exodus [21:10-11], and marries another woman commits adultery, which, of course, can be forgiven by genuine repentance.”
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In this dicey exchange between Christ and the religious leader’s teaching error, note the following:
- Jesus was determined to bring up other marriage and divorce points in His response which must have annoyed the Pharisees so they brought up their point once again.
- Jesus only answered the false Pharisees’ “for any reason” divorce question since this was their sole inquiry. No one in that ancient culture assumed this was the only reason for divorce. The passage in Exodus 21:10-11 also deals with divorce for other bare minimum grounds such as failure to provide food, clothing, and sex (love) which are forms of abuse. In addition, other types of abuse, neglect, abandonment, and things such as these were certainly other grounds for divorce. The “certificate of divorce” given to the woman was used by her as proof of her divorce and allowed her to get remarried.
- Jesus used the same language and context in Deut. 24:1 (“except for the matter of indecency”) as the well-known Shammaites teaching of the day. In His answer and in the presence no doubt of both the Shammaites and Hillelites, Jesus affirmed the traditional Shammaite position. He had no reason to bring up Exodus 21 since it wasn’t being discussed and this debate was not intended to be a full teaching on marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
- All groups during this time, including the Hillelites, obviously approved of divorce for abuse like that listed in Exodus 21:10-11. Everyone believed it and taught it. If Jesus did prohibit divorce and remarriage for Exodus 21 abuse, He would have mentioned it, but He didn’t. Therefore, He obviously approved of it on other grounds as did others of the day. This is an argument from silence but makes perfect sense.
- Regarding arguments from silence, Christ never said anything directly about the sin of pre-marital sex, but we know He prohibited it by condemning all sex outside heterosexual marriage [porneia: includes all sexual immorality]. He also never spoke of allowing or forbidding marriage after the death of a spouse. The apostle Paul and all Jews clearly allowed this remarriage. Therefore, an argument from silence can be extremely helpful, but all need to be cautious when this is employed.
- Finally, remarriage after a “for any reason” divorce is wrong because one is not properly divorced but can be forgiven with genuine repentance. When this repentance occurs, this improper divorce is no longer considered “committing adultery,” since only attributing the works of the Spirit to the devil or blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin. We remember the marriage contract is eternally serious business. Many types of divorces and remarriages are certainly allowed eventually even under the wrong circumstances when forgiven by God upon true repentance.
We’re so very grateful for the pioneering work of brother David Instone-Brewer on this most vital topic. His books and videos are invaluable.
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See the original Bible text here.
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See the current NALT offerings here.
The New Amplified Living Translation (NALT) is a new paraphrased Bible translation from Walk Worthy ministries combining the elements of amplification, today’s needs, and the literal words of the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.
We at Walk Worthy in no way suggest that you substitute daily Bible reading and meditation in regular translations such as literal-formal (NASB, NKJV, KJV, ESV) or dynamic equivalent (NIV, GW). Always and forever study to show yourself approved to our great and holy God.
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,
Marc
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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org
