Deuteronomy 24:1-4: Edit history

Context

Deuteronomy is presented as a sermon in which Moses, on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan River, expounds the law anew to the people of Israel as they prepare to enter the land of Canaan. This passage belongs to the collection of legal provisions in chapters 12–26 and is surrounded by regulations for daily life, such as the exemption of a newly married man from military service (24:5) and the prohibition against taking a millstone in pledge (24:6). The passage is written in casuistic form ("If…, then…"), a legal form that posits a hypothetical case and prescribes how it is to be handled. Verses 1–3 describe a situation in which a divorce and a remarriage have occurred, and the central command is the prohibition of reunion in verse 4. For this reason, the provision is read not as establishing the institution of divorce but as presupposing an existing practice and restricting one aspect of it.

Interpretation

• Rabbinic reading: Regarding what constitutes "some uncleanness," the school of Shammai is said to have limited it to sexual immorality, while the school of Hillel held that it included even trivial faults.
• Jesus' reading: When the Pharisees questioned him about divorce, Jesus answered that Moses permitted divorce only "because of the hardness of your hearts," but "from the beginning it was not so." In this reply Jesus upheld the order of marriage established at creation as the more fundamental standard (Matthew 19:8).
• Reading as a protective provision: Many commentators regard the bill of divorcement as a safeguard that certified the woman's freedom to remarry. Among the reasons proposed for the prohibition in verse 4 is that it was intended to prevent a husband from casually sending his wife away and then reclaiming her.

Debates and Issues

• Translation: The Hebrew phrase rendered "some uncleanness," ervat davar, literally means "the nakedness of a thing" and is ambiguous. Consequently, translations and interpretations diverge.
• Contemporary application: Many Protestant interpreters regard this provision as civil law of ancient Israel and do not apply it directly. They do, however, use it together with the words of Jesus as a basis for determining grounds for divorce. The Catholic Church regards marriage as indissoluble. The Westminster Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian tradition names adultery and such willful desertion as can in no way be remedied by the church or civil magistrate as grounds for divorce. Specific standards vary among denominations and churches.
• Quotation out of context: Some point out that isolating verse 1 and reading it as a command or encouragement to divorce does not fit the structure of the passage.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently treated together with Matthew 19 in sermons and Bible studies dealing with divorce and remarriage.

Related Passages

• Matthew 19:3-9
• Mark 10:2-12
• Matthew 5:31-32
• Jeremiah 3:1
• Malachi 2:14-16