When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. If the latter husband hates her, and write her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife; her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to Yahweh. You shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.
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Deuteronomy 24:1-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. If the latter husband hates her, and write her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife; her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to Yahweh. You shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance. When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken.
Parallel Translations
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When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
If the latter husband hates her, and write her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife;
her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to Yahweh. You shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.
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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.
And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
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When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, then it cometh to pass, if she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he writeth her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house,
and she departeth out of his house, and goeth and becometh another man's wife,
and the latter husband hateth her, and writeth her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;
her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD; and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (4)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (24)
- Matthew 19:7-9 (v1) They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce, and divorce her?” He said to them, “Moses, because of…
- Jeremiah 3:1 (v4) “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that…
- Deuteronomy 22:13 (v1) If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, hates her,
- Isaiah 50:1 (v1) Yahweh says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you?…
- Mark 10:4-12 (v1) They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart,…
Show all 24 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 22:19 (v1) They shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has given a bad name to a…
- Deuteronomy 22:29 (v1) then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her.…
- Jeremiah 3:8 (v1) I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce,…
- Exodus 21:10 (v1) If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.
- Deuteronomy 24:3 (v1) If the latter husband hates her, and write her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the…
- Leviticus 21:7 (v2) “ ‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy…
- Leviticus 21:14 (v2) He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as…
- Leviticus 22:13 (v2) But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat…
- Numbers 30:9 (v2) “But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul shall stand against her.
- Ezekiel 44:22 (v2) They shall not take for their wives a widow, or her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel,…
- Malachi 2:16 (v1) One who hates and divorces”, says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “covers his garment with violence!” says Yahweh of Armies. “Therefore pay…
- Matthew 5:32 (v2) but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her…
- Mark 10:11 (v2) He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.
- 1 Corinthians 7:11-12 (v1) (but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife. But to the…
- 1 Corinthians 7:15 (v2) Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us…
- Deuteronomy 21:15 (v1) If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the…
- Matthew 1:19 (v1) Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.
- Matthew 5:31-32 (v1) “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ but I tell you that whoever puts away his…
- Luke 16:18 (v1) Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Hereby God approveth not that light divorcement, but permitteth…
Hereby God approveth not that light divorcement, but permitteth it to avoid further inconvenience, Matt. 19:7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 Deu 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife,…
Deu 24:1 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.
Ver. 1. Because he hath found some uncleanness.] He is displeased with some defect which he hath found either in her body or behaviour: as our Henry VIII pretended at least to do in his Anne of Cleve, sister to William, duke of Cleve, whose other sister Frederick, duke of Saxony, Luther’s patron and protector, had espoused. This lady being sent into England, against Frederick’s liking, and married to King Henry, seemed nothing pleasing in his eye, and was therefore ( sed quo iure?) soon after divorced. This Stephen Gardiner thought a fit subject for him to work upon against the Lord Cromwell, who had made the match, and now opposed the divorce, and was therefore put to death, which he suffered right Christianly and cheerfully. {a}
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Let him write her a bill of divorcement.] Heb., He shall write her a bill of divorcement. God permitteth, he commandeth not the Jews thus to do, as they mistook the matter, {Mat 19:7} and were better informed by our Saviour. {Mat 19:8} {See Trapp on "Mat 19:8"}
{a} Speed’s Hist, fol. 1042.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 That she find no favour in his eyes, i.e.…
That she find no favour in his eyes, i.e. he dislike and loathe her. It is a figure called meiosis, whereby more is understood than is expressed, as Pro 10:2; 17:21; 24:23.
Uncleanness; Heb. nakedness, or shamefulness, or filthiness of a thing, i.e. some filthy or hateful thing, some loathsome distemper of body or quality of mind, not observed before marriage; or some light and unchaste carriage, as this or the like phrase commonly signifies, but not amounting to adultery, which was not punished with divorce, but with death.
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Send her out of his house; which is not a command to divorce them, as some of the Jews understood it, nor an allowance and approbation, as plainly appears, not only from the New Testament, Mat 5:31,32; 19:8,9, but also from the Old Testament, Gen 2:24; Mal 2:16; but merely a permission or toleration of that practice for prevention of greater mischiefs and cruelties of that hard-hearted people towards their wives, and this only for a season, even until the time of reformation, as it is called Heb 9:10, i.e. till the coming of the Messias, when things were to return to their first institution and purest condition. The husband is not here commanded to put her away, but if he do put her away, he is commanded
to write and give her a bill of divorcement, before he send her out of his house. And though it be true, as our Saviour observes, that Moses did suffer these divorces, to wit, without punishing them, which also is here implied, yet it must be acknowledged, that if we consult the Hebrew words, those three first verses may seem to be only a supposition, and the words rendered, then let him write her, in the Hebrew run thus, and hath written her, and so it follows, Deu 24:2. And she be departed out of his house, and be gone and become another man’s wife; then follows Deu 24:3, which even according to our translation carries on the supposition, And if the latter husband hate her, & c. Then follows the position or prohibition, Deu 24:4.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred…
This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred to as a precept, Mat 19:7, Moses commanded to give a writing of divorcement. It was not so; our Saviour told them that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts, lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before (they are taken for granted, Lev 21:14), and Moses thought it needful here to give some rules concerning them. 1. That a man might not divorce his wife unless he found some uncleanness in her, Deu 24:1. It was not sufficient to say that he did not like her, or that he liked another better, but he must show cause for his dislike; something that made her disagreeable and unpleasant to him, though it might not make her so to another. This uncleanness must mean something less than adultery; for, for that, she was to die; and less than the suspicion of it, for in that case he might give her the waters of jealousy; but it means either a light carriage, or a cross froward disposition, or some loathsome sore or disease; nay, some of the Jewish writers suppose that an offensive breath might be a just ground for divorce. Whatever is meant by it, doubtless it was something considerable; so that their modern doctors erred who allowed divorce for every cause, though ever so trivial, Mat 19:3. 2. That it must be done, not by word of mouth, for that might be spoken hastily, but by writing, and that put in due form, and solemnly declared, before witnesses, to be his own act and deed, which was a work of time, and left room for consideration, that it might not be done rashly. 3. That the husband must give it into the hand of his wife, and send her away, which some think obliged him to endow her and make provision for her, according to her quality and such as might help to marry her again; and good reason he should do this, since the cause of quarrel was not her fault, but her infelicity. 4. That being divorced it was lawful for her to marry another husband, Deu 24:2. The divorce had dissolved the bond of marriage as effectually as death could dissolve it; so that she was as free to marry again as if her first husband had been naturally dead. 5. That if her second husband died, or divorced her, then still she might marry a third, but her first husband should never take her again (Deu 24:3, Deu 24:4), which he might have done if she had not married another; for by that act of her own she had perfectly renounced him for ever, and, as to him was looked upon as defiled, though not as to another person. The Jewish writers say that this was to prevent a most vile and wicked practice which the Egyptians had of changing wives; or perhaps it was intended to prevent men's rashness in putting away their wives; for the wife that was divorced would be apt, in revenge, to marry another immediately, and perhaps the husband that divorced her, how much soever he though to better himself by another choice, would find the next worse, and something in her more disagreeable, so that he would wish for his first wife again. "No" (says this law) "you shall not have her, you should have kept her when you had her." Note, It is best to be content with such things as we have, since changes made by discontent often prove for the worse. The uneasiness we know is commonly better, though we are apt to think it worse, than that which we do not know. By the strictness of this law God illustrates the riches of his grace in his willingness to be reconciled to his people that had gone a whoring from him. Jer 3:1, Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me. For his thoughts and ways are above ours.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 When a man hath taken a wife and married…
When a man hath taken a wife and married her,.... That is, when a man has made choice of a woman for his wife, and has obtained her consent, and the consent of her parents; and has not only betrothed her, but taken her home, and consummated the marriage:
and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes; is not agreeable to him, he takes no delight in her person, nor pleasure in her company and conversation; but, on the contrary, his affections are alienated from her, and he cannot bear the sight of her:
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because he hath found some uncleanness in her; something that he disliked, and was disagreeable to him, and which made their continuance together in the marriage state very uncomfortable; which led him on to be very ill-natured, severe, and cruel to her; so that her life was exposed to danger, or at least become very uneasy; in which case a divorce was permitted, both for the badness of the man's heart, and in favour of the woman, that she might be freed from such rigorous usage. This word "uncleanness" does not signify adultery, or any of the uncleannesses forbidden in Lev 18:6; because that was punishable with death, when it could be proved; and where there was only a suspicion of it, the husband might make use of the bitter water: though the house of Shammai seem to take it in this sense; for they say a man might not divorce his wife unless he found her in some unclean thing, something dishonest and wicked, and which they ground upon these words; but the house of Hillell say, if she burnt his food, or spoiled it by over salting, or over roasting it; and Akiba says, even if he found another woman more beautiful than her or more agreeable to him. But neither his sense, nor that of the house of Shammai, are approved of by the Jews in general, but that of the house of Hillell (m); and they suppose a man might divorce his wife for any ill qualities of mind in her, or for any ill or impudent behaviour of hers; as if her husband saw her go abroad with her head uncovered, and spinning in the streets, and so showing her naked arms to men; or having her garments slit on both sides; or washing in a bath with men, or where men use to wash, and talking with every man, and joking with young men; or her voice is sonorous and noisy; or any disease of body, as the leprosy, and the like; or any blemishes, as warts, are upon her; or any disagreeable smell that might arise from any parts of the body, from sweat, or a stinking breath (n):
then let him write her a bill of divorcement; Jarchi says, this is a command upon him to divorce her, because she finds not favour in his eyes; and so the Jews (o) generally understand it, and so they did in the time of Christ, Mat 19:7; whereas it was no more than a permission, for reasons before given. A man might not dismiss his wife by word of mouth, which might be done hastily, in a passion, of which he might soon repent; but by writing, which was to be drawn up in form; and, as the Targum of Jonathan, before the sanhedrim, in a court of judicature, which required time, during which he might think more of it, and either recede from his purpose before the case was finished, or do it upon mature deliberation; and a firm resolution. The Jews say (p) many things of the witnesses before whom it was to be written and sealed, and at what time, and upon what, and with what it was to be written, and who were proper persons to write it or not, in a treatise of theirs, called Gittin, or divorces. In the Hebrew text this bill is called "a bill of cutting off" (q); because the marriage was rescinded, and man and wife were cut off and separated from one another for ever; of the form of such a bill; see Gill on Mat 5:31,
and give it in her hand; which was to be done before witnesses, and which is one of the ten things requisite to a divorce (r); though it made no difference whether it was delivered by himself, or by a messenger; or whether to her, or to her deputy, appointed by her before witnesses; or whether it was put into her hand, or in her bosom, so be it that she was but possessed of it; with which agrees the Jewish canon,"if he casts a bill to his wife, and she is within the house, or within the court, she is divorced; if he casts it into her bosom, or into her work basket, she is divorced (s):"
and send her out of his house; which was a visible token and public declaration of her divorce; besides, were she to be continued in his house afterwards, it would give suspicion of cohabitation, which after a divorce was not lawful.
(m) Misn. Gittin, c. 9. sect. 10. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (n) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 90. 1. 2. Misn. Cetubot, c. 7. sect. 6, 7. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (o) T. Bab. Gittin, ut supra. (n)) (p) Misn. Gittin, c. 2. sect. 2, 3, 4, 5. (q) "libellum excidii", Montanus, Fagius; "succisionis", Munster; "abscissionis", Tigurine version. (r) See Ainsworth in loc. (s) Misn. Gittin, c. 8. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Of Divorce, ver. 1-4. New-married men discharged from the…
Of Divorce, ver. 1-4. New-married men discharged from the war, ver. 5. Of pledges, ver. 6. 10-13. Of man-stealers, ver. 7. Of the leprosy, ver. 8, 9. Of daily wages, ver. 14, 15. None to be punished for another's sin, ver. 16. Of justice and mercy to the widow, fatherless and stranger, ver. 17-22.
Some uncleanness - Some hateful thing, some distemper of body or quality of mind not observed before marriage: or some light carriage, as this phrase commonly signifies, but not amounting to adultery. Let him write - This is not a command as some of the Jews understood it, nor an allowance and approbation, but merely a permission of that practice for prevention of greater mischiefs, and this only until the time of reformation, till the coming of the Messiah when things were to return to their first institution and purest condition.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4 The case of a divorced wife, 1-4.
CHAPTER XXIV
The case of a divorced wife, 1-4.
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No man shall be obliged to undertake any public service for the
first year of his marriage, 5.
The mill-stones shall not be taken as a pledge, 6.
The man-stealer shall be put to death, 7.
Concerning cases of leprosy, 8, 9.
Of receiving pledges, and returning those of the poor before
bed-time, 10-13.
Of servants and their hire, 14,15.
Parents and children shall not be put to death for each other,
16.
Of humanity to the stranger, fatherless, widow, and bondman,
17,18.
Gleanings of the harvest, c., to be left for the poor,
stranger, widow, fatherless, c., 19-22.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIV
Verse 1. Some uncleanness] Any cause of dislike, for this great latitude of meaning the fact itself authorizes us to adopt, for it is certain that a Jew might put away his wife for any cause that seemed good to himself and so hard were their hearts, that Moses suffered this and we find they continued this practice even to the time of our Lord, who strongly reprehended them on the account, and showed that such license was wholly inconsistent with the original design of marriage; see Mt 5:31, c. Mt 19:3, &c., and the notes there.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Deu 24:1. Some uncleanness — Some hateful thing, some…
Deu 24:1. Some uncleanness — Some hateful thing, some distemper of body, or quality of mind, not observed before marriage: or some light carriage, as this phrase commonly signifies, but not amounting to adultery. Let him write — This is not a command, as some of the Jews understood it, nor an allowance and approbation, but merely a permission of that practice for prevention of greater mischiefs, and this only until the time of reformation, till the coming of the Messiah, when things were to return to their first institution and purest condition.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v1 In this and the next chapter certain particular rights…
In this and the next chapter certain particular rights and duties, domestic, social, and civil, are treated. The cases brought forward have often no definite connection, and seem selected in order to illustrate the application of the great principles of the Law in certain important events and circumstances.
These four verses contain only one sentence, and should be rendered thus: If a man hath taken a wife, etc., and given her a bill of divorcement and Deu 24:2 if she has departed out of his house and become another man’s wife; and Deu 24:3 if the latter husband hates her, then Deu 24:4 her former husband, etc.
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Moses neither institutes nor enjoins divorce. The exact spirit of the passage is given in our Lord’s words to the Jews’, “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives” Mat 19:8. Not only does the original institution of marriage as recorded by Moses Gen 2:24 set forth the perpetuity of the bond, but the verses before us plainly intimate that divorce, while tolerated for the time, contravenes the order of nature and of God. The divorced woman who marries again is “defiled” Deu 24:4, and is grouped in this particular with the adulteress (compare Lev 18:20). Our Lord then was speaking according to the spirit of the law of Moses when he declared, “Whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” Mat 19:9. He was speaking too not less according to the mind of the prophets (compare Mal 2:14-16). But Moses could not absolutely put an end to a practice which was traditional, and common to the Jews with other Oriental nations. His aim is therefore to regulate and thus to mitigate an evil which he could not extirpate.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Uncleanness. Tertullian (contra Marc. iv.) reads, "if she be…
Uncleanness. Tertullian (contra Marc. iv.) reads, "if she be found guilty of any impurity," negotium impudicum. Septuagint, "unseemly action;" and many learned commentators suppose that Moses only allows a divorce in cases of adultery, or in those which render the woman dangerous to a family, as if she had the leprosy, or some other infectious disorder, or was likely to corrupt the morals of her children, or if she were barren. The Pharisees were divided among themselves in determining the sense of this law, (Calmet) and they endeavoured to inveigle our Saviour, by proposing the question to him, If it were lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause, quacumque ex causa, or for any reason whatsoever, Matthew xix. 3. (Haydock) --- Our Lord does not take notice of the limitation here added by Moses; (Matthew v. 31) nor do the Pharisees, when he asks them, What did Moses command you? (Mark x. 3.) Whence it seems, that the liberty which was taken was very great, and that the limitation was not regarded. Our Saviour, nonetheless, alludes to it, when he admits that Moses permitted a divorce, in case of adultery. But he recalls them to the institution of marriage, and will no longer allow people to marry again, even in this case, as Moses had been forced to permit the Jews, on account of the hardness of their heart. (Calmet) --- Before this permission, the Jews were therefore, it seems, much addicted to this practice. --- Bill. The law does not command divorces; but in case the parties come to such a determination, it requires a bill to be given to the woman. The Jews require the greatest formality in drawing it up, and witnessing it, and they say the divorce must take place upon a fountain or river. (Schikard. Jur. iii. 9.) --- Munster gives this form of a bill: "The 4th day of the month of Sivan, of the year 5293 from the creation of the world, in this place and in this city of N, T.[I,?] N, son of N, had a mind to divorce, and has divorced N, daughter of N, who hitherto has been my wife; and I grant her leave to go whither she has a mind, and to marry whomsoever she pleases, so that no one shall hinder her. In witness whereof, I have given her this bill of divorce, according to the ordinances of Moses and of Israel." The Jews still assert their right to put away their wives. (Buxtorf, Syn. xxix.) (Calmet) --- But it is sinful for them, or for any other, to marry the woman divorced till the first husband be dead. If they do they are guilty of adultery, as our Saviour and St. Paul repeatedly inculcate. (St. Augustine, de Adult. Conj. i. 11.) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v1 DIRECTIONS IN REFERENCE TO THE MATTER OF DIVORCE, Deu_24:1-4.
DIRECTIONS IN REFERENCE TO THE MATTER OF DIVORCE, Deu_24:1-4.
Moses does not here give the husband the right to put away his wife. The privilege of divorce is assumed as a custom already in vogue. The provision here made is, “If a man married a wife, and he put her away with a letter of divorce because she did not please him any longer, and the divorced woman married another man, and he either put her away in the same manner or died, the first husband could not take her as his wife again.” — Keil. The letter of divorce was her proof that the marriage had been legally dissolved, and that she was at liberty to marry again. No doubt, there had been instances where parties who had been thus separated wished to be again united in marriage, even after the divorced wife had been married to another husband. But if it were enacted, as it here is, that the wife who had been put aside could never again be married to the same husband, he would consider the matter carefully before he demanded a separation.
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The whole passage may be translated as follows: “If a man hath taken a wife, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes because he has found some blemish in her, and given her a bill of divorcement and given it into her hand and sent her forth from his house, and if she has departed out of his house and become another man’s wife, and if the latter husband hate her and give her a bill of divorcement and give it into her hand and send her forth from his house, or if the latter husband who took her as his wife die, the former husband who sent her away cannot take her again as a wife.”
1. Some uncleanness in her — The meaning of the expression ערות דבר, which our translators have rendered some uncleanness, as an occasion for divorce, was disputed among the Jewish rabbins. One school, that of Hillel, explained it in the spirit of the question addressed to the Saviour by the Pharisees (Mat_19:3) for every cause, and held that a man could divorce his wife for any disgust that he felt toward her, or even if he saw another woman that pleased him more. But the school of Schammai held it to mean that divorce could take place only in cases of unchastity. Divorce is still very common among the Jews in the East. In a single year there were sixteen cases of divorce in the small Jewish population of Jerusalem. A Jew may divorce his wife for any cause, he himself being the sole judge. But to prevent divorces in a sudden fit of spleen, the bill of divorce must have the concurrence of three rabbins and be written on ruled vellum containing neither more nor less that twelve lines; and it must be given in the presence of ten witnesses. See FARRAR’S Life of Christ, vol. ii, p. 153.
5. When a man hath taken, etc. — We read in chap. Deu_20:7, that the man betrothed was to be exempt from serving in the army when a battle was impending. Here provision is made that the newly married man not only be exempt from military service, but from any business. No public burdens were to be placed upon him. In the Mosaic legislation marriage was honourable and desirable.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 When a man taketh a wife] Deu_22:13.
When a man taketh a wife] Deu_22:13.
then it shall be … that he shall write her, etc.] Rather, and it come to pass … that he write her, etc. The apodosis does not commence here but in Deu_24:4.
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some unseemly thing] As in Deu_23:14 (15), the nakedness of a thing, something indecent or repulsive, LXX ἄσχημον πρᾶγμα. The expression is so indefinite that it gave rise to controversy in the Rabbinic schools; that of Shammai understanding by it unchastity, that of Hillel any physical blemish or other, even the most trivial, cause of dislike. It cannot be adultery for this was punished by death. The words suggest some immodest exposure or failure in proper womanly reserve.
bill of divorcement] Lit. of separation. Bill, Heb. sepher, used of any missive (e.g. 2Sa_11:14 f.) or legal deed (Jer_32:11), as well as book, LXX βιβλίον. Something in legal form, and possibly procurable only from some public authority. Yet, notice, there is no mention of elders here as in the procedure in Deu_22:13-21. The later Jews called such a document geṭ, and the procedure in connection with it is prescribed in the Mishna, ‘Giṭṭin.’
and give it … her … and send her …] Two further formal steps of personal service of the deed, and the husband’s own solemn dismissal. So his responsibility in the matter is not weakened.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v1 Deu_24:1-4. DIVORCE.
XXIV.
Deu_24:1-4. DIVORCE.
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Some uncleanness.—Evidently mere caprice and dislike are not intended here. There must be some real ground of complaint. (See Margin.)
Let him write her a bill of divorcement.—“Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives,” is the Divine comment upon this. It is a distinct concession to the weakness of Israel—not the ideal standard of the Law, but the highest which it was found practicable to enforce. (See Mat_19:2 seq.) There are many other particular enactments in the Law of Moses of which the same thing may be said. The ideal standard of morality has never varied. There is no higher ideal than that of the Pentateuch. But the Law which was actually enforced, in many particulars fell short of that ideal.
(2) If the latter husband hate her.—Rashi says here that “the Scripture intimates that the end of such a marriage will be that he will hate her.” He makes a similar remark on the marriage with the captive in Deuteronomy 21. The result of the marriage will be a hated wife, and a firstborn son of her, who will be a glutton and a drunkard.
(4) Her former husband . . . may not take her again . . . and thou shalt not cause the land to sin.—The comment upon this, supplied by Jer_3:1, is singularly beautiful. “They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Deuteronomy 22 - 25
Deuteronomy 22 - 25
The portion of our book on which we now enter, though not calling for elaborate exposition, yet teaches us two very important practical lessons In the first place, many of the institutions and ordinances here set forth prove and illustrate, in a most striking way, the terrible depravity of the human heart. They show us, with unmistakable distinctness, what man is capable of doing, if left to himself. We must ever remember, as we read some of the paragraphs of this section of Deuteronomy, that God the Holy Ghost has indicted them. We, in our fancied wisdom, may feel disposed to ask why such passages were ever penned? Can it be possible that they are actually inspired by the Holy Ghost? and of what possible value can they be to us? If they were written for our learning, then what are we to learn from them?
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Our reply to all these questions is, at once, simple and direct; and it is this, the very passages which we might least expect to and on the page of inspiration teach us, in their own peculiar way, the moral material of which we are made, and the moral depths into which we are capable of plunging. And is not this of great moment? Is it not well to have a faithful mirror held up before our eyes in which we may see every moral trait, feature and lineament perfectly reflected? Unquestionably. We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature, and very many find it exceedingly hard to admit that they are really capable of committing some of the sins prohibited in the section before us, and in other portions of the divine Volume. But we may rest assured that when God commands us not to commit this or that particular sin, we are verily capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never erect a dam if there was not a current to be resisted. There would be no necessity to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, and hence the command applies to him. And just so in reference to every other prohibited thing; the prohibition proves the tendency - proves it beyond all question. We must either admit this or imply the positive blasphemy that God has spoken in vain.
But then it may be said; and is said by many, that while some very terrible samples of fallen humanity are capable of committing some of the abominable sins prohibited in scripture, yet all are not so. This is a most thorough mistake. Hear what the Holy Ghost says, in the seventeenth chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Whose heart is he speaking of? Is it the heart of some atrocious criminal, or of some untutored savage? Nay; it is the human heart, the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ says on this subject. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Out of what heart? Is it the heart of some hideously depraved and abominable wretch wholly unfit to appear in decent society? Nay; it is out of the human heart the heart of the writer and of the reader of these lines.
Let us never forget this; it is a wholesome truth for every one of us. We all need to bear in mind that if God were to withdraw His sustaining grace, for one moment, there is no depth of iniquity into which we are not capable of plunging; indeed, we may add - and we do it with deep thankfulness it is His own gracious hand that preserves us, each moment, from becoming a complete wreck, in every way, physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, and in our circumstances. May we keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, so that we may walk humbly and watchfully, and lean upon that arm which alone can sustain and preserve us!
But, we have said, there is another valuable lesson furnished by this section of our book which now lies open before us. It teaches us, in a manner peculiar to itself, the marvellous way in which God provided for everything connected with His people. Nothing escaped His gracious notice; nothing was too trivial for His tender care. No mother could be more careful of the habits and manners of her little child, than the Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe was of the most minute details connected with the daily history of His people. By day and by night, waking and sleeping at home and abroad, He looked after them. Their clothing, their food, their manners and ways toward one another, how they were to build their houses, how they were to plough and sow their ground, how they were to carry themselves in the deepest privacy of their personal life - all was attended to and provided for in a manner that fills us with wonder, love and praise. We may here see, in a most striking way, that there is nothing too small for our God to take notice of when His people are concerned. He takes a loving, tender, fatherly interest in their most minute concerns. We are amazed to find the Most High God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sustainer of the vast universe, condescending to legislate about the matter of a bird’s nest; and yet why should we be amazed when we know that it is just the same to Him to provide for a sparrow as to feed a thousand millions of people daily?
But there was one grand fact which was ever to be kept prominently before each member of the congregation of Israel, namely, the divine presence in their midst. This fact was to govern their most private habits, and give character to all their ways. "The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up, thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy; that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Deut. 23: 14.)
What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking in their midst! What a motive for purity of conduct, and refined delicacy in their persons and domestic habits! If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never, for one moment, to forget the august Person who walked up and down in their midst. Would the thought of this be irksome to any? Only to such as did not love holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having One dwelling in their midst who could not endure ought that was unholy, unseemly or impure.
The Christian reader will be at no loss to seize the moral force and application of this holy principle. It is our privilege to have God the Spirit dwelling in us, individually and collectively. Thus we read, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" This is individual. Each believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and this most glorious and precious truth is the ground of the exhortation given in Ephesians 4: 30, "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
How very important to keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts! What a mighty moral motive for the diligent cultivation of purity of heart, and holiness of life! When tempted to indulge in any wrong current of thought or feeling, any unworthy manner of speech, any unseemly line of conduct, what a powerful corrective would be found in the realisation of the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our body as in His temple! If only we could keep this ever before us it would preserve us from many a wandering thought, many an unguarded and foolish utterance, many an unbecoming act.
But, not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in each individual believer, He also dwells in the church collectively. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16.) It is upon this fact that the apostle grounds his exhortation in 1 Thess 5: 19 "Quench not the Spirit." How divinely perfect is scripture! How blessedly it hangs together! The Holy Ghost dwells in us individually; hence we are not to grieve Him. He dwells in the assembly, hence we are not to quench Him, but give Him His right place, and allow full scope for His blessed operations. May these great practical truths find a deep place in our hearts, and exerts more powerful influence over our ways both in private life and in the public assembly!
We shall now proceed to quote a few passages from the section of our book which now lies open before us strikingly illustrative of the wisdom, goodness, tenderness, holiness and righteousness which marked all the dealings of God with His people of old. Take, for example, the very opening paragraph. "Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found shalt thou do likewise; thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again" (Deut. 22: 1-4)
Here the two lessons of which we have spoken are, very distinctly, presented. What a deeply humbling picture of the human heart have we in that one sentence, "Thou mayest not hide thyself!" We are capable of the base and detestable selfishness of hiding ourselves from our brother’s claims upon our sympathy and succour - of shirking the holy duty of looking after his interests - of pretending not to see his real need of our aid. Such is man! Such is the writer!
But oh! how blessedly the character of our God shines out in this passage! The brother’s ox, or his sheep, or his ass was not - to use a modern phrase - to be thrust into pound, for trespass; it was to be brought home, cared for, and restored, safe and sound, to the owner without charge for damage. And so with the raiment. How lovely is all this! How it breathes upon us the very air of the divine presence, the fragrant atmosphere of divine goodness, tenderness and thoughtful love! What a high and holy privilege for any people to have their conduct governed and their character formed by such exquisite statutes and judgements!
Again, take the following passage so beautifully illustrative of divine thoughtfulness: "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence." The Lord would have His people thoughtful and considerate of others; and hence, in building their houses, they were not merely to think of themselves, and their convenience, but also of others and their safety.
Cannot Christians learn something from this? How prone we are to think only of ourselves, our own interests, our own comfort and convenience! How rarely it happens that, in the building or furnishing of our houses, we bestow a thought upon other people! We build and furnish for ourselves; alas! self is too much our object and motive spring in all our undertakings; nor can it be otherwise unless the heart be kept under the governing power of those motives and objects which belong to Christianity. We must live in the pure and heavenly atmosphere of the new creation, in order to get above and beyond the base selfishness which characterizes fallen humanity. Every unconverted man woman and child on the face of the earth is governed simply by self, in some shape or another. Self is the centre, the object, the motive-spring of every action.
True, some are more amiable, more affectionate, more benevolent, more unselfish, more disinterested, more agreeable than others; but it is utterly impossible that "the natural man" can be governed by spiritual motives, or an earthly man be animated by heavenly objects. Alas! We have to confess, with shame and sorrow, that we who profess to be heavenly and spiritual are so prone to live for ourselves, to seek our own things, to maintain our own interests, to consult our own ease and convenience. We are all alive and on the alert when self, in any shape or form, is concerned.
All this is most sad and deeply humbling. It really ought not to be, and it would not be if we were looking more simply and earnestly to Christ as our great Exemplar and model in all things. Earnest and constant occupation of heart with Christ is the true secret of all practical Christianity. It is not rules and regulations that will ever make us Christ-like in our spirit, manner and ways. We must drink into His spirit, walk in His footsteps, dwell more profoundly upon His moral glories, and then we shall, of blessed necessity, be conformed to His image. "We all with open face beholding as in a glass [or mirror katoptrizomenoi.] the glory, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the, Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3.)
We must now ask the reader to turn, for a moment, to the following very important practical instructions - full of suggestive power for all Christian workers "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled." (Deut. 22: 9.)
What a weighty principle is here! Do we really understand it? Do we see its true spiritual application? It is to be feared there is a terrible amount of "mingled seed" used in the so-called spiritual husbandry of the present day. How much of "philosophy and vain deceit.," how much of "science falsely so called," how much of "the rudiments of the world" do we find mixed up in the teaching and preaching throughout the length and breadth of the professing church! How little of the pure, unadulterated seed of the word of God, the "incorruptible seed" of the precious gospel of Christ, is scattered broadcast over the field of Christendom, in this our day! How few, comparatively, are content to confine themselves within the covers of the Bible for the material of their ministry! Those who are, by the grace of God faithful enough to do so, are looked upon as men of one idea, men of the old school, narrow and behind the times.
Well, we can only say, with a full and glowing heart, God bless the men of one idea, men of the precious old school of apostolic preaching! Most heartily do we congratulate them on their blessed narrowness, and their being behind these dark and infidel times. We are fully aware of what we expose ourselves to in thus writing; but this does not move us. We are persuaded that every true servant of Christ must be a man of one idea, and that idea is Christ; he must belong to the very oldest school, the school of Christ; he must be as narrow as the truth of God; and he must, with stern decision, refuse to move one hair’s breadth in the direction of this infidel age. We cannot shake off the conviction that the effort on the part of the preachers and teachers of Christendom to keep abreast of the literature of the day must, to a very large extent, account for the rapid advance of rationalism and infidelity. They have got away from the holy scriptures, and sought to adorn their ministry by the resources of philosophy, science and literature. They have catered more for the intellect than for the heart and conscience. The pure and precious doctrines of holy scripture, the sincere milk of the word, the gospel of the grace of God and of the glory of Christ, were found insufficient to attract and keep together large congregations. As Israel of old despised the manna, got tired of it, and pronounced it light food, so the professing church grew weary of the pure doctrines of that glorious Christianity unfolded in the pages of the New Testament, and sighed for something to gratify the intellect, and feed the imagination. The doctrines of the cross, in which the blessed apostle gloried, have lost their charm for the professing church, and any who would be faithful enough to adhere and confine themselves in their ministry to those doctrines might abandon all thought of popularity.
But let all the true and faithful ministers of Christ, all true workers in His vineyard apply their hearts to the spiritual principle set forth in Deuteronomy 22: 9; let them, with unflinching decision, refuse to make use of "divers seeds" in their spiritual husbandry; let them confine themselves in their ministry to "the form of sound words," and ever seek "rightly to divide the word of truth," that so: they may not be ashamed of their work, but receive a full reward in that day when every man’s work shall be tried of what sort it is. We may depend upon it, the word of God - the pure seed - is the only proper material for the spiritual workman to use. We do not despise learning; far from it, we consider it most valuable in its right place. The facts of science, too, and the resources of sound philosophy may all be turned to profitable account in unfolding and illustrating the truth of holy scripture. We find the blessed Master Himself and His inspired apostles making use of the facts of history and of nature in their public teaching; and who in his sober senses, would think of calling in question the value and importance of a competent knowledge of the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, in the private study and public exposition of the word of God?
But admitting all this, as we most fully do, it leaves wholly untouched the great practical principle before us-a principle to which all the Lord’s people and His servants are bound to adhere, namely, that the Holy Ghost is the only power, and holy scripture the only material for all true ministry in the gospel and the church of God. If this were more fully understood and faithfully acted upon, we should witness a very different condition of things throughout the length and breadth of the vineyard of Christ.
Here, however, we must close this section. We have elsewhere sought to handle the subject of "The Unequal Yoke," and shall not therefore dwell upon it here.* The Israelite was not to plow with an ox and an ass together; neither was he to wear a, garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen. The spiritual application of both these things is as simple as it is important. The Christian is not to link himself with an unbeliever, for any object whatsoever, be it domestic, religious, philanthropic, or commercial, neither must he allow himself to be governed by mixed principles. His character must be formed and his conduct ruled by the pure and lofty principles of the word of God. Thus may it be with all who profess and call themselves Christians.
{*See a pamphlet entitled, "The Unequal Yoke."}
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 Vers. 1-4. Of divorce. If a man put away…
LAWS RESPECTING DIVORCE, AGAINST MAN-STEALING AND INJUSTICE.
Vers. 1-4. Of divorce. If a man put away his wife because she did not any longer please him, and she became the wife of another man, by whom also she was put away, or from whom she was severed by his death, the first husband might not remarry her, for that would be an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, and would bring sin on the land. This is not a law sanctioning or regulating divorce; that is simply assumed as what might occur, and what is here regulated is the treatment by the first husband of a woman who has been divorced a second time.
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Vers. 1-4. These verses should be read as one continuous sentence, of which the protasis is in vers. 1-3, and the apodosis in ver. 4, thus: "If a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she doth not find favor in his eyes, because of some uncleanness in her, and he hath written her a bill of divorcement, and given it in her hand, and sent her out of his house; and if she hath departed out of his house, and hath gone and become another man"s; and if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife, die; her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife," etc.
Because he hath found some uncleanness in her; literally, a thing or matter of nakedness, i.e. some shameful thing, something disgraceful; LXX, aschmon pragma: Vulgate, "aliquam foeditatem." In the Targum of Onkelos, the expression is explained by triybe "aliquid foeditatis" (London Polyglot); "iniquitas rei alicujus"(Buxtorf); "the transgression of a Divine word" (Levi). On this the school of Hillel among the rabbins put the interpretation that a man might divorce his wife for any unbecomingness (Mishna, "Gittin," 9:10), or indeed for any cause, as the Pharisees in our Lord"s day taught. (Mat_19:3) The school of Shammai, on the other hand, taught that only for something disgraceful, such as adultery, could a wife be divorced. (Lightfoot, "Her. Hebrews et Talm.," on Mat_5:31, Opp., tom. 2:290) Adultery, however, cannot be supposed here because that was punishable with death. A bill of divorcement; literally, a writing of excision; the man and woman having by marriage become one flesh, the divorce of the woman was a cutting of her off from the one whole. Lightfoot has given (lee. et.) different forms of letters of divorce in use among the Jews (see also Maimonides, "De Divortiis," Deuteronomy 4.
HOMILETICS.
Vers. 1-5. Permissive legislation.
No treatment of this passage can Be appropriate which does not set it in the light thrown upon it by Mat_19:1-12. The heading we have given to this outline indicates a point on which special stress should be laid whenever an expositor has occasion to refer to it. In the course of time, men had come to regard this passage in the light of a command. Hence the wording of the question in Mat_19:7. But our Lord informs us that it was simply permissive. Divorce, under the circumstances here named, was tolerated a while by Moses owing to "the hardness of men"s hearts," but that the original Divine arrangement contemplated the indissolubility of marriage. The entire principle of the Mosaic Law was that of educating the people out of a semi-degraded state into something higher, Its method of doing this was by giving the people the best legislation they could bear; tolerating some ill for a while rather than forcing on the people revolutionary methods. The more gentle and gracious, though the slower process, was to sow the seed of higher good, and to let it have time to grow. The following Divine teaching on marriage may well be brought forward with this passage as a basis.
I That the marriage bond is holy in the eye of God, and ought ever to be recognized as very sacred by man.
II That by God"s own declared appointment this most sacred of all nature"s ties is indissoluble.
III That however, owing to the degeneracy of national habit and thought, civil legislation may suffer the legal cessation of the marriage bond, yet it can in no case be severed, save by death, without heinous sin on one side or on both.
IV That the claims of married life are such that, with them, not even the exigencies of military service are unduly to interfere (ver. 5).
V That the highest and purest enjoyments of wedded life come to perfection only when it is entered on and spent in the Lord Jesus Christ. The law was but a paidagwgov eijv Criston. (see 1Co_7:39)
HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 1-4. Divorce.
The Hebrew Law, "for the hardness of men"s hearts," found it was necessary to "suffer" many things not approved of absolutely. (Mat_19:8) Divorce was one of these. It was permitted on grounds of strong personal dislike (ver. 3). The Law was inapplicable to adultery, that being judged a capital offense. While permitting divorce, Moses obviously aims at restricting it, and shows, by his modes of expression, how alien this rupture of the marriage bond is to the original institution. We may learn
I THAT THE RIGHT OF DIVORCE IS ONE TO BE STRICTLY GUARDED. Divorce, even where most justified, is a great evil. It is the rupture of a tie intended by the Creator to be indissoluble. Adultery warrants it, but it must be deemed not the least part of the evil that so unhappy a cause for the dissolution of marriage should exist. The revelations of the divorce courts are most injurious to public morality. Facilities for divorce, such as some advocate, would lead to serious mischiefs. Besides being wrong in principle, they would create inconstancy, lead to domestic unhappiness, inflict hardship on children, prevent efforts being made to mend matters by forbearance and. compliance. Frequent divorces blunt the sense of the sacredness of the marriage union, and so lead to licentiousness. "At the time when divorces were most frequent among the Romans marriages were most rare; and Augustus was obliged, by penal laws, to force men of fashion into the married state" (Hume). Moses restrains divorce thus far that he requires it to take place:
1. By means of a legal document.
2. For reason given.
3. He debars the man divorcing from remarrying the woman divorced if, in the interval, she has been married to another. The Christian law recognizes no legitimate ground of divorce save adultery. (Mat_5:32)
II THAT RIGHT VIEWS ON DIVORCE ARE CONNECTED WITH A SENSE OF THE INHERENT SACREDNESS OF THE MARRIAGE RELATION. This is suggested by the terms employed in ver. 4. A husband is prohibited from remarrying his divorced wife if in the interval she has been the wife of another, and the ground given for the prohibition is that "she is defiled." But why "defiled?" The expression could not have been used had the first marriage been regarded as perfectly nullified by the legal divorce. The statement that a divorced woman, remarrying, is "defiled," implies that deep view of the marriage relation given in Genesis (2:24), and reiterated by Christ. (Mat_19:3-10) And it will be found, in practice, that light views of the sacredness of the marriage relation invariably work in the direction of increasing facilities for divorce. "The skeptical party in France not long ago proposed to make marriage dissoluble at the pleasure of the parties whenever the woman had passed the age at which child-bearing was no longer to be expected" (R. H. Hutton, in Expositor, January, 1881). The writer just quoted ably argues that strict views on marriage, and divorce, are not possible, save under the sanction of a supersensual morality. J.O.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-6. The rights of women.
The tendency of the true religion has been to secure and respect the rights of women. Now, we have here women"s rights brought under notice in two cases in a case of separation, and in a case of war. Moses, "because of the hardness of their hearts," allowed divorce, because it prevailed to a lamentable extent in society in his time. He suffered them to divorce their wives, but insisted on a written divorce. Among other nations an oral divorce was sufficient, and so a divorce might be from the flimsiest caprice. Again, Moses forbade any coming together as man and wife again, a custom which prevails among the Arabs when the oral divorce is so lightly undertaken. Hence we notice in this law given by Moses
I THE DIVORCE OF THE WOMAN MUST BE DELIBERATE AND FINAL. Woman was not to be the toy of man"s caprice; she was not to be lightly sent away, and, when sent away by the husband after deliberately writing her divorce, she was never to be taken back again. In this way Moses really consulted the rights of women. They had a right to a deliberate statement of the grounds of their divorce; they had also a right to be protected from further interference on the part of their former husbands. It was a wise expedient considering the degeneracy of the time. It is an improvement assuredly on the arrangements of Mahomet.
Our Lord still further secured the rights of women in ordaining that nothing but infidelity on the part of the wife should dissolve the marriage union. (Mat_5:32)
II WAR MUST NOT ROB A NEWLY MARRIED WIFE OF HER HUSBAND; SHE HAS A RIGHT TO HIS SOCIETY FOR A YEAR WITHOUT MOLESTATION. This was placing the interests of a single woman above the interests of the State. This was exalting the bride to a throne of highest honor surely. Other systems and the world as well may degrade woman, but God"s Law elevates her and enthrones her.
III NOR IS SHE THROUGH HER HUSBAND"S DIFFICULTIES TO LOSE EITHER OF HER MILLSTONES FOR THE GRINDING OF THE CORN. Here was another right of the housewife. No legal distraint could reach the little mill which ground the corn at home and kept the wolf from the door.
Thus in her sorrows and in her joys God stood her Friend, and insisted on her rights. A similar shield should be thrown over her still. It is by securing her in her rights at home that woman"s cause shall he advanced. She is intended to be a queen in the household. Everything that makes her position there more secure, everything that makes the home sacred even from the intrusion of a national war at certain times, everything that makes her feel the foundation firm below her, is in the interests of public weal. But if she is carelessly thrown into the competition with the stronger sex, she will get deteriorated. The rights of women constitute a much longer subject than even Mr. Mill has made it. May the interpreter in due season appear! R.M.E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL Notes.—In this chapter certain duties social and domestic…
CRITICAL Notes.—In this chapter certain duties social and domestic are chosen to illustrate the general application of the law.
Deu_24:1-5. Relation of man and wife. Divorce. The verses are hypothetical and should form one sentence, the first three being protasis and Deu_24:4 the apodosis. Moses neither institutes nor commands divorce, but permits, puts under careful regulations which was too prevalent, too deeply rooted to abolish. The passage harmonises with Mat_5:31-32; Mat_19:3-9. Favour. Dues not please him. Unclean. Nakedness, disgrace or shame (1Sa_20:30; Isa_20:4). Bill, i.e., writing of cuttings, a certificate of separation, from the man with whom the wife was one flesh (Gen_2:24). The first husband could not take his divorced wife back again; she was defiled (Deu_24:4) by marriage with a second husband. This moral defilement not removed by divorce from the second husband even after his death; but abomination a stain upon the land, as much as incest and licentiousness (Lev_18:25).
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A precept, similar to that in Exo_22:25-26.
Deu_24:6-9. Various prohibitions. Upper stone is concave and covers the nether like a lid-law, prohibited either from being taken; for then the hand-mill would be injured and life endangered.
Deu_24:7. Repetition of law against man-stealing (Exo_21:16).
Deu_24:8-9. Plague (Lev_13:14). Leprosy was the symbol of sin, most often the theocratic punishment, the penalty for sins committed against the theocracy, as in the cases of Miriam. Gehazi and Uzziah.—. (Abp. Trench.)
Deu_24:10-13. Warnings against oppression. In loans they must not compel the borrower to give a pledge that was really necessary for him. If a poor man pledged his cloak it was restored before night. In East, poor generally have only their daily garments to cover them at night, (cf. Exo_22:25-26).
Deu_24:16-18. Warning against injustice. Hired servants, paid at close of day; to withhold wages for a night would entail suffering and be sin, injustice.
Deu_24:15. Of. Lev_14:13, and Jas_5:4.
Deu_24:16. Caution addressed to earthly judges. God, as Sovereign Judge of all nations might visit the sins of parents upon children (Exo_20:5). In heathen nations whole families were involved in the penalty of the parent and were put to death together; in Israel it must not be thus (cf. 2Ki_14:6; Jer_31:29-30).
Deu_24:17. Pervert. Law against perverting right of strangers, widows and orphans repeated from (Exo_22:20-21; Exo_23:9); with addition not to take a widow’s pledge, for they were once strangers and bondmen in Egypt (Lev_19:33).
Deu_24:19-22. Portion of the friendless. No injustice done to the poor, but they must be helped out of abundance; by a forgotten sheaf in the harvest field (Deu_24:19); by the fruit of the olive tree (Deu_24:20); and by gleanings from the vintage (Deu_24:21). In Deu_24:22 the reason is given, as in Deu_24:18 and Deu_15:16.
THE SANCTITY OF THE MARRIAGE BOND.—Deu_24:1-5
The relation between man and wife here set forth is one that is sacred and binding.
I. One which must not be broken by frivolous pretexts. The original institution sets forth the perpetuity of the bond (Gen_2:24). Divorce for a time may be tolerated, but it contravenes the order of nature and of God. No whims, no words, no slander (Deu_22:13-19), no seduction before marriage (Deu_22:28-29), must lead to separation. “What God hath joined together let not man put asunder.”
II. One which must be strengthened by every possible method. Instead of frivolous rupture there should be constant endearment. The claims of married life rise above the exigencies of military service, and can only be severed by death. “He shall not go out to war” (Deu_24:5). Domestic duties must not be sacrificed to public engagements. “Neither shall he be charged with any business.” Home must be guarded and the wife loved. “Be free at home and cheer up his wife.”
THE LAW OF DIVORCE.—Deu_24:1-4
This permissive law of divorce was one of those “statutes” given to the Israelites that were not good (Eze_20:25)—i.e., not absolutely, but only relatively good; not the universal and perpetual law, but a provisional enactment suited to the demoralized state and peculiar circumstances of the Hebrew people (Rom_5:20; Gal_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, viz.—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. 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 her witnesses; but when done publicly it was accompanied with increased formalities, and frequently taken to the Sanhedrim, to be there deposited in their archives for preservation. 3rd. That in the event of the divorced wife being married to another husband, she could not on the termination of the second marriage be restored to her first husband, however desirous he might be to receive her. In the circumstances of the Israelitish people this law of divorce was of great use in preserving public morals, and promoting the comfort and permanence of married life.—Jamieson’s Com.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_24:1-4. Christ’s toleration of divorce. Viewing these words in relation to Mat_19:1-12, we learn—
1. That this was concessive legislation; a deviation from the eternal standard of right, not a change of law—moral, like natural law, is unchangeable. Moses suffered them, “but from the beginning it was not so.”
2. That it was conceded on account of their “hardness of heart.” They had fallen into that condition in which obedience to the higher law was impossible. The least of two evils was chosen. But for divorce the woman might have been the victim of tyranny, rigour and death. But while permitting divorce, Moses restricts it.
Checks upon divorce. He enacts
(1) that divorce must not take place as hithertofore at the arbitrary will and pleasure of the husband, and by mere word of mouth, but by reason given, and by means of a written and formal document. This legal document would require time and the intervention of public authority to attest sufficiency and due execution. This delay would give opportunity for reconsideration, interposition of magistrates to admonish and prevent frivolous complaints.
(2) That the divorced wife who had married a second time shall never return to her first husband. This would admonish the parties that divorce once consummated would be irreparable and ought not therefore to be brought about rashly and lightly.—(Speak. Com.)
Deu_24:1-5. The rights of woman.
1. To legal divorce when justified.
2. To be treated with due respect at home. Other systems degrade, but this exalts woman.
THE SACREDNESS of HUMAN LIFE.—Deu_24:6-7; Deu_24:10-12
In these prohibitions we see the sacredness of life in its various conditions and changes.
I. The implements by which life is sustained must not be taken. The millstone was the only means of grinding corn for daily sustenance. To take any part would hinder work, prevent the payment of debt, and injure “a man’s life.” Tools are needful to trade; beds, clothing, and cooking utensils to the comforts of life. We must work with our hands the tiling that is good that we may “have to give to him that needeth” (Eph_4:28).
II. The freedom by which life is enjoyed must be respected. To steal or sell a man was a capital offence, “That thief shall die.” Kidnapping deprives of liberty that gives life its chief value. Many would prefer death to slavery. To be made a slave would be a calamity most terrible, and when this results from kidnapping it is the most crushing of all misfortunes. Joseph was sold. Egyptian and classic history, American slavery, and African serfdom tell of bloody scenes enacted for purposes of man stealing. The law of Moses and the Gospel of Christ were greatly needed to check the atrocious crime. “He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death” (Exo_21:16)
III. The House in which life in spent must not be invaded. The pledge must not be fetched out of the house. The owner must bring it to the door. “An Englishman’s house is his castle.” The home of the poor must be as safe as the mansion of the rich; the hut of the serf as sacred as the palace of the prince. Thank God for the security and sanctity of home!
What can be sweeter than our native home!
Thither for ease and soft repose He come;
Home is the sacred refuge of our life.—Dryden.
REMEMBRANCE OF THE PAST.—Deu_24:8-9
No house was to be visited by a lender, but in case of leprosy the priest might enter and examine it. Home was to be inviolable except when public security demanded exposure. Hence special warning is given to avoid any sin which might bring the plague. Miriam’s case is prominently set forth. Learn—
I. The past history records interventions of God. God is in our own history—in the history of all nations, but especially in Jewish history. Under the Theocracy are remarkable instances of sins and punishments.
II. These interventions of God should be remembered by us. Israel were to remember “what the Lord God did” in Egypt and “by the way” to Canaan. “Memory is the conservative faculty,” says Sir W. Hamilton. It preserves from oblivion events of importance, and puts them again before our eyes. “Remember Lot’s wife.” “Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam.”
III. Obedience to this rule will convert past history into help for the future. The future lies before us; the past is the period of facts, pleasing or painful. It is the storehouse of instruction and encouragement. Things which are written in Scripture and in history are written “for our learning.” Sin brings punishment, and obedience God’s favour. Let us avoid the one and secure the other. “All these things happened unto them for ensamples (types, figures), and they are written for our admonition (warning)” (1Co_10:11).
PROTECTION FOR THE UNFORTUNATE.—Deu_24:10-17
In these words we have warnings against injustice and oppression of the poor—
I. The poor must not be compelled to lend unlawful pledges. “The borrower is servant to the lender,” and may be forced to servile bondage. Man thus becomes an alien to his brother, and often the victim of gratification—not the object of sympathy. The widow’s raiment was not to be taken (Deu_24:17). The borrower was not to be compelled to give up any pledge needful for life and comfort. This would check strife, save from mendicancy, and urge generosity.
II. The condition of the poor must not be needlessly exposed. The lender was not to go into the house of the borrower (Deu_24:10). He must spare his neighbour feelings, and not require exposure of his home or declaration of insolvency. The creditor must not be insolent, but mitigate severity and preserve good feeling. “Blessed is he that considereth the poor.”
III. The wages of the poor must not be withheld. “Thou shalt give him his hire” (Deu_24:16). He sets his heart, has special desire for it, and his distress should urge its due payment. To withhold it for a night would be injustice, and inflict great suffering. This humane law was highly esteemed in after times. “He who treats a hireling with harshness sins as grievously as if he had taken away life, and transgresses five precepts.” It is robbery and a special sin against God. “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning (Lev_19:13).
IV. The poor must not be deprived of justice (Deu_24:17). The repetition of this law indicates the strong tendency of the Jewish people to oppress and illume strangers and the desire of the Moses to check it. They must not upbraid the stranger for his nationality nor remind him of his former idolatry. Their own bitter experience should remind them of this inhumanity. “Thou wast a bondman in Egypt.” Our own humiliation should soften our hearts towards others and teach as that the security of society depends upon the equal rights of all its ranks.
IMPORTANT RECOLLECTION.—Deu_24:18
The admonition may seem needless, but we are prone to forget God’s works and wonders. We have need to be stirred up to remembrance for four purposes. First, for the purpose of humility. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. With the lowly is wisdom. If wise, we were once foolish; if justified, we were once condemned; if sons of God, we were once servants of sin. Look to the rock from whence hewn. Second, for the purpose of gratitude. If affected by kindness from our fellow creatures, should we overlook our infinite Benefactor. We have no claims upon Him and should be thankful for all His benefits. But herein is love. Blessed be the God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people. Thirdly, for the purpose of confidence. David argued from the past to the future. Because thou hast been my help, therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Here we have peculiar reason for encouragement. What were we when He first took knowledge of us? Was the want of worthiness a bar to His goodness then? Will it be so, now? Is there variableness or shadow of turning with Him? Is there not the same power in His arm and the same love in His heart? Did He pardon me when a rebel, and will He cast me off now that He has made me a friend? “He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all,” etc. Fourthly, for the purpose of pity and zeal. How many round about you in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity ready to perish? You know the state they are in, and the blessedness of deliverance from it. You are witnesses what God is able and willing to do. Invite the prisoners of hope to turn to Him—you can speak from experience.—Jay.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_24:8-9. The Plague of Leprosy.
1. Miriam’s sin.
2. Miriam’s punishment
3. Miriam a warning to others. “Take heed.”
Deu_24:10-15. Social Laws. Law is the bond of social morality.
1. Laws of lending and borrowing.
2. Laws of social intercourse. Regard the circumstances and the homes of the poor.
3. Laws of labour. Hiring—prompt and frequent payment of labourer’s wage.
Deu_24:15. Setteth his heart. How exceedingly natural is this! The poor servant who seldom sees money, yet finds from his master’s affluence that it procures all the conveniences and comforts of life, longs for the time when he shall receive his wages. Should his pay be delayed after the time is expired, he may naturally be expected to cry unto God against him who withholds it.—A. Clarke.
“Lest he cry.” A crying sin (cf. Jas_5:3), condemned by the very light of nature. Plato would have him double paid that is not paid in due time.—Trapp.
Deu_24:17-18. Three classes mentioned as liable to oppression.
1. The stranger; seldom protected by any legislation, unless they had become permanent residents.
2. The fatherless.
3. The widow. The right of widows and orphans were protected generally by civilised communities. But protection is often insufficient, therefore the command of God and the legal penalty certain to fall on those who offend. “Oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, not the poor,” etc. (Zec_7:9).
Deu_24:18. Remember. Most people who have affluence, rose from comparative penury; for those who are born to estates frequently squander them away; such therefore should remember what their feelings, their fears, and anxieties were when they were poor and abject. A want of attention to this most wholesome precept, is the reason why pride and arrogance are the general characteristics of those who have risen in the world from poverty to affluence, and it is the conduct of those men which gave rise to the rugged proverb, “Set a beggar on horseback, and he’ll ride to the devil.”—A. Clarke.
HARVEST LAWS.—Deu_24:19-21
In these words we have the earliest poor law that we read of in the code of any people, uniting the obligation of public duty with private benevolence.
I. God has special regard for the poor. The stranger, the fatherless, and the widow were defended by special providence. “The Lord’s poor are the Lord’s care.” The Mosaic law is full of tender provisions for them. To neglect, despise or reproach them is to mock God himself. “Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker” (Pro_17:5).
II. God demands that our charity should be constantly exercised towards the poor. “The poor ye have always with you” to remind us of dependence upon God; to beget kindly feeling and cultivate constant charity.
1. He gives substance for charity. The harvest, the olive tree, and the vine, the fruits of the farm, and the results of labour and skill are His gifts. “What comes from God’s bounty should be laid out to God’s glory.” “Honour the Lord with thy substance,” etc. (Pro_3:9).
2. He gives seasons for charity—seed time and autumn—seasons of trial and want. Our bounties are never amiss—never out of season. “To everything there is a season and a time” (Ecc_3:1).
III. The motive which should prompt this charity is God’s goodness to us. “Remember thou wast a bondman in Egypt.” How often does God appeal to us on this ground? Facts in our experience and history enjoin warmest and purest benevolence to the wretched and defenceless—facts which many would turn to the cherishing of rancour, malevolence, and misanthropic feeling. God regardeth not persons; He knoweth no ritualistic and national differences. “He it is that executeth the judgment of the fatherless and the widow, and Who loveth the stranger to give unto Him food and raiment. Wherefore thou also must love the stranger, for ye yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
GLEANING A DIVINE ORDINANCE
I. The privilege of gleaning as accorded to the jew: “freely they have received” of God, and “freely they were to give.”
II. The far higher grounds of this privilege as existing among us. Let it be recollected from what misery we have been redeemed, and can we find a stronger argument than this for liberality to the poor. Learn—
1. As gleaners, avail yourselves of your privilege.
2. As proprietors, perform the duties that are here enjoined you.—C. Simeon, M. A.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 24
Deu_24:1-4. Divorcement. An idea may be formed of the social state of Palestine at the beginning 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.
Deu_24:5. Taken a wife. After the battle of Granicus, previously to going into winter quarters, Alexander the Great proclaimed to all of his soldiers who had married that year, that liberty was granted them to return home to Macedonia and pass the winter in the society of their wives; appointing the officers to conduct this howeward bound party and to bring them back to the army when their furlough was expired.—cf. Jam. Com.
Deu_24:8. Leprosy. By others’ faults wise men correct their own. “Therefore,” says Bp. Hall, “God strikes some that he may warn all.”
Deu_24:10-15. Poor. It was the advice of a bishop to a candidate for ordination, “Take care of the poor, and the Lord will take care of you.” The history of that clergyman (who is still living) has most remarkably justified the wisdom of the counsel and verified the truth of the prediction.—G. S. Bowes.
Deu_24:19-21. Harvest field.
“Ye who have sown,
And reap so plenteously, and find the grange
Too narrow to contain the harvest given,
Be not severe, nor grudge the needy poor
So small a portion. For He who gave
Will bounteously reward the purposed wrong
Done to yourselves; nay, more, will twice repay
The generous neglect.”
—Hurdis.
Deu_24:22. Stranger.
Love’s special care
Are strangers poor and friendless.
—Odyss.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Laws regarding Divorce, Pledges, Man-stealing, Leprosy, Justice, and Gleaning
Laws regarding Divorce, Pledges, Man-stealing, Leprosy, Justice, and Gleaning
1-4. The Law of Divorce. The right of the husband to divorce his wife is here acknowledged but is guarded against abuse. There must be some good reason for the separation; it must be done in a legal and formal manner: and it is final. If the. woman is divorced a second time, or becomes a widow after remarriage, she is not free to marry her first husband.
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1. Some uncleanness] RV 'some unseemly thing.' The Heb. is literally 'nakedness of a thing,' an expression also used in Deu_23:14. The vagueness of the language gave rise to endless disputes among Jewish teachers. In the time of our Lord, opinion was divided between the school of Shammai who held that it meant unchastity, and the school of Hillel who understood the expression in a much wider sense as referring to almost any cause of displeasure on the part of the husband, such as an ill-cooked meal or the sight of a more beautiful woman. The Pharisees asked the judgment of our Lord upon the matter and He decreed in favour of the stricter interpretation. He acknowledged no ground for divorce except that of adultery, and even this is a doubtful exception (neither Mark nor Luke gives the qualifying words 'except for fornication'; see Mar_10:11). He characterised the Mosaic law of divorce as a concession to the 'hardness' of men's hearts, and went back to the original ordinance of God in creating one man and one woman as evidence of the divine idea of the inviolability of the marriage bond: see Mar_10:2-12; Mat_19:3-9; Mat_5:31-32; Luk_16:18. The bill of divorcement contained the sentence, 'And thou art permitted (to be married) to another man.'
4. The infinitude of the divine mercy is beautifully illustrated in Jer_3:1, where God takes back those who have broken His covenant and have repented. His ways are higher than our ways (see also Hosea 1-3).
5. See on Deu_20:5-9.
6. On the nature of the Eastern hand-mill see on Exo_11:5; Exo_22:26, Exo_22:27. The mill is an indispensable domestic utensil; and, as neither of the stones is of any use without the other, to take one away would inflict a cruel hardship. It would be to 'take a man's life,' i.e. his means of livelihood.
7. See Exo_21:16.
8, 9. See Leviticus 13, 14 Numbers 12. Miriam, though she was the sister of Moses, had to comply strictly with the laws regulating the separation and purification of lepers.
10. Not go into his house] The debtor must be allowed to select himself the article that he will give as a pledge for a loan. Whatever it be, the creditor must accept it, and not force his way into the house to see what is there and perhaps carry off something that the poor man cannot spare. If the man is so poor that he has nothing save his blanket to give in pledge, it must not be kept overnight (Deu_24:12-13 see on Exo_22:26).
13. Righteousness] In the Rabbinical language the word for 'alms' is 'righteousness.' To give alms is the righteous act par excellence: see Mat_6:1 and mg.
15. Another humane principle of far reaching application.
16. For an instance of the observance of this rule see 2Ki_14:6, and cp. Eze_18:2-4, Eze_18:19, Eze_18:20.
20. When thou beatest thine olive tree] In gathering olives the fruit is brought to the ground either by shaking the boughs or beating them with a long palm branch. At the present time the trees are beaten on a certain day announced by a crier, after which the poor are allowed to glean what is left. A similar permission holds good in the case of vineyards and cornfields: see on Lev_19:9. Gleaning is a beautiful and kindly custom still surviving to some extent in Palestine, but fast disappearing before the introduction of modern methods of harvesting, which are not unnaturally regarded with disfavour by the poorer classes.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 20. Concerning Divorce and Laws of Mercy
20. Concerning Divorce and Laws of Mercy
CHAPTER 24
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1. Concerning divorce (Deu 24:1-5)
2. Concerning pledge and slavery (Deu 24:6-7)
3. Concerning leprosy (Deu 24:8-9)
4. Concerning the oppression of the poor (Deu 24:10-15)
5. Concerning injustice (Deu 24:16-18)
6. The stranger, the fatherless and the widow remembered (Deu 24:19-22)
Mat 19:1-9 must be studied with the words of Moses on divorce. The Pharisees asked the Lord “why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?” But they erred when they called Moses’ word a commandment. It was only something which Moses allowed. Adultery according to the law was punishable with death. “He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whosoever marrieth her that is put away doth commit adultery.”
No part of the handmill, the millstone, was to be taken as a pledge, for that would have deprived the person of the necessary instrument in the preparation of food. Manstealing was forbidden under penalty of death (Exo 21:16).
Merciful are the laws found in verses 10-15. If these laws were obeyed how many questions would be solved and how much injustice would be abolished. See also Jas 5:4. Mercy was to be shown to the poor in remembrance of their former condition in Egypt.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Chiefly of Divorce, Pledges, and Leprosy
Chiefly of Divorce, Pledges, and Leprosy
v. 1. When a man hath taken a wife, by the contract which constituted a valid betrothal, and married her, as her husband assumed the position of headship in the house, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, some shameful, loathsome, lascivious thing, probably in the form of self-pollution, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, a letter severing the marriage-tie, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
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v. 2. And when she is departed out of his house, after such summary dismissal, she may go and be another man’s wife, she had her freedom to act thus.
v. 3. And if the latter husband, the second husband, hate her, also finding something objectionable in her person or in her deportment, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house, or if the latter husband die which took her to be his wife,
v. 4. her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after that she is defiled, for that is what her second marriage amounted to, so far as her first husband was concerned; it was implicitly equal to adultery; for that is abomination before the Lord; and thou shalt not cause the land to sin which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee for an inheritance, since such frivolous disregard of the sanctity of the marriage-tie was equivalent to unnatural sins of immorality and to incest, Lev 18:25. While divorce was thus permitted to the Jews, as the Lord says, on account of the hardness of their hearts, Mat 19:8-9, yet remarriage, in the circumstances as noted, brought defilement upon the woman, and a remarriage of the first husband to the divorced woman was not permitted.
v. 5. When a man hath taken a new wife, when he has but recently been married, he shall not go out to war, not even be mustered, as one who was merely engaged to be married, Deu 20:7, neither shall he be charged with any business, with any public burden or political business; but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken, Pro 5:18, instead of burdening her with care and anxiety through the exposure of his life or through his continual absence from home on civil business.
v. 6. No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge, neither the entire hand mill, with its lower, stationary stone, nor the upper, movable stone, the grinder alone; for he taketh a man’s life to pledge, since the daily grinding of the grain and therefore the preparation of the bread for daily consumption depended upon this mill. Such an act would have been an inexcusable harshness.
v. 7. If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him, namely, into slavery, then that thief shall die, and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
v. 8. Take need in the plague of leprosy, Leviticus 13, 14, that thou observe diligently and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, the sons of Levi, shall teach you; as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.
v. 9. Remember what the Lord, thy God, did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt. The point of the warning is that the children of Israel were carefully to guard against such sins as would bring the plague of leprosy upon them, for that this sickness was sometimes inflicted by the Lord as a direct punishment they had seen in the case of Miriam, Num 12:10. Deliberate disobedience of the Lord, also in disregarding the laws of sane living which nature teaches. may to this day result in bad diseases and bitter self-accusations.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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When a man takes a wife and marries her
The phrases "takes a wife" and "marries her" mean the same thing. AT: "When a man marries a woman" (See: Doublet)
if she finds no favor in his eyes
Here the "eyes" represent the whole person. AT: "if he decides that he does not like her" (See: Synecdoche)
because he has found some unsuitable thing in her
"because for some reason he has decided that he does not want to keep her"
he must write her a certificate of divorce
"he must give his wife an official paper saying that they are not married anymore"
she may go and be another man's wife
"she may go and marry another man"
translationWords
favor
divorce
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4 24:1 something wrong: This phrase indicates sexual impurity or…
24:1 something wrong: This phrase indicates sexual impurity or some other impropriety. It does not pertain to adultery, which would have required the death penalty (22:22). • a document of divorce: This procedure was a concession; initiating a divorce in such cases was optional and not necessarily desirable (see Mal 2:16; Matt 5:31-32; Mark 10:2-12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.