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Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 7 – Questions & Answers

Answers to common questions brought up as a response to my series on divorce and remarriage. It’s best to start with Part 1 here.

Questions addressed here:

Didn’t Jesus do away with the command of Moses which allowed divorce? If so, then why is it important what the Old Testament says?
What does “sexual immorality” mean in Matthew 19.9?

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 6 – The Teaching of Paul

Start with Part 1 here.

Paul’s ethical teachings were based on two sources: the Old Testament and the words of Jesus. It’s important to consider these sources, and determine if Paul disagreed with either source on the subject of divorce and remarriage. I conclude that he does not.

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 5 – Jesus and Exodus 21

Start in Part 1 here.

Jesus is recorded in several places in the gospels as weighing in on the subject of divorce as presented in Deuteronomy 24.1. However, he is portrayed as silent on the well-accepted reasons for divorce in Exodus 21. Here is the Exodus passage again:

If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
Exodus 21.10-11

As I showed in earlier posts in this series, this passage was interpreted by the contemporaries of Jesus as allowing divorce for either the husband or the wife if one did not provide food, clothing or marital rights to the other. Jesus is not recorded as teaching anything on this passage, one way or the other. The question is, Why? The two options we have to consider are:

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 4 – The Teaching of Jesus

Part 1 of this series can be found here.

The central message of Jesus on divorce is this: “don’t do it.” He commands his followers not to separate what God has joined together. However, Jesus didn’t stop there; he said much more on the topic, and on marriage in general. Here is a summary, which I will elaborate on in this post:

The Law teaches monogamy
Marriage should be lifelong
Divorce is not mandatory
Divorce is allowed in some cases
Marriage is not mandatory
Divorce for “any cause” is invalid

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible, Part 3 – New Testament Introduction

Background

The previous discussion (start with Part 1) on Old Testament laws and their interpretation helps us understand the commonly held views on divorce and remarriage at the time of Jesus. Before we examine the New Testament, however, it’s important to understand the disagreement between two rabbinical schools regarding the definition of “indecency.”