2004-02-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Historical-Cultural Context: Matthew 19:3

The Pharisees’ question was theologically loaded: “Is it lawful for man to divorce for any and every reason?” It was an invitation to walk into a landmine of arguments between two ‘houses’ of thoughts within rabbinical traditions.
The House of Shammai (more strict) interpreted Deuteronomy 24 as man could divorce his wife for “any matter of indecency” like marital unfaithfulness. Covenant of Damascus 4.20 – 5.6 is an example. The House of Hillel (more lenient) interpreted it as man could divorce for “any matter of indecency” , including burning a meal as in the Mishnah. Rabbi Akiba even went further by permitting divorce if the man “found a more attractive woman” . (Git. 9.10) Both grant man the right to divorce, even though it’s undesirable.

NT Wright argued that the apostle Paul was a Shammaite even though his mentor, Gamaliel, was a Hillelite.
The following quotation from primary sources shed more light on the cultural backdrop:

Philo wrote: “But if, proceeds the lawgiver (Moses), a woman having been divorced from her husband under any pretence whatever… still she must not return to her former husband .”
Josephus wrote: “I divorced my wife also, as not pleased with her behavior, though not till she had been the mother of three children… ”

Sometimes, it seems that divorce is a “should”, rather than a “could”. Sirach 25:24-25: “Allow water no outlet, and be not indulgent to an erring wife. If she walks not by your side, cut her away from you.”
It’s always the man who gives the sefer k'ritut (scroll of cutting off) or bill of divorce, not vice versa. It was not necessary to get mutual consent for divorce. “The woman goes out whether she pleases or not, but the husband sends her out only if it pleases him ” (Yev. 14:1)

There seemed to be a societal stigma attached to divorcee – cannot remarry priests (Leviticus 21:17)

Malachi 2:13- 16
You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith." (NIV)

How does the background information help in understanding Jesus’ reply?

At first glance, Jesus seems to favor the stricter House of Shammai. However, he skillfully undercut the whole debate by appealing to Genesis 2. The ultimate issue is not the “right” to divorce but God’s original intent for them to be one. “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:6b) By doing so, he has raised an even loftier and nobler standard. He explained the Deuteronomy 24 was a concession for “their hearts were hard” and it was not so “from the beginning”. Anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and remarries another woman commits adultery.

Application:
The rapidly increasing statistics for broken marriages are staggering. “We have made gigantic strides in medicine but cannot stop the alarming number of divorces and the near dissolution of the family unit,” lamented Erwin Lutzer.
Even in the church today, the debate rages, “Is divorce justifiable if we are not compatible? Or when we no longer love each other any more? What about cases of wife/husband abuse? Should I try to save the marriage in spite of adultery?” Serious issues that demand our attention.

But in a time when fidelity and faithfulness are deemed boring, we desperately need to recover Jesus’ lofty vision of marriage, as a union God Himself has joined together. Marriage is to be a profound mystery that reflects the love relationship between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:22 – 33). We could tackle other issues only when we are firmly grounded in this foundational truth.

When the disciples understood such a high calling, they responded, “If this is the situation, it is better not to marry” (19:11). Surely, it is not something that “only fools rush in ”. Someone once said, “There are no bad marriages, only ill-prepared marriages.”

Cultural Background for Divorce