Deuteronomy 24:2
in Deuteronomy 24If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
KJV
And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 24
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes--It appears that the practice of divorces was at this early period very prevalent amongst the Israelites, who had in all probability become familiar with it in Egypt [LANE]. The usage, being too deep-rooted to be soon or easily abolished, was tolerated by Moses (Mt 19:8).
This site's exposition
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her
on Deuteronomy 24:1-4
Verses 1 to 3 set out a case and verse 4 alone carries the command, so what the statute forbids is the first husband taking her back after a second marriage. The Pharisees quote it at Matthew 19:7 as though Moses had commanded the writing of divorcement, and Jesus answers that Moses suffered it for the hardness of your hearts and that from the beginning it was not so. The schools of Shammai and Hillel divided over how much the phrase some uncleanness covers, which is why the question at Matthew 19:3 is put in the form of every cause. Jeremiah 3:1 reasons from this same law about Israel and her lovers.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
And when she is departed out of his house,....
How the passage was read
On Deuteronomy 24:1-4On Deuteronomy 24:1-4
Two Hebrew words the schools split over
This is the Torah's divorce text: a man who finds “some indecency” (Hebrew ervat davar, literally “a matter of nakedness”) in his wife writes her “a bill of divorcement,” the sefer keritut, later called the get: a formal written document whose careful delivery protected the woman's proven right to remarry. What exactly ervat davar covers became the most famous legal dispute of the generation before Jesus, between the two great Pharisaic teaching schools. The Mishnah records it verbatim: the house of Shammai permits divorce only for unchastity; the house of Hillel “even if she spoiled his dish”; Rabbi Akiva, later, “even if he found another fairer than she” (Gittin 9:10).
That standing debate is why the Pharisees' test question in Matthew 19:3, “is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?”, is not a cold question: “for any cause” is the Hillelite position quoted back at Jesus. He is being asked to pick a school. His answer reaches behind Moses to creation itself (Genesis 1:27, 2:24).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Gittin 9:10 (the Shammai, Hillel, and Akiva positions verbatim)
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיָצְאָ֖ה | veyatzeah | and she will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִבֵּית֑וֹ | mibeito | from house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְהָלְכָ֖ה | vehalekhah | and she will go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֥ה | vehayetah | and she will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְאִישׁ־ | leish- | to a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אַחֵֽר׃ | ʾacher | another | H312 → | 166 times |
וְיָצְאָ֖הand she will go out
veyatzeahH3318 →1067 times
מִבֵּית֑וֹfrom house his
mibeitoH1004 →2046 times
וְהָלְכָ֖הand she will go
vehalekhahH1980 →1546 times
וְהָיְתָ֥הand she will belong
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
לְאִישׁ־to a man
leish-H376 →1663 times
אַחֵֽר׃another
ʾacherH312 →166 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 5:32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, brings adultery upon her. And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
it leads to
- Romans 7:3
So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not…
- Luke 16:18
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
- 1 Corinthians 7:10–11
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
- 1 Corinthians 7:4
The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
- Matthew 19:8–9
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning.
- Romans 7:3
Through
Ezekiel 44:22And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.
it leads to
- Leviticus 21:7
A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 21:7
Through
1 Corinthians 7:15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.
it leads to
- Romans 14:19
So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
- James 3:17–18
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- Romans 14:19
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.