Remarriage of Divorced Wife

(Deuteronomy 24:1 - 24:4)
“If a man marries and is displeased with his wife when he discovers she is unchaste, he may draw up a bill of divorcement, present it to her, and banish her from his home.  If, after leaving his house, the woman marries another man and the second husband also draws up a bill of divorcement, presents it to her, and banishes her from his home, the first husband may not remarry her, for she has been defiled -- to do so would be an abomination in the eyes of Jehovah.  You should not tolerate such a sin in the land that Jehovah is giving you for an inheritance.”

Notes
1. The question of divorce is rarely addressed in the Old Testament.  The conditions referenced here as a basis for divorce are ambiguous.  There are two conditions stated: firstly, the husband has to be displeased with his wife and desirous of being rid of her and, secondly, there must be a fault with the bride.  A lack of chastity seems to be suggested by the text, but it is possible that other faults might be included, ill health, physical deformity of some kind, perhaps even an inability to have children.  The divorce would seem to be more akin to an annulment.

2. The husband draws up a bill of divorcement, that is, he prepares some sort of legal document, something down in writing.  The society of Moses, the people listening to this sermon, would not have been literate.  It seems a stretch that personal legal documents would have used until many centuries later, after the invention an alphabet and the Hebrew language.  But most of Moses’ sermon is anachronistic in this regard, pertaining to social conditions that would only exist many centuries in the future.

3. It is perhaps surprising that the divorced woman is free to marry again.  Would she, though, have been stigmatized, regarded as a dishonored woman?

4. There is no suggestion that a woman could ever divorce a man irrespective of cause.  But this is hardly surprising considering the second-class status women had in Hebrew society.  (Women didn’t fare much better in other ancient societies until the Romans, who, at least at a later period, granted women greater rights.)

5. Why a man remarrying a former wife constitutes a sin is hard to determine.  The second husband does not sin by marrying a defiled woman that once belonged to another man, then why should the first husband remarry a woman that is already defiled?  The rationale seems somewhat obscure.

6.  Jehovah only seems concerned about what sins are perpetrated in the land he is giving the Israelites.  He doesn’t want his land polluted. (It’s always all about him!)  It seems he could care less about sins committed in foreign lands, even by Israelites.  He is rather like a landlord who polices his property to ensure that behavior of which he disapproves does not occur, but he is unconcerned about what his tenants may do off the premises.  The welfare and moral character of his people is only important in so far as it impinges upon Jehovah’s plans and impacts Jehovah’s pride.