"It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery" Matthew 5:31-32 (KJV).
"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery" Matthew 5:31-32 (NIV).
The practice of putting away a wife was a cruel, utterly unloving act common among generations of God-fearing Jewish men. In these two verses, Jesus condemned the practice and told his listeners what was the right way--God's way.
What was cruel and unloving about putting away a wife? Some men, when they tired of a wife or she had displeased him, simply banished her to the back quarters, or to the concubine's quarters. They denied her all rights of marriage and treated her as something that could simply be thrown away. In many cases, they put the woman out on the streets, usually forcing her into prostitution or slavery in order to survive. These men provided no legal document granting her a divorce, which would have allowed her to be legally married to another man, and they robbed her of all dignity. And, in a practice that was even more unfair, the man usually took another wife. (See note at end of post.)
If the wife, cast into the streets, were to accept an offer of marriage to another man, they were both guilty of adultery; of course, if she simply offered her body to any man who would pay for the pleasure, she was an adulteress.
But Jesus said, "Look, gentlemen. If you insist on getting rid of your wife, at least give her a legal divorce, so she can retain some dignity and be free to marry, again, with no charge of adultery" (my paraphrase).
Notice the very first line in the King James Version: "Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement." If putting away and divorcing were the same thing, this command would make no sense, at all; it would be redundant, as in the New International Version and many other modern translations. It would rate a duh. Only in the last line of the KJV is the word for putting away translated divorced. That has to be an error in translation, as a certificate of divorce did allow a woman to marry again, and it allowed the man who married her to do so legally. No adultery was involved, as long as a legal divorce had been granted.
So why did modern translators not only continue the error, but extend it to the other uses in vv. 31 and 32? And why is this not taught correctly in our churches? I know the answers that I would hear: (1) Manuscripts vary; and (2) tradition has taught that divorce is wrong. While I am not arguing that divorce is right, the traditional teaching has heaped great shame on women, especially, and robbed them of dignity, because they are or were divorced. Both the topic and, often, the women themselves were treated as though divorce were the "unforgiveable sin." I experienced this vicariously as a child and young person, and I experienced it from some, when I went through my own divorce.
Again, I am not arguing that divorce is right. We are all broken people, living in a very broken world, and there are times and situations where divorce is the least of the evils, sometimes necessary for the survival of one or both parties. But instead of teaching this brief passage according to tradition only, or according only to those manuscripts that support traditional teaching, it ought to be taught by treating the scripture, itself, with integrity. The teaching should include the information about the practice of "putting away" and what Jesus was saying about how women should be treated . Other scriptural texts provide solid material for sermons about marriage and divorce.
This rant comes partly from my desire to hear Holy Writ treated with integrity, without doctrine, human reasoning or bias superimposed on it; and partly from my background. Many pastors and teachers in many churches (including my own) now deal with issues of marriage and divorce with compassion and grace, often suggesting resources to aid in healing of relationships, and healing from the pain of divorce. I am so thankful for that; it wasn't always so. But I still wish I could hear this particular passage treated correctly, or at least taught as one possible and valid interpretation, where manuscripts vary. Tradition has its value, but to continue tradition for the sake of tradition, despite a fuller understanding of scripture, renders tradition a sacred cow.
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In ancient times, many of the heroes of Judeo-Christian faith practiced polygamy, and God allowed it. New Testment teaching pointed toward monogamy as pleasing to God. For a good discussion of this issue, go to http://www.gotquestions.org/polygamy.html.
