[T]he whole purpose of a Jewish divorce certificate is to allow the woman to remarry, and the only necessary wording of the certificate is “You are allowed to marry any man you wish.” Therefore, when the Pharisees mention divorce certificates to Jesus, his silence concerning them is deafening. Jesus spends most of his time in this debate with the Pharisees disagreeing with their laws on divorce [Matthew 19:3-9]. He disagreed with their teaching on polygamy, on compulsory divorce for adultery, with their lack of forgiveness of faults within marriage, and their interpretation of the phrase “a matter of indecency.” The fact that he did not forbid remarriage, even after a divorce certificate had been mentioned, is very significant.
Paul, similarly did not specifically mention remarriage even though this was a fundamental right within Greco-Roman society. Many Greco-Roman marriage contracts included the right of a divorced person to remarry, and even when this is not mentioned, it is assumed. There was nothing in the Jewish or pagan backgrounds of Paul’s readers that would even hint at the immorality of remarriage. Indeed the Roman law of [Caesar] Augustus made it illegal to remain unmarried for more than eighteen months after a divorce. If Paul had wished to teach Christians that remarriage was not permitted to them, he would have had to do so very clearly. Therefore, his silence on this matter speaks very loudly.
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Author: David Instone-Brewer
Keywords: Marriage, Divorce, Bill of divorcement, Certificate of divorce, Certificate of divorcement, Bill of divorce, School of Hillel, School of Shammai, Any cause, Every cause, Divorce for any cause, Divorce of every cause, Rabbinic debate, Commits adultery, Remarriage, Divorcement, Exception clause, Put away, Put assunder, Putteth away, Divorcee, matter of indecency, no fault divorce, any matter, divorce and remarriage, divorce and marriage
Bible reference(s): Deuteronomy 24:1-3, Malachi 2:16, Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 19:3-9, Mark 10:4, Mark 10:11-12, Luke 16:18, 1 Corinthians 7:15, 1 Corinthians 7:39, 1 Corinthians 7:28
Source: Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002), pp. 288-9, 266, 299.
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