To study any subject honestly it is essential to do it in light of its origin. The biblical bill of divorcement is no exception. As in the days of Moses (and throughout human history) we witness proof that many husbands were cruel to their wives, and for this very reason God instituted the guidelines for divorce. We see in Matthew 19:3 that even the Judean people had been seduced by their own cruelty by teaching and believing that a woman could be divorce for every cause! “For every cause” meant divorcing their wives on the most frivolous grounds, i.e. if she burnt his bread, or didn’t season his food right, spoiling a dinner, or was a poor housekeeper, or if he found a woman prettier than her.
Repudiation of the marriage at a husband’s whim and displeasure was at the center of the Judean divorce legislation (see The Talmud, Gittin 9:10). The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter 8, Sections 24-25, also provides some historical context of the Jewish bill of divorcement:
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Author: Flavius Josephus
Keywords: Marriage, Divorce, Bill of divorcement, Certificate of divorce, Certificate of divorcement, Bill of divorce, Divorce document, Remarriage, divorce and remarriage, divorce and marriage
Bible reference(s): Deuteronomy 24:1-3, Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 19:3-9, Mark 10:4, Mark 10:11-12, Luke 16:18
Source: Flavius Josephus
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