Paul's Pragmatic Solution

But if the unbeliever separates themself, let them separate themself: the brother or the sister is not bound in such [cases]; for God has called us in peace. —1 Corinthians 7:15

Strictly speaking, deserted believers were not free to remarry under the laws of Scripture. They were free to remarry only if they had a valid divorce based on one of the four grounds named in Scripture. Desertion was not one of the grounds, though most Jews would have said that there was no problem for a man who had been deserted because he could simply write out a divorce certificate citing “any matter” as the ground [see Deuteronomy 24:1]. A woman, however, was stuck unless she could persuade her ex-husband to write a divorce certificate for her. This type of situation still occurs today, and such women are called agunot or “chained women.” They cannot remarry without a divorce certificate, and their husbands refuse, out of spite, to write one. There are many calls for changes to the Jewish law to release such women.

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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, Continues to commit adultery, Remarriage, Divorcement, Exception clause, Except for fornication, Except for adultery, Putteth away, Put asunder, agunot, Chained women, Desertion, Husband deserts wife, 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, 1 Corinthians 7:15, 1 Corinthians 7:28

Source: Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002), p. 204.

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