Divorce - A Biblical Perspective

Critical Perspectives: Divorce - A Biblical Perspective

by Eric Thurman
PhD Candidate
Drew University
Madison, NJ


In an age when marriage, once considered the bedrock of society, has tumbled from its position of moral prominence, and the divorce rate (among Christians as well) has skyrocketed, it seems that the Church has, for the most part, stood impotently looking on, unwilling or unable to tackle the thorny issues surrounding divorce. Many who are involved in divorce themselves, or seek to help others, who are, query what the Bible has to say on the subject of separation and divorce.

Biblical Teachings on Separation and Divorce

Divorce is discussed directly in a number of New Testament texts, but perhaps the most important ones are Matthew 5:31,32 (along with 19:1-12) and 1 Corinthians 7:10-15. In the Matthew texts, the Greek word apoluo is used. The term Apoluo, however, carries a broader range of meaning than the English word “divorce,” and most of its occurrences in the New Testament are along the lines of "release, set free, send away, and acquit." Matthew uses the term about seventeen times and in most of those instances it means either "to send away," as in sending away crowds, or "to release" as in releasing a prisoner (see Matthew 14:15, 22, 23; 15:23, 32, 39; 18:27; 27:15, 17, 21, 26).

Other uses in Matthew, however, refer specifically to divorce because of the phrasing of apoluo gynaika, to divorce a wife. This is the case not only in 5:31,32, but also in 19:3, 8, 9. (See also Mark 10:2, 11; Luke 16:18). In addition, the context of Matthew 19:3-9 makes it fairly certain that legal divorce, not separation, is the subject throughout the entire exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. As they do elsewhere, the Pharisees seek to "test" Jesus and his understanding of the Law (19:3).

Marriage, Ordained by God

Matthew’s Jesus, in the discussion of marriage and divorce at 19:1-12: “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away. He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it”, appeals to Genesis 2, 3 as the divine intention for marriage. So, it is understandable that in his debate with the Pharisees, Jesus interprets Deuteronomy 24:1-4: “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance”. This passage says that a man may divorce his wife if he finds “something objectionable” about her, by stating that the Deuteronomic allowance for divorce was introduced only as a pragmatic concession. Perhaps like another early Jewish teacher, Rabbi Shammai, Matthew’s Jesus limits what a man may find “objectionable” to what in the Greek is called porneia. Many translations render this word as “unchastity” in this passage and “sexual immorality” in other contexts, although its precise meaning is a constant point of debate.

A Legal Loophole?

Thus, in his dialogue with the Pharisees, the more accurate interpretation is that Jesus limits justifiable divorce only to cases of sexual infidelity of some kind. Some scholars have suggested that Matthew himself has added the clause “except for porneia” to Jesus’ original teaching as a kind of concession as well, since other New Testament texts on divorce, like Mark 10:2-12, do not have Jesus naming this exception.

Within the Bible alone, the term porneia can range in use from “incest” (1 Corinthians 5:1), “adultery” (Jeremiah 3:9), “prostitution” (Matthew 21:31,32; Luke 15:30; 1 Corinthians 6:13-18), and even “idolatry” in a metaphorical sense (Revelation 17:1-5, 15,16). Since there is a more specific Greek term for adultery, moicheia, which Matthew uses elsewhere separately from porniea (see 15:19), its meaning at 5:31,32 may invoke a more general sense of sexual immorality.

Therefore, if Jesus held such a strict view of divorce, and even if those who attempted to qualify his stance allowed divorce only for instances of sexual infidelity, it is certain that Jesus, his Jewish dialogue partners, and his Christian interpreters would all agree that having sex with, much less actually marrying, another woman while married–separated or not–would amount to adultery.

Pauline Thinking on Divorce

In chapter seven of his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul uses two different terms for divorce. In 7:10,11, 15 one finds xorizo and in 7:11-13, aphiami is used. Some have suggested that while aphiami here means legal divorce, xorizo simply means separation. Since the command attributed to Jesus at vv.10,11 uses both verbs, and since that command is likely based on a tradition like the one found in Matthew 5:31,32 and 19:3-9, it is difficult to make a sharp distinction between legal divorce and informal separation.

Paul may very well be alluding to such a strict (and possibly original) saying of Jesus forbidding divorce at 1 Corinthians 7:10,11. Here, too, although Paul may be parenthetically qualifying this teaching at v.11, by allowing for divorce without remarriage, he explicitly qualifies Jesus’ teaching in vv.12-15 in light of a situation that Jesus did not address. If a believer and an unbeliever are married, they should remain so, says Paul, unless the unbeliever wishes for a divorce. In that case, the believer is under no obligation and is free to remarry. Therefore, with these two central New Testament texts on marriage and divorce, one encounters two different grounds for divorce.

Modern Thought

Early church theologians, by and large, leaned toward the teaching of Matthew’s Jesus, even going beyond it to the extent that they forbade remarriage even in the case of a legitimate divorce. Such stricture is not implied in the New Testament texts which assume that a lawful divorce allows lawful remarriage to another. Modern churches, of course, differ in their interpretations of the New Testament and their criteria for permissible divorce. Likewise, different churches may have different criteria for what counts as “proof” of infidelity.

For Further Reading

Divorce in the New Testament, by Raymond F. Collins (Liturgical Press, 2002)

Getting Marriage Right, by David P. Gushee (Baker Books, 2004)

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage, by Kenneth E. Hagin (Faith Library Publications, 2001)

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible, by Jay Edward Adams (Zondervan,1980)

Marriage Made in Eden: A Pre-Modern Perspective for a Post-Christian World, by Alice P. Mathews, M. Gay Hubbard (Baker Books, 2004)

Resolving Conflict in Marriage, by Darrell L. Hines (Whitaker House, 2001)

The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted, by Tim Clinton, Julie Clinton (Word Publishing 2000)