Deuteronomy 24:1-4 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-4

This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred to as a precept, Matt. 19:7; Moses commanded to give a writing of divorcement. It was not so; our Saviour told them that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts, lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before (they are taken for granted, Lev. 21:14), and Moses thought... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1

When a man hath taken a wife and married her ,.... That is, when a man has made choice of a woman for his wife, and has obtained her consent, and the consent of her parents; and has not only betrothed her, but taken her home, and consummated the marriage: and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes ; is not agreeable to him, he takes no delight in her person, nor pleasure in her company and conversation; but, on the contrary, his affections are alienated from her, and he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:2

And when she is departed out of his house ,.... With her bill of divorce, by which departure out of his house it is notified to all: she may go and be other man's wife ; it was permitted her to marry another man, she being by her divorce freed from the law of her former husband; and who indeed, in express words contained in the divorce, gave her leave so to do; which ran thus,"thou art in thine own hand, and hast power over thyself to go and marry any other man whom thou pleasest; and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:3

And if the latter husband hate her ,.... Or less loves her than another woman, and she is disliked by him as she was by her former husband: and write her a bill off divorcement, and giveth it into her hand , and sendeth her out of his house : as he had by this law a permission, in like manner as her former husband had; See Gill on Deuteronomy 24:1 , or if her latter husband die, which took her to be his wife ; and she survives him; as she is then by death loosed from the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:4

Her former husband which sent her away may not take her again to be his wife ,.... Though ever so desirous of it, and having heartily repented that he had put her away: this is the punishment of his fickleness and inconstancy, and was ordered to make men cautious how they put away their wives; since when they had so done, and they had been married to another, they could not enjoy them again even on the death of the second husband; yea, though she was only espoused to him, and he had never... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:1

Some uncleanness - Any cause of dislike, for this great latitude of meaning the fact itself authorizes us to adopt, for it is certain that a Jew might put away his wife for any cause that seemed good to himself; and so hard were their hearts, that Moses suffered this; and we find they continued this practice even to the time of our Lord, who strongly reprehended them on the account, and showed that such license was wholly inconsistent with the original design of marriage; see Matthew 5:31 ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:3

And write her a bill of divorcement - These bills, though varying in expression, are the same in substance among the Jews in all places. The following, collected from Maimonides and others, is a general form, and contains all the particulars of such instruments. The reader who is curious may find a full account of divorces in the Biblioth. Rab. of Bartolocci, and the following form in that work, vol. iv., p. 550. "In - day of the week, or day - of the month A., in - year from the creation... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:4

She is defiled - Does not this refer to her having been divorced, and married in consequence to another? Though God, for the hardness of their hearts, suffered them to put away their wives, yet he considered all after-marriages in that case to be pollution and defilement; and it is on this ground that our Lord argues in the places referred to above, that whoever marries the woman that is put away is an adulterer: now this could not have been the case if God had allowed the divorce to be a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:1

Verse 1 Although what relates to divorce was granted in indulgence to the Jews, yet Christ pronounces that it was never in accordance with the Law, because it is directly repugnant to the first institution of God, from whence a perpetual and inviolable rule is to be sought. It is proverbially said that the laws of nature are indissoluble; and God has declared once for all, that the bond of union between husband and wife is closer than that of parent and child; wherefore, if a son cannot shake... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1

Because he hath found some uncleanness in her; literally, a thing or matter of nakedness, i.e. some shameful thing, something disgraceful; LXX ; ἄσχημον πρᾶγμα : Vulgate, " aliquam foeditatem ." In the Targum of Onkelos, the expression is explained by עֲבֵירִת פִתֵגָם ; " aliquid foeditatis " (London Polyglot); " iniquitas rei alicujus "(Buxtorf); "the transgression of a [Divine] word" (Levi). On this the school of Hillel among the rabbins put the interpretation that a... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 24:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1

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