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Matthew Henry

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 24:3

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

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-4

EXPOSITION LAWS RESPECTING DIVORCE , AGAINST MAN - STEALING AND INJUSTICE . Of divorce . If a man put away his wife because she did not any longer please him, and she became the wife of another man, by whom also she was put away, or from whom she was severed by his death, the first husband might not remarry her, for that would be an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, and would bring sin on the land. This is not a law sanctioning or regulating divorce; that is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-4

These verses should be read as one continuous sentence, of which the protasis is in Deuteronomy 24:1-3 , and the apodosis in Deuteronomy 24:4 , thus: "If a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she doth not find favor in his eyes, because of some uncleanness in her, and he hath written her a bill of divorcement, and given it in her hand, and sent her out of his house; and if she hath departed out of his house, and hath gone and become another man's; and if the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-4

Divorce. The Hebrew Law, "for the hardness of men's hearts," found it was necessary to "suffer" many things not approved of absolutely ( Matthew 19:8 ). Divorce was one of these. It was permitted on grounds of strong personal dislike ( Deuteronomy 24:3 ). The Law was inapplicable to adultery, that being judged a capital offense. While permitting divorce, Moses obviously aims at restricting it, and shows, by his modes of expression, how alien this rupture of the marriage bond is to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-5

Permissive legislation. No treatment of this passage can Be appropriate which does not set it in the light thrown upon it by Matthew 19:1-12 . The heading we have given to this outline indicates a point on which special stress should be laid whenever an expositor has occasion to refer to it. In the course of time, men had come to regard this passage in the light of a command . Hence the wording of the question in Matthew 19:7 . But our Lord informs us that it was simply permissive... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-6

The rights of women. The tendency of the true religion has been to secure and respect the rights of women. Now, we have here women's rights brought under notice in two cases—in a case of separation, and in a case of war. Moses, "because of the hardness of their hearts," allowed divorce, because it prevailed to a lamentable extent in society in his time. He suffered them to divorce their wives, but insisted on a written divorce. Among other nations an oral divorce was sufficient, and so... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 24:1-4

In this and the next chapter certain particular rights and duties, domestic, social, and civil, are treated. The cases brought forward have often no definite connection, and seem selected in order to illustrate the application of the great principles of the Law in certain important events and circumstances.These four verses contain only one sentence, and should be rendered thus: If a man hath taken a wife, etc., and given her a bill of divorcement and Deuteronomy 24:2 if she has departed out of... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:1-22

Protection for the disadvantaged (24:1-25:4)Various laws guaranteed protection for defenceless people who might otherwise be exploited. A woman who had been divorced was free from interference by her previous husband. He had to respect the decency of marriage, and had no right to send her away then take her back as he pleased (24:1-4; cf. Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:3-9). A newly married man could not be forced into the army till at least one year after marriage (5; cf. 20:7). A poor person who... read more

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