Malachi 2:16

The Israelites were not to break their marriage covenants because the person who divorces his mate to marry an unbeliever brings disgrace upon himself. Divorcing for this reason constitutes covenant unfaithfulness, breaking a covenant entered into that God Himself witnessed (Malachi 2:14). As such, it is an ungodly thing to do since Yahweh is a covenant-keeping God; He keeps his promises. To break a covenant (a formal promise) is to do something that God Himself does not do.

Divorcing for this reason constitutes covering oneself with wrong. This is a play on a Hebrew euphemism for marriage, namely, covering oneself with a garment (cf. Ruth 3:9; Ezekiel 16:8). One covers himself with wrong when he divorces his wife whom he has previously covered with his garment (i.e., married). For these Jews divorce was similar to wearing soiled garments; it was a disgrace. For emphasis, the Lord repeated His warning to take heed to one’s spirit so one would not deal treacherously with his covenant partner (cf. Malachi 2:15).

There is some dispute among English translators whether the rendering, "I hate divorce," is correct. It is possible, and some English translators have so rendered it (AV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, NASB, NIV, TNIV, NET), but it requires emending the Masoretic text. [Note: Joe M. Sprinkle, "Old Testament Perspectives on Divorce and Remarriage," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40 (1997):539.] The normal way of translating the Hebrew literally would be, "If [or "for"] he hates sending away [i.e., divorce], says Yahweh God of Israel, then [or "and"] violence covers [or "he covers/will cover with violence"] his garment, says Yahweh of hosts." One paraphrase that captures the literal meaning well is, "For the man who hates and divorces, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts" (English Standard Version). Another good paraphrase is, "’If he hates and divorces [his wife],’ says the LORD of Hosts" (Holman Christian Standard Bible). One writer expressed the spirit of the Lord’s statement by paraphrasing it, "Divorce is hateful." [Note: D. L. Petersen, Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi, pp.204-5.]

"The passage [Malachi 2:10-16] does not deal with the case of a man divorcing a wife who has already broken her marriage vows, so it also does not apply to the case of a woman divorcing her husband who has already broken his marriage vows. This is another reason the passage should not be understood as an absolute condemnation of divorce under any circumstances. In fact, according to Jeremiah 3:8 the Lord himself had divorced the Northern Kingdom of Israel because of her adulteries (cf. Hosea 2:2)." [Note: Clendenen, p. 359.]

The fact that Ezra commanded divorce (Ezra 10) may appear to contradict God’s prohibition of divorce here. (Nehemiah neither advocated divorce nor spoke out against it; Nehemiah 13:23-29.) The solution seems to be that Malachi addressed the situation of Jewish men divorcing their Jewish wives to marry pagan women. Ezra faced Jewish men who had already married pagan women. Does this mean that it is all right to divorce an unbelieving spouse but not a believer? Paul made it clear that the Christian is to divorce neither (1 Corinthians 7:10-20). Evidently it was the illegitimacy of a Jew marrying a pagan that led Ezra to advocate divorce in that type of case.

Even though God typically opposes divorce, and in that sense hates it, He permitted it (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) to achieve the larger goals of maintaining Israel’s distinctiveness so she could fulfill His purposes for her in the world (Exodus 19:3-6). His purposes for the church are not exactly the same as His purposes for Israel. Furthermore the church is not subject to the Mosaic Law. Therefore it is inappropriate to appeal to the Jews’ action in Ezra as a precedent that Christians who are married to unbelievers should follow (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:12-13).

In none of the other passages in which divorce appears to be required (Genesis 21:8-14; Exodus 21:10-11; Deuteronomy 21:10-14) does God present divorce as a good thing. He only permitted it under certain circumstances created by sin (Matthew 19:9).

"The prophet’s concluding exhortation, ’So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith’ is a strong warning to every husband that he must be constantly on his guard against developing a negative attitude toward his wife." [Note: Ibid., p. 368. Cf. Colossians 3:19.]