Customs & Culture

Divorce and the Certificate of Divorce

Marriage and Family • Legal Practice

A written certificate of divorce formally documented the dissolution of a marriage and enabled the woman to demonstrate her changed legal status.

Primary Scripture

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

Historical and Cultural Background

Deuteronomy 24 regulates a situation involving divorce and remarriage rather than presenting divorce as an ideal. By Jesus' day, Jewish teachers debated the legitimate grounds for divorce.

Biblical Examples

Jesus is questioned about divorce and directs His hearers behind legal disputes to God's creation purpose for marriage.

Biblical Significance

The controversy in Matthew 19 is best understood as an intra-Jewish legal debate in which Jesus refuses to let Mosaic regulation displace the creation ideal.

Common Misconceptions

It is misleading to say Moses commanded husbands to divorce their wives; Deuteronomy regulates an existing practice.

Historical Setting and Evidence

Culture: Israelite, Judean/Jewish

Period: Conquest and Judges, United Monarchy, Divided Monarchy, Kingdom of Judah, Babylonian Exile, Persian Period, Hellenistic Period, Hasmonean Period, Roman / Second Temple Period

Evidence: Well Attested

Interpretive Importance: Essential

The certificate is explicit in Deuteronomy and divorce documents survive from ancient Jewish contexts.