Divorce in the New Testament

Matthew

The text presents numerous mentions of divorce which are located in chapters 5 and 19. However, Matthew seems to have undergone a significant amount of editorial redaction, as many manuscripts present different textual variations.

5:32

In the NRSVUE, the passage is as follows:

But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The textual variations of the verse mainly deal with the last section of the verse.

All of these textual variants agree that a man who divorces his wife for anything other than an unchaste act he did entails she is an adulteress. The last phrase is an open to two options; either:

1. A man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery,
2. or he doesn't.

19:9

The verse is as follows in most modern translations:

Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.

Below are textual variants in the earliest manuscripts for each version of the text.

a

b

All the above variations agree that the man committing sexual immorality is a condition that negates the following predicate. However, they still disagree with each other. There are a number of possible interpretations for a man that divorces for any other reason than unchaste acts:

1. He commits adultery if he remarries.
2. He makes his wife an adulteress if he remarries.
3. He makes his wife an adulteress.
4. He commits adultery if he remarries, and whoever marries his divorced wife commits adultery.
5. He makes his wife an adulteress, and whoever marries his divorced wife commits adultery.
6. He makes his wife an adulteress, and if remarries, he also commits adultery.

Mark

Mark 10:11-12 reads as follows:

He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

There are a few things to note about this passage. In some manuscripts, such as Codex Washingtonianus, v. 11 comes after v. 12. Additionally, Mark's portrayal of Jesus cannot possibly apply in a Jewish context since Jewish law never permitted a woman to effectuate a divorce. Jesus's early followers were converted Jews, so it wouldn't make sense for him to speak about a legal custom that he wasn't subject to. It is possible that this was an editorial emendation so that it could apply to Gentiles, since Roman law allowed women to effectuate a divorce.

The passage has Jesus state that any divorced spouse who remarries commits adultery.

Luke

Luke 16:18 reads as follows:

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Luke teaches two things:

1. A divorced man who remarries commits adultery,
2. Any man who marries a divorced woman likewise commits adultery.

Paul

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 reads as follows:

To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

Analysis

In the ancient world, divorced women didn't have a safety net; that is, they didn't have a support structure that would feed her or take care of her. That is why the assumption behind these texts is that women would be remarried after being divorced. This is also why it can be stated that Jesus is not just prohibiting remarriage after divorce, but also divorce itself since it generally required remarriage on the part of the woman. Given the possible renditions of Matthew, it appears the authors of the text portray Jesus siding with Shammai's interpretation on divorce. It should be noted that Matthew disagrees with Mark and Luke. Functionally, Mark and Luke reject all Jewish interpretations of divorce.

Paul gives an even more different perspective of divorce and remarriage. According to him, divorce is permitted if a non-believing husband leaves the marriage from a believing woman. In summary:

• To Matthew, a man is an adulterer if he divorces his wife and then remarries or if he marries a divorced wife, and women are adulteresses if their husbands divorce. All of these, of course, assuming the reason the man divorces is due to anything other than his unchastity.
• To Mark, anyone commits adultery when they remarry after divorce.
• To Luke, only men are adulterers if they remarry after divorcing or if they married a divorced woman.
• Paul allowed it if a non-believing spouse chooses to leave the marriage.

This reveals a contradiction between the different accounts. Mark and Luke consider remarriage after divorce simpliciter to be adultery, while Matthew considers it adultery if the reason for the divorce was anything other than the husband's unchaste acts.

So which is it? Is remarriage after divorce always adultery or is it not?