Interpretations of Marriage Divorce in the Hebrew Bible
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Marriage has long been a topic of social and spiritual importance. The basic fixture of marriage is primarily a social contract; a man and woman agree to mutual fidelity, to the emotional and practical benefit of both. However, religion has often served to appropriate greater spiritual meaning to this social contract; in the Hebrew religion, for example, marriage is mentioned several times in the Bible, often carrying with it spiritual significance and spiritual consequences in the larger context of human's relationship to God. However, the institution of marriage has also always been plagued by the problem of divorce; thus, many have looked to biblical texts for an answer to the question of divorce and remarriage. The efforts of ancient interpreters to establish a coherent biblical commentary on the situation have lead to multiple schools of thought on marriage and divorce, each with very different conclusions. The trends of these interpretations have diverged greatly over time; on one hand, some readers of the Bible argue against divorce, and others move towards a very liberal attitude on remarriage. Thus, we see close readings of the Bible by ancient Hebrew and Christian interpreters and teachers at odds with the attitude of other Jewish and later Christian writers advocating divorce and remarriage.
The debate over the appropriateness of divorce revolves around a group of key verses on marriage and divorce in the Pentateuch of the Hebrew Bible. In Genesis, when God is described creating humans, "male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27). Also, marriage is described as a situation where "a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Gen 2:24)...