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The second restriction of the husband right of divorce appears in Chapter 22 of Deuteronomy 28 to 29. The Bible has it thus: “If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found, then the man that lay with her should give unto the damsels father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his day.” In this case, if a man hath seduced an unbetrothed maiden, he too must endure the threefold penalty. He pays an indemnity to the father, is required to marry the girl, and looses the right to divorce her.
From the Old Testament law, one can infer that a man could divorce his wife on the condition that, it must be on a good cause, the case must be brought before some public official, a legal document prepared and placed in the wife’s hand. All of these require time and money.
As we proceed, it is very imperative to dwell on Deuteronomy 24:1-4; to this effect, we must consider what the bill of divorcement is all about.
The Bible according to Deuteronomy 24:1-4 made it clear thus, “when a man hath taken a wife, and married her and it come to pass that she found no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house…”
Even though God’s law is perfect he did not leave the wife unprotected as we had noted. God made the law in the Old Testament and followed it to its fullest. He also instituted divorce for the progress of human mind. Now, the “bill of divorcement” according to the Bible is translated from the Hebrew [Sepher Kerithuth] the two words literally rendered signify “a document or book of cutting off.”
Brown, Driver and Briggs in their Hebrews and English Lexicon of the Old Testament points out that [Kerithuth] comes from the root [Keroth] verb which means to cut off or cut down. The noun form refers to a writing of divorcement in Deuteronomy 24, Isa. 50:1 and Jer.3:8.
“It is believed that this bill of divorcement was mandatory in the case of dismissal. One of the purposes served, as mentioned above, was to deter hasty action on the part of the husband”. As a legal document it had to be obtained from the legal sources. It was also an assurance to the woman who sent her way. Further it protected the woman’s reputation and well being, particularly if she married another man. It is not known when the custom of writing bill of divorcement began, but there are references to such document in the earliest Hebrew legislation. It is certainly not an innovation introduced by the Deuteronomist.
Later on, the Mishnah modified the right of the husband indirectly by making the divorce procedure quite difficult and bristling with formalities in ordering, writing, attesting and delivering the “GET” as it was then called. Further more; it was considered the duty of the official who prepared this writing to do all in his power to prevent the divorce.
Below is how the bill of divorcement is written:
“On the day of the week in the month in the year from the beginning of the world, according to the computation in the province of 1 the son of by whatever name I may be known, of the town of with the entire conscent of mind and without any constraint, have divorced, dismissed, and expelled the daughter of by whatever name thou are called, of the town who hath been my wife hitherto, but now I have dismissed thee the daughter of by whatever name thou art called, of the town of so as to be free at thy own disposal, to marry whomsoever thou pleases, without hinderance from anyone, from this day forever. Thou art therefore free for anyone {who would marry thee}. Let this be thy bill of divorce from me, a writing of separation and expulsion according to the law of Moses and Israel.
– the son of witness.
– the son of witness.”
What a wonderful writing of divorcement! The moment a wife is divorced and this divorce document given to her, if she remarries, she is therefore never free to reconcile to her first husband. Yes, the way was open when divorce was given for reconciliation and return as long as the woman did not remarry. There is no doubt that all the machinery of the law and the sanctions of the Jewish community seemed to favour reconciliation.
The Book of Deuteronomy 24:1 says, “when a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it came to pass that she find no favour in his eyes because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house”.
The etymology of the word “Uncleanness in her” is from the Hebrew ‘erwath dabbar’ which come from ‘aw-raw’, which is defined as “to be bare, empty, pour out, demolish which has as its resulting meaning nudity {fig, disgrace, blemish} or nakedness, shame, uncleanness.
