Sexuality in the New Testament by Loader William;

Sexuality in the New Testament by Loader William;

Author:Loader, William;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SPCK


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Divorce and remarriage

Of all the matters pertaining to sexuality, divorce and remarriage receive the most attention in the NT. We have two versions of an anecdote in which Pharisees confront Jesus with the issue head-on (Mark 10.2–9; Matt. 19.3–9). There are five versions of a saying of Jesus on the theme, two of which are attached to the anecdote (Mark 10.11–12; Matt. 19.9); the single sayings in Matthew 5.31–32, Luke 16.18 and 1 Corinthians 7.10–11. Paul discusses the issue in 1 Corinthians 7.10–16 in particular in relation to mixed marriages. It appears also in Matthew’s account of Mary and Joseph, where Joseph apparently assumes he must divorce Mary (1.18–19).

Mark 10.2–9 and the question about divorce

We begin with the story in Mark 10.2–9, which most hold to be the earlier version, and which Matthew revised in his expanded Gospel perhaps some 15 or so years later.1 Not all see the sequence in this way, some arguing either that Mark has abridged Matthew or that Matthew independently draws on an equally early if not earlier version of the story which existed independently of Mark.2 This is not the place to discuss these differences in detail, but we shall keep an eye on them for where they could influence the way we understand what is being said.

Mark introduces his account very concisely with the report that some Pharisees approached Jesus asking him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ Mark adds that they were testing Jesus. Their question and Mark’s account of it already raise a number of questions as we seek to understand what is going on. Why would this question function as a test? What would Jesus have to do to pass or fail the test? What made them want to test Jesus in particular on this issue? What kind of law were they talking about? Why do they speak only of a man divorcing, not a woman?

Divorce in context

Some of the answers emerge from the immediate context. The law is the biblical law which both parties as well as Mark believed was given by Moses. Thus Mark reports: ‘He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her”’ (10.3–4). In fact the only reference to divorce in biblical law is incidental and occurs in Deuteronomy 24.1–4, where the focus is what happens when a man divorces his wife, who then remarries, is then divorced or widowed, and the original husband wants to remarry her. It declares such a remarriage ‘abhorrent’ because ‘she has been defiled’ in relation to him. The prohibition may be targeting husbands who hope to profit as a result of an accumulation of dowries,3 but the focus is clearly on issues of defilement both of the woman and of the land. The Greek translation even speaks of both defilements, using the same word.4 Only incidentally do we find reference to what is clearly assumed to be standard practice: a man could divorce his wife.



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