(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 24:1–4, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come 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. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
Over the years this section has been greatly debated by experts in the Law of the Lord. The definition of the words, “she find no favour in his eyes...” is open to many interpretations. Some scholars took it to mean something as trivial as a man could divorce his wife is he woke up in the morning and didn’t like her that day. The rest of the sentence , “because he hath found some uncleanness in her.” didn’t attract the same attention. The first time that we find the word “marry” in the Bible is in Gen 19: 14, where we find that Lot’s daughters were to be married but the concept of marriage is first discussed when the Lord gave Adam Eve to be his wife. (Gen 2:21–24, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” In this case the man made a public declaration and, presumably, so did the woman. They belonged in the parents’ homes but they publicly declared (the marriage ceremony) that they would now form their own new home together. After that they would enjoy the privileges of marriage and be joined together. When we read about Adam earlier in that chapter (Gen 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”) Adam was different to all the other creatures because he had the breath of life and he was a living soul and Eve was exactly the same. When they were joined together their souls were joined. If a man or a woman sought to join with another person in that way they damaged their own souls, the part that was made in God’s own image. God’s intention was that they be joined together until they were separated. (Even though this took place before sin and death, God was not surprised by sin because He knew that both Adam and Eve had the ability to choose and that they would choose in the course of time.) When the Law was given, the social and cultural milieu was different and the society was strongly patriarchal. At that stage, a woman belonged to her husband or her father. If her husband put her out she would have no status in society and would be an outcast. Even though the couple were joined together in their souls the man could assert his superior status in that culture. The Lord established this regulation, as a last resort, to protect a helpless woman from literally becoming homeless and having no one to protect her. However, this protection was extended so that the man could not treat her with complete contempt and come back to her later. Leaving her in a position of complete emotional insecurity as he bullied her.
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