Deuteronomy 24:1-5

Law of Divorce

1 "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some ¹indecency in her, and ²he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,

2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife,

3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife,

4 then her ³former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since * she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

5 "⁴When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall ⁵give happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

Deuteronomy 24:1-5 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 24

This chapter contains various laws concerning divorces, De 24:1-4; the discharge of a newly married man from war and business, De 24:5; about taking pledges, De 24:6,10-13; man stealing, De 24:7; the plague of leprosy, De 24:8,9; and giving servants their hire in due time, De 24:14,15; concerning doing justice in capital cases, and towards the stranger, fatherless, and widow, De 24:16-18; and of charity to the poor, in allowing them the forgotten sheaf, and the gleanings of their oliveyards and vineyards, De 24:19-22.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 5:12, 28; Deuteronomy 22:13-21
• 2. Matthew 5:31; Matthew 19:7-9; Mark 10:4, 5
• 3. Jeremiah 3:1
• 4. Deuteronomy 20:7
• 5. Proverbs 5:18

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "if"
• [b] Lit "hates her"