Logo image
Did adultery mandate divorce? A reassessment of Jesus' divorce logia
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Did adultery mandate divorce? A reassessment of Jesus' divorce logia

W.R.G. Loader
New Testament Studies, Vol.61(1), pp.67-78
2015
pdf
adultery_mandate_divorce.pdfDownloadView
Published (Version of Record) Open Access
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

This paper argues that Matthew's so-called exception clauses to the prohibition of divorce (5.32; 19.9) make explicit what was already implicit in versions without them: that adultery required divorce. While biblical law required death for adulterers or expected it as a result of the ordeal of the suspected wife, the issue of divorce arose where communities no longer had capital rights and where guilt was not in question. Matthew's nativity story, the norms of Greek and Roman culture, notions of the defiled wife (Deut 24.1-4) and the use of Gen 2.24 to indicate permanent joining give plausibility to the thesis.

Details

Metrics

311 File views/ downloads
134 Record Views
Logo image