24:1–4 See “Marriage and Divorce” at Mal. 2:16. The situation described (vv. 1–3) is followed by the legal prescription (v. 4). Divorce was permitted in the Mosaic law, as Jesus later said, “because of your hardness of heart” (Matt. 19:8). The restriction on remarriage of a divorced couple after an intervening marriage (v. 4) served to discourage casual divorces.