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24 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent[a] in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. When she has left him[b] she may go and become someone else’s wife. If the second husband rejects[c] her and then divorces her,[d] gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry[e] her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord.[f] You must not bring guilt on the land[g] that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

When a man is newly married, he need not go into[h] the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to[i] the wife he has married.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 24:1 tn The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (ʿervat davar) involves a genitive of specification, something characterized by עֶרְוָה (ʿervah). עֶרְוָה means “nakedness,” and by extension means “shame, sexual impropriety, sexual organs, indecency” (NIDOTTE III 528, Jastrow 1114-15).
  2. Deuteronomy 24:2 tn Heb “his house.”
  3. Deuteronomy 24:3 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
  4. Deuteronomy 24:3 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
  5. Deuteronomy 24:4 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
  6. Deuteronomy 24:4 sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.
  7. Deuteronomy 24:4 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
  8. Deuteronomy 24:5 tn Heb “go out with.”
  9. Deuteronomy 24:5 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).

24 “Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.

“A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married.

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