What Does the Torah Say About Divorce? A Three-Faith Comparison

The Torah's foundational divorce law appears in Deuteronomy 24:1–4, which permits a husband to write a get (bill of divorcement) and place it in his wife's hand, thereby releasing her Deuteronomy 24:1. The Hebrew phrase ervat davar — translated "some uncleanness" or literally "a matter of nakedness" — became the center of intense rabbinic debate. The school of Shammai (1st century BCE) read it narrowly as sexual misconduct, while the school of Hillel read it broadly to include any cause of displeasure. Rabbi Akiva went further, permitting divorce even if a man found a more attractive woman (Mishnah Gittin 9:10).

Critically, the Torah also prohibits a divorced woman's first husband from remarrying her after she has been with another man, calling such a reunion an "abomination before the LORD" Deuteronomy 24:4. This restriction signals that divorce carries serious, lasting legal consequences — it isn't simply a private matter. Numbers 30:9 further acknowledges divorced women as a distinct legal category with full standing to make binding vows Numbers 30:9, indicating the Torah treats them as fully autonomous persons post-divorce.

Deuteronomy 24:3 also contemplates a second husband who "hates" the wife and divorces her Deuteronomy 24:3, showing the Torah anticipated divorce as a recurring social reality rather than a rare exception. Maimonides (12th century) and later Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch codified the get process in detail, but the Torah's core framework — written document, voluntary delivery, and the remarriage restriction — remains foundational in traditional Jewish law today.

Christian engagement with the Torah's divorce law is shaped primarily by Jesus's reinterpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1. In Matthew 19:8, Jesus states that Moses permitted divorce only "because of the hardness of your hearts," implying the Torah's allowance was a concession rather than an ideal. He invokes the creation order over the Mosaic permission, effectively tightening the standard. This places Christianity in a position of acknowledging the Torah text Deuteronomy 24:1 while subordinating it to a higher principle.

Paul's letters (1 Corinthians 7) add further nuance, permitting separation in cases of an unbelieving spouse's departure — the so-called "Pauline privilege." The underlying Torah prohibition on adultery Deuteronomy 5:18 and Exodus 20:14 is universally affirmed by Christian traditions as still binding, meaning remarriage after an illegitimate divorce is treated as adultery in stricter traditions (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox). Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther (16th century) and John Calvin were more permissive, accepting divorce for adultery and desertion.

The remarriage restriction in Deuteronomy 24:4 — barring a woman's return to her first husband after remarrying Deuteronomy 24:4 — is rarely emphasized in Christian teaching, but it illustrates the Torah's concern for the woman's dignity, a point some feminist theologians like Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza have highlighted in modern scholarship. Most Christian denominations today permit divorce in at least some circumstances, though they disagree considerably on which ones.

Islam does not treat the Torah (Tawrat) as a directly binding legal source, but it shares the Torah's general permissibility of divorce while adding its own Quranic and hadith-based framework. The Quran (2:229–232) outlines talaq (repudiation), a process with waiting periods (iddah) and opportunities for reconciliation that go beyond the Torah's brief procedural outline in Deuteronomy 24:1 Deuteronomy 24:1. Classical scholars like al-Shafi'i (9th century) and Ibn Qudama (12th century) developed elaborate fiqh around divorce that parallels, but is independent of, the Mosaic text.

Like the Torah, Islam recognizes divorced women as a distinct legal category with full personal standing Numbers 30:9. The Quran also echoes the Torah's concern about a woman returning to a first husband after an intervening marriage — a concept called tahleel — which is generally condemned in Islamic law, resonating with the Torah's prohibition in Deuteronomy 24:4 Deuteronomy 24:4. However, Islam grants women the right to initiate divorce through khul' (a form of redemption divorce), which goes beyond what the Torah text explicitly provides.

Islamic tradition also shares the Torah's absolute prohibition on adultery Deuteronomy 5:18, treating it as a major sin (kabira) with severe legal consequences under classical Sharia. While Islam doesn't derive its divorce law from Deuteronomy, the structural similarities — written or verbal declaration, a waiting period, and restrictions on remarriage — reflect a shared Abrahamic concern for social order and the protection of women's status after marital dissolution Deuteronomy 24:3.