Customer Reviews

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context

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Perhaps best to see how the author treats the subject is to read his conclusion (which comes after a CAREFUL reading of Paul and Jesus in their original contexts):

"The message of the NT is that divorce is allowed but should be avoided whenever possible. Divorce is allowed only on the grounds of broken marriage vows [including lack of love, food, or proper material care], and the decisions to divorce can be made only by the injured party. A believer should never break the marriage vows, and should try to forgive a repentant partner who has done so. If divorce does happen, remarriage is permitted. All this would be obvious to a 1st-century Jew, but the meaning of the text was obscured at a very early date due to ignorance about Jewish background after 70 C.E. Modern Church practice can be easily adapted to this insight because our marriage services still preserve the four biblical grounds for divorce in the marriage vows.
The Church should now be humble and admit that a great mistake has been made. Too many generations of husbands and wives have been forced to remain with their abusing or neglectful partners and have not been allowed to divorce even after suffering repeated unfaithfulness. The Church should not continue in a false teaching because Church tradition should not be regarded as superior to the teaching of Jesus and Paul" p.314

I should add that the author has a high view of Scripture, he is a scholar reading the text, and not a man trying to justify divorce. Furthermore, this book is recommended reading in conservative seminaries, so one should not look at this as a liberal attempt to undermine marriage. This book is Biblical (though none will agree with all of its interpretations) and accessible.

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible by Dr. Instone-Brewer is an excellent help in looking at the issue of divorce and remarriage in the Christian church today. Having consulted many resources on this important topic, I have found this book to be the single most helpful and affirming book to bring together all I've learned about the issue.

There will of course be skepticism as with any book on a controversial subject, and people might question the hermeneutical system behind seeking the authorial intent; but in my opinion, this book is dead on in its analysis of the situation, and honestly seeks the truth. If you're unsure about buying the book, feel free to read as much of it as you like for free online before purchasing; the author has made not only this book, but also the other two versions of the book available... read it for yourself.

The author's main conclusions are that any break in the marriage vows is a grounds for divorce; however, Jesus and Paul, while both affirming this, don't recommend divorce, and say to always forgive someone who's broken the marriage vows as long as they're repentant. When a divorce does occur for valid grounds, the innocent party is free to remarry whoever they will (only in the Lord).

Incredible book, breaks down the history and context quite well. To understand the meaning of the bibles discussions one must really strive to hear the words of a 1st century reader. Particuarlly on matters of law. In spirit the message is clear, marriage is sacred. But because of sin it often fails.

The problem begins when modern pharasees start making law out of what is supposed to be a positive message. If your going to make law from scripture you better understand the history of what your talking about. The author says there are quite a few reasons for a divorce, though all can be repented of and the marriage can survive any of them. The innocent party is then free to marry, such as the one left for another, deserted, cruelty,etc. He makes allowances also for the 'guilty' party. Repentence is possible. He cautions against remarriage of a person to a person who caused the end of a marriage.

It is very complete although truthfully had he delved into the misunderstanding surrounding 'put away' and legal divorce it would have been a nice section. This simple misunderstanding and misstranslation have shackled many divorced christians. All christians should have the right to a fresh start. Jesus absorbed all of our sins. Some legalistic christians make a mockery of Gods grace, by continuing to cause suffering to our brethren post divorce.

This book shows these texts have been missread for to long, the church's teaching off base, and their is hope for everyone involved in this sin, a new start, a chance to do it correctly.

With this book being required reading in seminary now, there is hope for the future.

Praise God.

Everyone has been touched at some level by divorce, haven't they? And everyone has strong opinions about what the Bible's teaching, don't they? Over-wrought emotions and ill-formed opinions have no place in David Instone-Brewer's epic study. He offers readers a sensitive and sensible scholarly study that more than delivers on its promise to place the Bible's view of divorce and remarriage in its social and literary context.

Instone-Brewer's definitive work should serve scholars and students as a template of biblical study at its finest. Regretfully, many pursue but few attain the fluid mastery of linguistics, history, and literature (Biblical, Rabbinic, and patristic) that this author achieves. He begins with the ancient Near Eastern cultural context, and proceeds to discuss divorce and remarriage in the Pentateuch, Prophets, Inter-testamental period, Jesus, Paul, Church Fathers, Reformers, and marriage vows. His concluding pastoral advice is brief, to the point, and practical. Instone-Brewer presents alternative views before dispassionately evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. His carefully reasoned positions require consideration. Methodically he builds a compelling case that the Bible's consistent position is that divorce is an unfortunate consequence of a fallen world and is allowed for adultery, abandonment, and neglect. He develops this using a literal-grammatical-historical hermeneutic within a framework that highly regards the authority of the Bible. Each passage touching on divorce or remarriage receives an exegetical treatment that accounts for the lexical, grammatical, and historical features of the text.

Regardless of whether readers agree with Instone-Brewer, this is one of the most important and comprehensive works on divorce and remarriage to appear in print. Readers from all perspectives will be challenged by his fairness, clarity, thoughtfulness, and pastoral spirit on an issue that too often sparks censorious dogmatism that disregards the people to whom Moses, Hosea, Jeremiah, Jesus, and Paul addressed their words.

Because divorce is so prevalent, my copy is on loan. I may need a couple more copies so that I always have a copy readily available.

Finally, Instone-Brewer has a web site: www.Instone-Brewer.com. It has links to useful background material.

Instone-Brewer begins his treatise with basic assumptions, but these are well informed assumptions. For too long Christianity has ignored the thoroughly Jewish context of Jesus and his teaching, insisting that we read the Bible through a Hellenized world view. This is patently false, and fatal to a proper understanding of the Bible. This is not only true in regard to the Marriage and Divorce issue, but the eschatology and other dogmas as well.
Instone-Brewer's book will definitely challenge your traditions, but, when read carefully and thoughfully, this book will open your eyes to a greater and more proper understanding of Divorce and Remarriage as taught by Jesus. For too long Christians have been bound by a "grace-less" and legalistic view of God's view of Divorce and Remarriage. While this book does not seek to give license, it does seek to demonstrate God's grace in Christ. Very highly recommended!

The subject of divorce and remarriage is discussed in detail with a full scholarly background in this well-written book. The author says, "This book . . . lays the academic foundations of a practical and sensitive pastoral response for the millions of people who are suffering from the Church's misunderstanding of this subject." Its purpose "is to understand the meaning of the New Testament teaching on divorce and remarriage as it would have been understood by its original readers." The teaching of Jesus and of Paul on the subject are discussed. Chapters are devoted to marriage vows, a history of divorce, and modern reinterpretations. The final chapter, titled "Pastoral Conclusions," is a frank discussion with the author of how he sees the subject as a pastor dealing with members of his own congregation. Not everyhone will agree with him but he makes a convincing presentation. And excellent bibliography, index of modern authors, index of subjects, and index of scripture and other ancient texts make the book user friendly. This is a great reference for the busy pastor providing also the opportunity to study in detail through the citations and the references.

David Instone-Brewer has done a service to the church with this text. Doing some other research on this topic, I was led to this book by Rick Walston's wonderful text, "Something Happened on the Way to Happily Ever After: A Biblical View of Marriage, Divorce & Remarriage." Walston and Instone-Brewer come to basically the same conclusions, but Walston indicates early on that his book is written at the popular level for, what he calls, "the normal everyday Christian." Yet, in his book, he suggests Instone-Brewer's text for further research. And, I'm glad he did. While Walston's book is good for the average Joe/Jane Christian, Instone-Brewer's book is for the avid student or scholar and a better scholarly text I have not found.

This book review is for the book Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context by David Instone-Brewer, senior research fellow in Rabbinics and New Testament at Tyndale House in Cambridge, England.

In this book, Instone-Brewer analyzes the language and context of the divorce debates in the Gospels and in 1 Corinthians 7 and compares them to their cultural and historical context. He does this by analyzing various marriage contracts throughout the centuries (primarily Jewish contracts, but also the contracts of the nations surrounding Israel, as well as Greek and Roman marriage contracts); giving a history of divorce, especially as it relates to Jewish and Roman practices; demonstrates how both Jesus and Paul were influenced by these debates and why they gave the grounds for divorce they did; and showing how the evidence backs not just two grounds for divorce (adultery, according to Jesus, and desertion by an unbeliever married to a believer, according to Paul), but at least four grounds for divorce as evidenced in both Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and Exodus 21:10-11.

Instone-Brewer concludes these four grounds for divorce continue into the New Testament and eludes to the possibility of there being other grounds which might be connected to these four grounds (i.e. desertion being permissible grounds for divorce as it leads to one's "marital rights" being unfulfilled). He finally delves into how various church fathers understood these passages and then gives pastoral advice on how he thinks this understanding can be applied in a modern context.

People who approach this book might think this might be another wishy-washy book advocating divorce without solid exegesis. Nothing could be further from the truth! Instone-Brewer cares more about the authorial intent and shows how the Greek language, especially in Matthew 19, mirrors the exact terminology the Shammaites and Hillelites used in their debate on Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

The Shammaites taught that a Deuteronomy 24:1-4 divorce can only be initiated on the grounds of adultery, which they called "a matter of indecency" (flipping the Hebrew phraseology). Jesus agrees with them, using similar terminology, saying that divorce is only allowed on "a matter of porneia" (i.e. sexual sin, especially adultery).

The Hillelites separated the Hebrew phrasing to be "a matter" and "indecency", thus allowing divorce for "any matter" as well as "indecency", which Jesus was criticizing and saying was incorrect. Thus, according to Jesus, anyone who obtained an "any matter" divorce (which was a divorce for any reason, equivalent to a "no fault" divorce) was guilty of adultery, for they broke their marriage vows.

Instone-Brewer likewise concludes that Jesus only taught that divorce should be initiated when the person stubbornly refuses to repent (the original meaning of "hardheartedness"). He demonstrates that Jesus taught that Moses only allowed divorce, but never commanded it (unlike the Hillelites, who taught that divorce was mandatory), so that the decision to divorce for broken vows is in the hands of the offended party, if the other partner refuses to repent.

This does not mean that Jesus was abolishing Exodus 21:10-11-type divorces. According to Instone-Brewer, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, spoke of "marital rights" in language that demonstrates that it is an obligation and in many places, including 1 Corinthians 7, uses divorce terminology found in divorce contracts that essentially gives the believer permission to remarry after a valid divorce. This language also echoes Exodus 21:10-11 itself. Instone-Brewer likewise shows that Paul was permitting a believer to remarry after a "divorce by separation" initiated by an unbeliever, which was the standard Roman practice for initiating divorce, on the grounds that a believer has no guarantee they will save an unbeliever. Paul was likewise condemning "divorce by separation" being initiated by believers, as they were equivalent to the Hillelite "any matter" divorces condemned by Jesus.

As for the seeming contradictions between the various Gospel accounts on divorce and Paul's additional cause for divorce, Instone-Brewer demonstrates how Jewish exegesis often would omit unnecessary details in order to aid in memorization. Thus, early Jewish readers of these gospels would have known to include the details that were omitted in the gospels, which is why Paul was free to add them later in 1 Corinthians 7.

Instone-Brewer likewise gives the Old Testament evidence that God Himself divorced Israel for violating these four vows. Instone-Brewer concludes from this evidence that not only is sexual faithfulness required in marriage, but that a believer is also obligated to feed, clothe and provide conjugal rights to their spouse and that any marriage which violates these vows, literally or in principle, may be valid grounds for divorce. He shows from this exegesis that the New and Old Testaments are in harmony when it comes to divorce and remarriage.

As someone who used to believe that divorce was only permitted on two grounds only (adultery and desertion), I found this book a breath of fresh air. Instone-Brewer has proven to me that there are more grounds for divorce than the standard two and that a person who has a valid divorce is free to remarry, without having to take back the guilty partner, if the guilty partner was unwilling to repent before the divorce was initiated.

I do have some gripes, though. One of those gripes is that Instone-Brewer uses Jesus' teaching in Matthew 19 to advocate monogamy as God's ideal situation and concludes that Jesus surely used Genesis 7:9 (which is missing) along with 1:27 and 2:24-25 (which is what He cited), as these triad of verses were used by the exegetes at Qumran to advocate monogamy. Thus, the omission of the third passage was because, according to Instone-Brewer, Jews already would have been aware of this triad and thus would have supplied the missing verse mentally and known Jesus was advocating monogamy.

However, the Old Testament did allow polygyny (one man:many women), according to Instone-Brewer's own admission, and while I'm not necessarily advocating it as an ideal situation, I do not think Jesus is using Genesis 1:7 and 2:24 to imply monogamy as much as I do think He is using it to imply the eternity of marriage (i.e. of two people becoming one flesh). So while this is a moot point in his overall exegesis, as polygyny isn't common, at least in the West, I do think Instone-Brewer does stand on some dangerous ground in this area, for the simple reason that I do not see Jesus overturning any contemporary polygynous marriages if He ever ran into them. Since Jesus seems to hold a fairly conservative stance on interpreting Deuteronomy 24:1-4 as allowing divorce for adultery only, I would likewise conclude He would consider it adultery for a polygynous couple to break up without valid reasons for divorce.

Another gripe I have is with his pastoral practice. He says that when he marries a couple where there's the possibility that one is a divorcee, he never inquires into the reasons for their divorce, although he would personally refuse to marry a couple if they had an affair with one another while the other was still married. I personally think that issues like these should come out into the open and approached in heavy prayer. I also think where a divorce is invalid, the divorcee should try to return to their former spouse if the former spouse will take them to preclude adultery. I also think there's potential for danger in Instone-Brewer's approach.

In the end, though, no review of this book can do it justice and for this reason, I advise even the most staunch of critics when it comes to divorce to pick it up and read it. I think that we, as the Body of Christ, have been too staunch over the centuries when it comes to divorce. But that doesn't mean that I think divorce should be so easy: after all, marriage is a lifelong commitment and a covenant. We, as the Church, have to be sure that a divorce is permissible before we recommend it, lest we, too, be guilty of adultery by association. For this reason, I'm glad Instone-Brewer has shown us a new way of interpreting the passages, without opening the floodgates of invalid divorces. For that reason, I think he is to be commended.

I have gained greater understanding about divorce and remarriage in the Bible and I am better equipped to help those who are wounded by it. Mr. Brewer has done a wonderful job! I would recommend this book to pastors and other leaders in churches.

There are a lot of books out there that speak of the marriage and remarriage conundrum, but rarely do you find a book that carefully digs through investigation and original, ancient material to propose a more rounded solution to the present impasse that we've had for some decades now. The author takes you to hold a position of biblical grace that is not in any way licentiousness but does solve some of the gut feelings one has, those moments in which your conscience says, "Hey, our way of handling this doesn't square with my holy conscience." Well, this book has really had an impact on me and how I handle the family messes around me, and it helps me in my teaching and in counseling.