Deuteronomy 24:3

Hebrew Bible

1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 2 When she has left him she may go and become someone else’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects her and then divorces her, gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to the wife he has married.

Jeremiah 3:1

Hebrew Bible

1If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?” says the Lord. 2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. Where have you not been ravished? You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the wilderness. You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. 3 That is why the rains have been withheld and the spring rains have not come. Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

 Notes and References

"... The distortion of the divine mandate for permanence in marriage led to the practice of divorce. The wide range of Old Testament passages related to the issues of divorce and remarriage includes at least six different Hebrew expressions referring to di­vorce and occurring altogether about twenty-seven times, (The Hebrew terms and their occurrences are as follows: (1) 'to send away, divorce,' Genesis 21:14; Deuteronomy 21:14; 22:19, 29; 24:1,3-4; Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:1, 8; Malachi 2:16; (2) 'to drive out, cast out, banish, divorce') plus several refer­ences to remarriage. Despite the numerous occurrences of Hebrew terms referring to divorce in the Old Testament, the surprising fact is that the Old Testament contains no legisla­tion dealing directly with divorce. Divorce is tolerated, conceded, permitted but never commanded, commended, or approved by divine legislation. This is true even of the most prominent Old Testament passage in recent discussions of divorce, Deuteronomy 24:1-4 ..."

Davidson, Richard M. Flame of Yahweh: Sexuality in the Old Testament (pp. 384-385) Hendrickson Publishers, 2007

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