Texts in Conversation
Ezra commands divorce as an act of faithfulness to God and obedience to the Torah, which conflicts with Jesus in Matthew, who restricts divorce only to sexual immorality and warns it inevitably leads to adultery.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ezra 10:3
Hebrew Bible
1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites—men, women, and children alike—gathered around him. The people wept loudly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the local peoples. Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. 3 Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law. 4 Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”
Matthew 5:32
New Testament
30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell. 31 “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
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Notes and References
"... Bautsch summaries the work of various scholars using the method of intertextual studies, working 'closely with the most determined data in the text, namely, words and expressions'. Bautsch refers to Fishbane's intertextual analysis of Ezra 9:1-10:19 as an example. There was no indication in the Torah for the expulsion of foreign spouses. Intermarriage was even tolerated (Genesis 41:45; Numbers 12:1-8; Ruth 1:4; 2 Samuel 3:3). To ratify the dissolving of marriages with foreign wives, the author of Ezra 10:3-5 used Deuteronomy 7:1-3 to develop a legal argument. Intertextual exegesis was used here to widen older Pentateuchal stipulations (the traditum) to legalize the ideological actions of a newer time (traditio). In this process, other sources no longer available could have been used ..."
Venter, Pieter M.
The Dissolving of Marriages in Ezra 9-10 and Nehemiah 13 Revisited
(pp. 1-7) HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 74(4), 2018
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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