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Iverson On Divorce & Remarriage (Part 2)

1. If porneia means adultery, there is no exception clause where a woman divorces a man for adultery. Look to Matthew 5:32 where Yeshua says that if a man divorces his wife for reasons other than sexual immorality he causes HER to commit adultery, not just himself.  But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.  ( Matthew 5:32 , ESV) And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”  ( Matthew 19:9 , ESV) Matthew 19:9 emphasizes the fact that the people testing him are those who are merciless with respect to the execution of Deut. 24 &, like the Sadducees in Matt. 22 are deeply misogynistic men.    Ergo the text’s emphasis on men.  Matt 19’s question is about this very issue.     How might she commit adultery? By attempting to persuade a rabbi ...
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Iverson On Divorce & Remarriage (Part 1)

Christopher Iverson writes… I concluded that Jesus wasn't referring to adultery/infidelity/affair in the exception clause. Here are some problems with interpreting porneia (fornication) in the exception clause (Matthew 5:32, 19:9) to mean adultery: 1.If Jesus’s audience thought it was for infidelity, they would think only a man could divorce his wife for her infidelity, but a woman couldn't divorce her husband for his infidelity. The exceptions are only in texts where the man is divorcing (not in Mark 10:12). In a culture primed to think moral rules privileged men, Jesus's lack of an exception for women would be viewed as only for men, if he meant infidelity. 2.Jesus rejected divorce for adultery in Matt 19:8. Consider two points: First, Deu 24:1 allowed divorce for adultery [see Jer 3:1-8] and Jesus rejected *that* reason for divorce. Second, the Hillel Pharisees believed Moses *commanded* divorce for adultery (see Gemara on Gittin 9:10 in the Talmud: https://www.sefaria.o...
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