Does God Hate Divorce…. or Something Else?

Stephanie sat silently in her tears looking for answers and healing from the wounds she felt. Her husband, children, and family were strongly discouraging her from filing for divorce citing Malachi 2:16, “God hates divorce.” She met with warning from her church leaders who didn’t support her decision to leave a verbally and physically abusive marriage. Even friends were concerned about Stephanie taking steps to fracture the family and break her marital bonds. Beyond the warnings from friends, family, and the church, Stephanie also heaped condemnation upon herself with the internal belief that “good Christian girls don’t get divorced.” Sound familiar?

 

Perhaps you’ve been there, too.

Have you been the recipient of disapproval and even condemnation from those around you, maybe even those closest to you? Perhaps you question yourself and your faithfulness to God. In this article, we’re going to take a deep dive into what the Bible says about divorce and clear up, once and for all, the truth behind the meaning of Malachi 2:16. Are you ready?

Malachi 2:16 has been the long-standing, go-to verse of Christians and the church use when advising believers to stay in their marriages, even if horribly abusive. Christian counselors, leaders, and pastors do their best to encourage Godly marriage, when sometimes under the surface, something very nefarious could be going on. You never know what happens “behind closed doors” in a marriage. Let’s look at this verse and others to unpack God’s true intent about the issue of divorce.

 

In the cultural setting of the Old Testament book of Malachi, the prophet confronts and rebukes the unfaithfulness of Israel and its priests. In chapter 2 verse 16, in black and white, many Bible translations read, “’I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God of Israel.” In this chapter, the Lord addresses Jewish men who deal “violently” with their wives and having “broken faith with her.”

 

Let’s begin by looking at the word translated “divorce” in verse 16. The Hebrew word “shalach” occurs 859 times in the Old Testament. Only in Malachi 2:16 is the word translated “divorce.” You read that right! Out of 859 occurrences, 858 times it was translated another way. In fact, if you look at those 858 other verses and read them inserting the word “divorce,” they don’t make sense! For instance, this word is used when Noah sent forth the dove from the ark, when Hagar and Ishmael were sent out into the desert, and when Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice Isaac.

 

According to Strong’s Concordance, the word “shalach” means to to send, send away, let go, stretch out. Out of the 859 occurrences, 566 times the word is translated, “send.” Historians and theologians agree, that in that day and cultural setting, Jewish men were “sending out” or “putting away” their wives for frivolous reasons because she had “become displeasing to him” (Deuteronomy 24:1 NIV) In those days, women could be sent out of the house because she wasn’t able to bear her husband a son, because she didn’t keep the house as he expected, or even if she burnt the toast! To make matters worse, many men were not giving their wives a certificate of divorce, which was required by Mosaic law. Instead, they were tossing their wives out of the house, and marrying other women, keeping the dowry and children with him. In those days, this was a death sentence to a woman because she would not be able to remarry without a certificate of divorce. She would not be able to get a job to support herself on her own and thus were left vulnerable and unprotected. If she had no father or close relative with which to find protection in his household, she was left helpless. Now, in this context, what do you think God hates?

Before you answer that question, let’s look further at the history of this word in the Bible. Interestingly, the first time we encounter the Hebrew word “shalach” in the Bible is with the first man, Adam, and Eve. After they disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit, God had to prevent Adam from “reaching out” (shalach) and partaking of the tree of life. Therefore, they were “cast out” (shalach) of the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-23) and their intimate relationship with God was fractured. God didn’t divorce Adam and Eve. He sent them from the garden due to their selfishness and sin. He sent them out for their own protection, so they didn’t make matters worse. God even stationed an angel at the gate of the garden to keep Adam and Eve from re-entry! If this is something God hated, why would He sin against his own creation in this way?

After further study, you will find that there are actually two words in both Hebrew and Greek that the Bible often translates as “divorce.” Hebrew scholars agree that using the “divorce” in Malachi 2:16 is a mistranslation. So what is the actual Hebrew word for divorce? The Hebrew word “keriythuwth” properly translated “divorce,” means divorce, dismissal, or the severing of matrimonial bonds. We see then, that these two Hebrew words are describing two distinctly different actions, yet both were part of fulfilling the Mosaic Law.

 

We find both of these Hebrew words in the same verse in Jeremiah 3:8 (NIV), “I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce (keriythuwth) and sent her away (shalach) because of all her adulteries.” Wait… did I read this right? Did God just say that he divorced his bride, Israel? In this single verse, the Hebrew word “shalach” is used to describe God separating or putting distance between himself and his people, Israel. He fulfilled the second requirement of law of Moses by giving Israel a certificate of divorce because she had broken covenant due to her adulterous ways and unrepentance. If God hates “divorce,” (whether translated from the Hebrew word “shalach” or “keriythuwth,”) then why did God engage in the very thing He hates by divorcing Israel? What is it, then, that God despises and abhors?

These verses clearly show that God hates the casting out of women without a certificate of divorce so that she cannot remarry and come under the protection and provision of a husband. We have also seen that the Bible addresses two different acts to fulfill the law of Moses concerning divorce which are, first, the putting away of a spouse and, second, the nullification of a marriage covenant in which a certificate of divorce must be given. Both must be done to fulfill the law. When one is done without the other, it is an act of extreme cruelty and evil. God calls it “dealing treacherously.”  This is what God hates.