A certificate of divorce was required under Mosaic law
Mark 10:4 parallel Matthew 19:7 The certificate provided a divorced wife with some legal protection and permitted her to remarry. See also Deuteronomy 24:1–4; Hosea 2:2 These words may have been adapted from a divorce bill; Matthew 5:31
They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
God gave his unfaithful people a certificate of divorce
Jeremiah 3:8 See also Isaiah 50:1 Unlike Israel, Judah had been given no certificate of divorce. The exile is thus portrayed as only a temporary separation.
She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.