Deuteronomy 24

Marriage and Divorce Laws

1 "If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.^[a]

2 If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man's wife,

3 and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he^[b] dies,

4 the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

5 "When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free [to stay] at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.

Safeguarding Life

6 "Do not take a pair of millstones or an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a life as security.

7 "If a man is discovered kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him,^[c] the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

8 "Be careful in a case of infectious skin disease, following carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.

9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.^[d]

Consideration for People in Need

10 "When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security.

11 You must stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you.

12 If he is a poor man, you must not sleep in [the garment] he has given as security.

13 Be sure to return it^[e] to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the Lord your God.^[f]

14 "Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town^[g] in your land.

15 You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them.^[h] Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

16 "Fathers are not to be put to death for [their] children or children for [their] fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.^[i]

17 Do not deny justice to a foreign resident [or] fatherless child, and do not take a widow's garment as security.

18 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

19 "When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.^[j]

20 When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean what is left. What remains will be for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow.

22 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.^[k]

Deuteronomy 24 Commentary

Chapter 24

Of divorce. (1-4) Of new-married persons, Of man-stealers, Of pledges. (5-13) Of justice and generosity. (14-22)

Verses 1-4 Where the providence of God, or his own wrong choice in marriage, has allotted to a Christian a trial instead of a help meet; he will from his heart prefer bearing the cross, to such relief as tends to sin, confusion, and misery. Divine grace will sanctify this cross, support under it, and teach so to behave, as will gradually render it more tolerable.

Verses 5-13 It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife; that they carefully avoid every thing which might make them strange one to another. Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution. The laws concerning leprosy must be carefully observed. Thus all who feel their consciences under guilt and wrath, must not cover it, or endeavour to shake off their convictions; but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the way to peace and pardon. Some orders are given about pledges for money lent. This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others, as much as our own advantage. Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and praise God for thy kindness to him. Poor debtors ought to feel more than commonly they do, the goodness of creditors who do not take all the advantage of the law against them, nor should this ever be looked upon as weakness.

Verses 14-22 It is not hard to prove that purity, piety, justice, mercy, fair conduct, kindness to the poor and destitute, consideration for them, and generosity of spirit, are pleasing to God, and becoming in his redeemed people. The difficulty is to attend to them in our daily walk and conversation.

Footnotes

• [a]. Mt 5:31; 19:7; Mk 10:4
• [b]. Lit if the second man who has taken her as his wife
• [c]. Ex 21:16
• [d]. Nm 12:1-15
• [e]. Lit return what he has given as security
• [f]. Ex 22:26-27
• [g]. Lit within the gates
• [h]. Lv 19:13
• [i]. Ezk 18; 33:10-20
• [j]. Ex 23:2-3,6-9
• [k]. Ex 22:26-27; Lv 19:9-10,13,15

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 24

This chapter contains various laws concerning divorces, De 24:1-4; the discharge of a newly married man from war and business, De 24:5; about taking pledges, De 24:6,10-13; man stealing, De 24:7; the plague of leprosy, De 24:8,9; and giving servants their hire in due time, De 24:14,15; concerning doing justice in capital cases, and towards the stranger, fatherless, and widow, De 24:16-18; and of charity to the poor, in allowing them the forgotten sheaf, and the gleanings of their oliveyards and vineyards, De 24:19-22.