Is there a difference between “divorce” and “puts away”?
Question:
Mr. Hamilton,
First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to respond to emails. Your grace and patience have been a tremendous help to me.
I have some questions I have been pondering on and hoping to gain some of your insight on, if that’s alright?
While reading my Bible, I noticed verses talking about "divorce" and "putting away." Is there a difference between the two? I have always known divorce was a legal and formal action that ended a marriage, since that’s how we do things in our modern culture today, but what did Jesus mean when he talked about putting someone away instead of using the word "divorce?"
Does it make a difference as far as remarriage would go in a situation where a marriage has ended because of fornication, but there was no formal or legal divorce? Or could someone simply say the marriage is over and send them away, without needing formal paperwork, and get remarried in not only our culture today but also in the ancient culture Jesus was addressing, if the two are indeed different?
Thank you again for your wisdom and time. I look forward to your response!
Answer:
You will find some who make a great deal over the difference in the words used for the wife’s departure and the husband’s, such as in "But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife" (I Corinthians 7:10-11). In truth, the Greek words are synonyms.
The word chorizo, used in various forms for the wife’s leaving, means to divide, to separate, to depart, or to divorce. The latter is particularly true when it is used regarding a husband and wife (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9).
The word aphiemi, used for the husband’s leaving, means to send off, to send away, to let go, to release, to leave behind, to abandon, or to divorce. When applied to sin, it means to forgive. You put the sin away. It means "divorce" when applied to a husband and wife relationship (I Corinthians 7:12-13). The King James Version tended to use "put away" where the modern translations use "divorce."
If there is a difference, chorizo tends to be used for the person who walks away from a marriage, and aphienai is used for the one who insists that the other leave. "Some see in the use of two different words, aphiemi and chorizo, an important distinction in meaning; however, there is no lexical basis for proposing that aphiemi is used in this passage [I Corinthians 7:11,15] for 'legal divorce', whereas chorizo designates simply a separation of marital partners. The two terms are synonymous in their technical applications to divorce." [The Complete Biblical Library].
In the Greek and Roman cultures, a divorce did not require a document to legalize it. Hence, a divorce took place whenever a couple separated. [New International Commentary on the New Testament]. Thus, there was no distinction between separation and divorce, as there is in modern culture. Jewish culture, due to the Old Testament law, did require a bill of divorcement.
Because Christians are required to obey the government (Romans 13:1-7), and requiring a document to legally end a marriage is not wrong, a person cannot walk away from his or her marriage and consider themselves free of his or her obligations. Even when the government allows two people to divorce, it should never be assumed that God agrees and releases the couple from their covenant (Matthew 19:6).
Response:
Thank you so much for this response! I really appreciate it and learn a great deal from this website. It’s become a favorite of mine to read through all of the articles on here.
