As I was reading this the other day, I was reminded that women were property then. Getting rid of an old model for a younger one has a long history among humans. Jesus saying then that divorcing was committing adultery was pretty radical. Revolutionary, you might say. He was saying that women are people. In many ways, this is still controversial today.
On another topic this brings up: Marriage was the analogy that God used for his relationship with Israel. It was sacred and deeply profound. Ha! Breaking that bond was also committing adultery. Marriage, stable marriages were important for society and thus breaking them was frowned upon. Not always, if you were rich enough, you could just get another wife and keep the first.
I'm the first one to see that divorce is sometimes necessary. Yet, I can also see the damage that not taking marriage and parenthood seriously does to people and families. I can see how the Israelites, with much smaller communities, would have recognized these things as well.
B
On another topic this brings up: Marriage was the analogy that God used for his relationship with Israel. It was sacred and deeply profound. Ha! Breaking that bond was also committing adultery. Marriage, stable marriages were important for society and thus breaking them was frowned upon. Not always, if you were rich enough, you could just get another wife and keep the first.
I'm the first one to see that divorce is sometimes necessary. Yet, I can also see the damage that not taking marriage and parenthood seriously does to people and families. I can see how the Israelites, with much smaller communities, would have recognized these things as well.
B
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