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for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’” (NKJV). In
Jesus’ day, two interpretations of Deuteronomy 24:1 vied for
attention. The School of Shammai emphasized the word for
“nakedness,” and interpreted the phrase to refer to marital
unchastity, while the School of Hillel emphasized the word for
“thing,” and interpreted the phrase to refer to any indecency or
anything displeasing to the husband, even for such things as
serving poor food in a meal.
The word for “nakedness” elsewhere in the Old Testament
most often refers to the nakedness of a person’s private parts or
genitals, which should not be uncovered or exposed to be seen by
those who should not see them; and the uncovering of one’s
nakedness usually has sexual connotations (Gen. 9:22, 23; Ex.
20:23; 28:42). The word can mean “word [speech, saying]” or
“thing [matter, affair],” and in the context of Deuteronomy 24:1
surely means “thing”or “matter.”
This phrase occurs only once in the Old Testament besides
Deuteronomy 24:1, and that is in the previous chapter, 23:15
(Eng. vs. 14). Here it clearly refers to the excrement mentioned
in the previous verse that should be covered so that the Lord
“‘may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you’”
(vs. 13). The “nakedness of a thing” is something that is
uncovered that should have been covered, something that is
repulsive, disgusting, or shameful when left exposed.
It appears that this phrase in Deuteronomy 24:1 has a
similar meaning as in the preceding chapter, but refers to the
“nakedness of a thing” with regard to a wife. It seems probable,
given the preceding context, and the usual sexual overtones of
the term when referring to a woman, that the phrase in
Deuteronomy 24:1 describes a situation of indecent exposure (of
private parts) on the part of the woman. Theoretically, the phrase
could probably include illicit sexual intercourse (i.e., adultery), in
parallel with the phrase “uncover nakedness,” describing such
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Davidson: Divorce and Remarriage in the Old Testament
Published by Digital Commons @ Andrews University, 2011