What Deuteronomy 24:1-4 Means
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 gives a legal allowance for divorce, but it also shows that remarriage and return were restricted. Early Christian writers usually read it as a concession for hard hearts, not as God’s ideal for marriage. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Tatian, and others tie it to Jesus’ teaching that marriage was meant to be lifelong.
108 early-church witnesses · 177 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What does Deuteronomy 24:1-4 mean?
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 gives Israel a civil law about divorce, remarriage, and a ban on taking the first wife back after a second marriage. The passage allows divorce in a limited case, but it does not present divorce as the best or first plan for marriage. Early Christian writers commonly read it as a concession to hard hearts and then turned to Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:8 and Mark 10:5 to say that God’s original design was one man and one woman joined together.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Passage context
These verses sit inside Moses’ laws for Israel’s daily life. The law says a man may give a certificate of divorce if he finds some indecency in his wife, the woman may marry another man, and the first husband may not take her back after that. Verse 4 ends by warning that this would defile the land and bring sin.
Why early Christian sources matter
Early Christian writers help show how the church read this law before later debates. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tatian, and the Apostolic Constitutions all used it to explain that Moses allowed divorce because of human hardness, while Christ called people back to the beginning. Their comments are especially useful because they connect the passage directly to Matthew 19:8 and Mark 10:5.
Common interpretation points
- Most early writers treat the law as a concession, not a command to divorce.
- Origen reads the passage more spiritually in places, but still keeps the main point that Jesus raised marriage ethics above Moses’ allowance.
- The strongest early witness is not about how easy divorce should be, but about why Moses allowed it at all.
Evidence-Based Summary
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 permits a man to give a divorce certificate, lets the woman remarry, and bars the first husband from taking her back if the second marriage ends. In early Christian reading, this was a temporary legal allowance for hard hearts, not God’s original plan for marriage. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tatian, and the Apostolic Constitutions all connect the law to human stubbornness and point to Jesus’ stricter teaching in Matthew 19 and Mark 10.
The witness is broad and consistent on the main meaning, though some writers also use the passage in spiritual or allegorical ways.
Key Takeaways
- Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is a limited divorce law, not a celebration of divorce.
- Early Christians usually read the law as a concession to hard hearts.
- Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 19 and Mark 10 is the main key to early Christian interpretation.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did Moses allow divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4?
Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce in a limited case, and early Christian writers treated that as a real legal permission. They did not read it as the best plan for marriage, but as a law that managed a broken situation.
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
Mark 10:4 They said, Moses made it allowable for us, saying, Whosoever 31 will, let him write a writing of divorcement, and put away his wife.
Why did Moses allow divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4?
Jesus said Moses allowed divorce because of hard hearts, and early Christian writers repeated that explanation again and again. They said the law fit a stubborn people, while Christ called people back to God’s first design for marriage.
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Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching
...ultery." Luke 16:18 To forbid divorce, He makes it unlawful to marry a woman who has been put away. Moses, however, permitted repudiation in Deuteronomy: "When a man has taken a wife, and has lived with her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found unchastity in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand, and send her away out of his house." Deuteronomy 24:1 You see, therefore, that there is a difference between the law and the gospel, between Moses and Christ. To be sure there is. But then you have rejected that other gospel which bears witness to the same truth and the same Christ. There, while prohibiting divorce, He has given us a solution to this special question about it: "Moses," He says, "because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to give a bill of divorcement; but from the beginning it was not so." Matthew 19:8 For this reason, because He who made them male and female had also said, "The two shall become one flesh." "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man put asunder." Matthew 19:4, 6 Now by this answer of His to the Pharisees, He both sanctioned the provision of Moses, who was Hi
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
Additionally, the Lord also showed that certain rules were enacted for them by Moses due to their stubbornness and unwillingness to obey. When they asked Him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of divorce and send a wife away?” He replied, “Because of the hardness of your hearts, he permitted these things to you; but from the beginning it was not so.” By saying this, He was clearing Moses as a faithful servant while acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and criticizing them for being hard-hearted and disobedient. This is why they received from Moses this law of divorce, tailored to their hard nature. But why do I mention these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New Testament, the apostles were also found doing the same thing for the reasons mentioned. Paul clearly stated, “But these things I say, not the Lord.” And again: “But this I speak by permission, not by commandment.” And further: “Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my opinion, as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful.” Additionally, in another passage he says: “That Satan may not tempt you for your lack of se
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
2. And not only so, but the Lord also showed that certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be obedient, when, on their saying to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to send away a wife?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he permitted these things to you;
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness
but from the beginning it was not so;” thus exculpating Moses as a faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient.
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Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness
There, while prohibiting divorce, He has given us a solution of this special question respecting it: Moses, says He, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to give a bill of divorcement;
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
35 Matthew 19:8 Jesus said to them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts gave you leave 36 to divorce your wives;
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness
namely, that certain commands were instituted by Moses on account of the hardness of your people’s hearts.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
for something of this kind is indicated in the words, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives;
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
But in the new covenant also there are some legal injunctions of the same order as, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives;
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
...laws, and because he allowed certain things for the hardness of heart of the people, among them the putting away of wives, was persuaded regarding the laws he gave, according to his own judgment, that in these matters also the legislation took place with the Spirit of God. And he will say that, unless one law is spiritual and another is not, this too is a law, and it is spiritual, and its spiritual meaning ought to be investigated.
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Clement of Rome, Connection to Mark 10:5 Supporting witness
`Moses gave you commandments according to your hard-heartedness; for from the beginning it was not so: for He who created man at first, made him male and female.'
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
...because it is done away in Christ. For even to this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit." What, then, is meant by this? Is Moses still present with us even to this day? Is it the case that he has never slept, that he has never gone to his rest, that he has never departed this life? How is it, then, that this phrase, "to this day," is used here? Just notice the veil, which he says is placed on their hearts in their reading. This, therefore, is the word of censure against the children of Israel, because they read Moses and yet do not understand him, and refuse to turn to the Lord. For it is He that was prophesied of by Moses as about to come. This, then, is the veil that was placed upon the face of Moses, and this also is his testament. For he says in the law: "A prince shall not be wanting from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until He come whose he is; and He will be the expectation of the nations: who shall bind His foal to the vine, and His ass's colt to the choice vine; He shall wash His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes; His ey
What does Deuteronomy 24:4 say about remarriage?
The passage allows the woman to marry another man after divorce, but it forbids her first husband from taking her back after the second marriage. Early Christian writers used that rule as part of their reading of the whole law on marriage and separation.
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Justin Martyr, The Second Apology Supporting witness
But when her husband had gone into Alexandria, and was reported to be conducting himself worse than ever, she—that she might not, by continuing in matrimonial connection with him, and by sharing his table and his bed, become a partaker also in his wickednesses and impieties—gave him what you call a bill of divorce, and was separated from him.
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Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Supporting witness
...o were brothers by the same mother, since the law did not prevent a widow, whether she became so by divorce or by the death of her husband, from marrying another. By Estha, then, for that is her name according to tradition, Matthan first, the descendant of Solomon, begot Jacob. And when Matthan died, Melchi, who traced his descent back to Nathan, being of the same tribe but of another family, married her, as has already been said, and had a son Heli. Thus we find that Jacob and Heli were brothers by the same mother, though of different families. And of these, Jacob took the wife of his brother Heli, who died childless, and begot by her the third, Joseph, his son by nature and by account. For this reason also it is written, "And Jacob begot Joseph." But according to law he was the son of Heli, for Jacob his brother raised up seed to him. Therefore the genealogy traced through him will not be made void, and the Evangelist Matthew gives it in his list like this: "And Jacob begot Joseph." But Luke, on the other hand, says, "Who was the son, as was supposed, for this too he adds, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Metchi." For it was not possible to state the generation according
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Tertullian, On Monogamy Supporting witness
...usband is dead, she is more bound not to take another husband in marriage. For let us consider that divorce either is caused by discord, or else causes discord. Death, however, is an event resulting from God's law, not from a human offense. And it is a debt that all owe, even the unmarried. Therefore, if a divorced woman, who has been separated from her husband in soul as well as body through discord, anger, hatred, and the causes of these—injury, insult, or any cause of complaint—is bound to one who is personally her enemy, not to say her husband, how much more will a woman be bound to her husband when she has been left behind by her consort, not by her own fault or her husband's, but by an event resulting from the Lord's law. She has not been separated from him, but left behind by him. Even when dead, she is his, because even when dead she owes him the debt of concord. She does not turn away from him from whom she has heard no word of divorce. She is with him to whom she has written no document of divorce. The one whom she was unwilling to lose, she still retains. She has within her the freedom of the mind, which represents to a man, in imagined enjoyment, all the things he do
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
for they two shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24 But to the younger women let a second marriage be allowed after the death of their first husband, lest they fall into the condemnation of the devil, and many snares, and foolish lusts, which are hurtful to souls, and which bring upon them punishment rather than rest.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
and it regards as fornication, the marriage of those separated while the other is alive.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness
And therefore it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their hard nature.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
And by Jeremiah: And I gave her a writing of divorcement, and covenant-breaking Judah feared not.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
... not have been disciplined in chastity and self-control? But from what is said in the law about the bill of divorce, I wonder whether, since the bishop and the presbyter and the deacon are symbols of things that truly exist in keeping with these names, Paul wished to appoint those who were figuratively married only once. Then the person who is able to pay attention to the matter may discover from the spiritual law the one who was unworthy of church rule: the soul that did not find favor in the eyes of her husband because some unseemly thing was found in her, and so became worthy of a bill of divorce. For such a soul, after living with a second husband and being hated by him, can no longer return to her former husband after the second bill of divorce. It is likely, therefore, that wiser people than we are, with greater ability to see into such matters, will find other arguments, whether in the law about the bill of divorce or in the apostolic writings that forbid those who have been married twice from ruling the church or being chosen to preside over it. But until something better is found, something able by the surpassing brightness of the light of knowledge to cast what we have
How did early Christians connect Deuteronomy 24:1-4 to Jesus’ teaching?
Early Christians tied Deuteronomy 24:1-4 to Matthew 19 and Mark 10, where Jesus says Moses allowed divorce because of hard hearts. They used that connection to argue that Christ calls people back to the beginning, where marriage was meant to join one man and one woman.
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
Matthew 5:31 It was said that he that puts away his wife should give her a writing of divorcement: 62 Matthew 5:32 but I say unto you, that every one that puts away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, has made it lawful for her to commit adultery: and whosoever takes one that is put away commits adultery.
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Theophilus of Antioch, Connection to Matthew 5:32 Supporting witness
"And he that marrieth," says [the Gospel], "her that is divorced from her husband, committeth adultery; and whosoever putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery."
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
... body fall into Gehenna. Matthew 5:31 It was said that whoever puts away his wife should give her a certificate of divorce. Matthew 5:32 But I say to you that everyone who puts away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, has made it lawful for her to commit adultery. And whoever takes a woman who is put away commits adultery.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
...ord also said to those who were asking about divorce, whether it is lawful to dismiss a wife, since Moses permitted it? “Moses,” He says, “wrote these things because of your hardness of heart. But have you not read that God said to the first-formed man, ‘You two shall be one flesh’? Therefore, whoever dismisses his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery.” Matthew 19:3; Mark 10:2. But after the resurrection, He says, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. And indeed it was said about the belly and foods: “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods; but God will destroy both it and them,” 1 Corinthians 6:13. He says this against those who think they should live like goats and rams, so that they might not feast and have intercourse securely and without fear.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
...n that sense. For in the case of adultery, or any such great indecency, there is no need to write a bill of divorce and put it into the wife's hands. But perhaps Moses called every sin an unseemly thing. When the husband discovered it in his wife, and she no longer found favor in his eyes, the bill of divorce was written and the wife was sent away from her husband's house. But from the beginning it was not so, as Matthew 19:8 says. After this, our Savior speaks in a way that does not permit the breaking of marriages for any sin except fornication alone, when it is found in the wife: "Whoever puts away his own wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her an adulteress," Matthew 5:32. But it could be asked whether, for this reason, He forbids a man to put away his wife for any cause other than fornication, even for poisoning, or for killing an infant born to them while her husband is away from home, or for any kind of murder at all. Further, if she were found stripping and plundering her husband's house, though she was not guilty of fornication, one might ask whether he would be right to cast away such a woman, since the Savior forbids anyone to put away his own wife excep
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Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness
For whosoever puts away his wife, says He, and marries another, commits adultery;
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Athenagoras, Connection to Matthew 19:9 Supporting witness
"For whosoever puts away his wife," says He, "and marries another, commits adultery; "
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness
and whosoever puts away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery.
Common Questions
Did early Christians think Deuteronomy 24:1-4 approved divorce as the ideal?
No. Most early Christian writers said it was a permission given because of hard hearts, while Jesus restored the original design of marriage.
Why does Deuteronomy 24:4 forbid taking the first wife back?
The law says that after the woman has married another man, the first husband may not take her back, because that would be an abomination and bring sin on the land.
How did Jesus explain Moses’ divorce law?
Jesus said Moses allowed divorce because of hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not so.
Did Moses command divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4?
No. Early Christian writers usually said Moses permitted it because of hard hearts.
Can the first husband take back his divorced wife under this law?
No. Verse 4 forbids that after she has married another man.
Source Index for Deuteronomy 24:1-4
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 149 ranked source links from 177 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 149 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 108
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
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Barnabas, Connection to Deuteronomy 10:16
Bible Passages 69 included
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