What Was a Certificate of Divorce (Matthew 5:31)?
- Edward D. Andrews
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
Jesus’ Statement in the Sermon on the Mount
In Matthew 5:31, Jesus says, “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’” He is referencing the Mosaic provision in Deuteronomy 24:1–4, where a man who sent his wife away was required to give her a written document. By the first century, many had reduced this to a legal loophole: as long as paperwork was provided, divorce could be treated as morally acceptable for trivial reasons. Jesus confronts that misuse. He does not deny what Moses wrote; He exposes what people were doing with it.
Jesus’ next words supply the moral correction: “But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery” (Matthew 5:32). The issue is not merely legal procedure; it is covenant faithfulness. Marriage is not a casual contract that can be ended when feelings change. It is a one-flesh union that creates obligations before God (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6). The certificate of divorce existed in Israel’s law, but Jesus insists that it never turned hard-hearted divorce into righteousness.
What the Certificate Did in Ancient Israel
The certificate of divorce functioned as a formal public declaration that the woman had been released from the marriage. In a patriarchal society where a woman could be severely harmed by rumors or by a man’s informal rejection, a written document served as legal protection. It prevented a husband from discarding his wife and later claiming she was still bound to him, especially if she remarried. Deuteronomy 24 also restricted abuses by forbidding the first husband from taking her back after she had become another man’s wife, which further limited manipulation and treated marriage as serious.
At the same time, Deuteronomy 24 is not framed as Jehovah celebrating divorce. It is a regulation dealing with human hardness in a fallen world. Jesus explicitly says Moses permitted certain things “because of your hardness of heart,” but that this did not represent Jehovah’s original design (Matthew 19:8). The certificate was a restraint, not an endorsement. It forced accountability into a situation where sinful men might otherwise abandon women with no recourse.
How Jesus Corrects Misuse Without Denying God’s Standards
Jesus restores the moral gravity of marriage by returning to creation. He quotes Genesis: “The two will become one flesh” and then concludes, “What God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:5–6). That statement is decisive. If God joins the union, a human being does not have authority to tear it apart for selfish reasons. Jesus also identifies sexual immorality as the one explicit ground that breaks the marital bond in a way that permits divorce without guilt (Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9). He does not broaden the exception to include personal dissatisfaction, loss of excitement, or conflict that should be addressed by repentance and growth.
This teaching also protects the innocent spouse. Jesus describes how casual divorce pushes people toward adultery by forcing a wronged spouse into a situation where remarriage is treated as adulterous in God’s eyes, because the divorce itself was illegitimate (Matthew 5:32). His point is not to trap people; it is to expose the cruelty of treating divorce as a convenient escape. The certificate cannot sanctify what Jehovah condemns.
The Broader New Testament Witness on Marriage and Separation
Paul’s counsel in 1 Corinthians 7 aligns with Jesus’ teaching: “A wife should not separate from her husband … and a husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:10–11). Paul acknowledges complicated situations in a divided household, especially where an unbelieving spouse abandons the marriage, but the overall thrust is the same: believers honor marriage and do not treat separation as normal. Marriage is a sphere where Christians show faithfulness, patience, forgiveness, and commitment, reflecting Christ’s own steadfast love for His people (Ephesians 5:25–33).
Therefore, the certificate of divorce in Matthew 5:31 is best understood as a regulated document from the Mosaic law that people had turned into a moral excuse. Jesus strips away that excuse and reasserts Jehovah’s design: marriage is to be guarded, not trivialized. The document mattered legally, but righteousness depends on obedience to God, not on manipulating legal procedure.
About the Author
EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 220+ books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
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