Deuteronomy 24:3

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Deuteronomy 24:3 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;
Deuteronomy 24:3 — American Standard Version

Context — Deuteronomy 24

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And [if] the latter husband hate her, etc.] Or less loves her than another woman, and she is disliked by him as she was by her former husband; and write her a bill off divorcement, and giveth [it] into her hand, and sendeth her out of his house: as he had by this law a permission, in like manner as her former husband had; (see Gill on “<052401>Deuteronomy 24:1”); or if her latter husband die, which took her [to be] his wife; and she survives him; as she is then by death loosed from the law of an husband, she may lawfully marry another man, but not her former husband, as follows.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“In this and the next chapter certain particular rights and duties, domestic, social, and civil, are treated. The cases brought forward have often no definite connection, and seem selected in order to illustrate the application of the great principles of the Law in certain important events and circumstances. These four verses contain only one sentence, and should be rendered thus: If a man hath taken a wife, etc., and given her a bill of divorcement and Deuteronomy 24:2 if she has departed out of his house and become another man’s wife; and Deuteronomy 24:3 if the latter husband hates her, then Deuteronomy 24:4 her former husband, etc. Moses neither institutes nor enjoins divorce. The exact…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification