Divorce

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Bro. Tim,

That was one very good interpretation of the reason "fornication" (which you
interpret as "adultery") is the only reason for divorce.

I present another interpretation: that the word "fornication" meant "any
extramarital" sexual relations.  This is simply another view on the subject,
not necessarily indicating Bro. Tim's response was fundamentally wrong.


I had a lengthy discussion with an Orthodox Jewish friend of my sister's
about this very topic (she was assigned to read the Book of Matthew for a
class and wanted my help to interpret some points).  She used the example of
Mary & Joseph when he first found out she was pregnant.  They had already
completed *part* of the "Kddsh" (marriage) ceremony and were thus "espoused"
(much much stronger than just "engaged" - actually legally binding) when the
pregnancy was discovered.  Joseph was going to "put her away" (divorce her)
for "this cause" - fornication, since he knew he was not the one who
fathered the child.  He was going to do it privately to avoid them taking
her to her father's house and stoning her.

It all goes back to the OT laws about "if a man lie with a woman who is
betrothed (espoused) and she does not cry out (or, she consents), the woman
shall be taken to her father's house and stoned until she dies."
(paraphrased).  My Jewish friend enlightened me to the fact that during this
time, the unmarried Jewish girl did NOT cover her head with a veil, only the
fully married ones did (after completion of all of the ceremony which could
be spread out over a long period of time), thus, it would not be obvious
which girls were "espoused" and which girls were not.  Unless the girl "cry
out" (or tell the guy she was engaged), it was she who was committing
fornication/adultery against her betrothed.  If neither were engaged, the
young man was required to pay the "tokens of her virginity" to the girl's
father and marry her (unless she was a servant).  Now, there is nothing in
the law to forbid the espoused couple from consumating the marriage at any
point during the Kddsh process.  Relations with one's future spouse were not
forbidden under the law as long as the marriage was already in process.


My $.02 - (uh-oh, its that culture thing again! <g>)
Anneliese