What does the Bible say about marriage and divorce?

Marriage in the Bible is not a contract but a covenant — a permanent, self-giving union between husband and wife that mirrors God’s relationship with his people. Divorce, correspondingly, is treated not as a legal procedure but as a broken covenant. The Bible takes both with utmost seriousness.

This guide examines the biblical teaching on marriage and divorce honestly, including the passages that are often cited without context, and explains why Christians disagree about divorce and remarriage.

Genesis 2 establishes the pattern: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Jesus quoted this passage as the foundation of marriage. Paul used it as an image of Christ’s love for the church.

Marriage in the Bible is not merely romantic or contractual. It involves leaving, cleaving, and becoming one flesh — a new social unit, a covenant of loyalty, and a physical union. The Song of Solomon celebrates erotic love within this framework. Proverbs 31 describes a marriage of mutual respect and industry.

The Old Testament permitted divorce under certain conditions. Deuteronomy 24:1 allowed a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce if he found "some uncleanness in her." The meaning of "uncleanness" was hotly debated in Jesus’s day: the school of Shammai said it meant sexual immorality; the school of Hillel said it could mean anything displeasing.

Jesus sided with neither school. He pointed back to Genesis: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." He permitted divorce for "fornication" (Matthew 19:9) but treated it as a concession to human hardness of heart, not as God’s intention. Paul added a second exception: if an unbelieving spouse departs (1 Corinthians 7:15).

The Bible’s high view of marriage does not mean that divorced people are beyond God’s grace. Jesus’s conversation with the Samaritan woman — who had five husbands — is marked by compassion, not condemnation. He offered her living water. David remarried after Bathsheba. Rahab, a former prostitute, entered the lineage of Christ.

Christians disagree about whether and when remarriage after divorce is permissible. Some allow it only for the "guilty party" in cases of adultery or abandonment. Others allow it more broadly. What all agree on is that God’s ideal is lifelong covenant marriage and that grace covers human failure when repentance is genuine.