Deuteronomy 24: Group Study Handout

Overview

When a man marries a wife and she finds no favor, he may write her a bill of divorce and send her out (vv. 1-2). If she marries another man and he divorces her or dies, her first husband cannot remarry her (v.

Key verse

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house.”

Deuteronomy 24:1 (WEB)

Outline

1. Deuteronomy 24:1–4 Regulations on Divorce
2. Deuteronomy 24:5 New Marriages and Military Service
3. Deuteronomy 24:6–7 Prohibitions on Pledges
4. Deuteronomy 24:8–9 Observing Leprosy Laws
5. Deuteronomy 24:10–13 Lending Practices and Justice
6. Deuteronomy 24:14–15 Fair Treatment of Workers
7. Deuteronomy 24:16–22 Justice for Vulnerable Groups

Discussion questions

1. In v1, what does a man need to provide when divorcing his wife?
2. What does the phrase 'you shall not oppress' in v14 indicate about treatment of workers?
3. In v4, why is the act of taking a former wife back described as 'abomination'?
4. In v18, how does the command to remember slavery in Egypt affect justice for the vulnerable?
5. When have you found it difficult to show fairness as instructed in v14?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Deuteronomy 24: Ezekiel 18, 2 Chronicles 25, Leviticus 19.

Before next time: read Deuteronomy 25.