Divorce in the Old and New Testaments Quiz

Answer: Abraham

The abandonment of Hagar and Ishmael by Abraham is one of the better known stories in the Old Testament. According to Genesis 21:14, Abraham gave Hagar and Ishmael some bread and a skin of water and sent them away into the wilderness.

Apparently, Abraham banished the two on the advice of his wife Sarah. Going by Scripture, Sarah and Hagar seldom got along and were bitter adversaries. The problems started shortly after Sarah gave permission to her husband Abraham to sleep with Hagar to produce a child. Sarah was barren at the time.

According to Scripture, Hagar started to despise Sarah for whatever reason. Possibly she felt superior because she could produce a child for Abraham while Sarah was unable. So she made a point of constantly trying to make Sarah feel small and insignificant.

It seems things snowballed with Sarah attempting to get even by being unduly harsh on Hagar. In fact, she was so harsh Hagar, even before Ishmael was born, fled from Abraham and Sarah. However, an angel of the LORD requested she go back to Abraham and Sarah and produce a child.

But things wouldn't work out. (It appears the breaking point was Ishmael's 'scoffing', as per Genesis 21:9) With the two women separated, the turmoil between them would finally come to an end.

Answer: Ezra

Ezra is the correct answer as per Ezra 10. According to Scripture, the foreign wives, who were pagans, were leading Israelite men astray. The tenth chapter of Ezra tells of all the men being commanded to convene at Jerusalem and those who did not attend faced confiscation of their property and separation from the general population.

At the meeting, Ezra admonished the men for taking pagan wives with many of them agreeing to "put away" the women.

Ezra 10:18-44 provides a list of the names of the men who divorced their foreign wives with some of the men being sons of the priests, gatekeepers and singers.

Answer: Samson

No name is given for Samson's Philistine wife, who ended up being given to his best man, as per Judges 14:20. According to Scripture, Samson became furious with her shortly after their marriage as she betrayed him by telling others the answer to a riddle he was posing. The riddle involved honey found in the carcass of a lion Samson killed with his bare hands.

If anyone successfully answered the riddle, Samson said he would give them thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. If they were unsuccessful in answering the riddle, they would give Samson thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.

When Samson's wife told others the answer to the riddle, he ended up being the loser and had to pay up. Scripture goes on to tell of Samson having the spirit of the LORD come upon him and he went to Ashkelon where he killed thirty men and took their apparel and "gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained his riddle."

The chapter ends with Samson being extremely angry and giving his new wife to his best man, who is also not named.

See Judges 14:1-20 for further details.

Answer: Michal

1 Samuel 25:44 tells of Saul taking his daughter Michal, who was the wife of David, and giving her to to Palti, the son of Laish, who was from Gallim. (Palti is also referred to as Paltiel elsewhere in the NKJV. In the NIV, he is known only as Paltiel.)

2 Samuel 3:13-16 tells of David meeting with Abner and making arrangements to have Michal returned to him. The passage goes on to tell of Michal being taken from her new husband Palti with her husband "weeping behind her".

Answer: Malachi

Malachi is the correct answer as per Malachi 2:10-16. In the passage, Malachi laments the fact a number of Israelite men were divorcing their wives and marrying foreign women who were pagans. In Verse 14, Malachi reminds the Israelites the LORD had been "witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant." The statement follows Verse 11 in which Malachi states, "Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the LORD'S holy institution which He loves" with men marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

Malachi goes on in Verse 16 to state God hates divorce.

Answer: Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25 tells of Joseph and Mary about to become married when Joseph found out she was pregnant, this although he was not intimate with her. As a result, the passage states Joseph "being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly."

Scripture goes on to state an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream proclaiming the Child Mary was carrying was conceived of the Holy Spirit. The angel also told Joseph the Baby Mary would give birth to would be called Jesus, "for He will save His people from their sins."

The passage concludes by stating Joseph did as the angel commanded him and took Mary as his wife.

Answer: Matthew

Matthew 19:3-12 provides details about the Pharisees questioning Jesus about divorce. In Verse 9, Christ states "Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

Mark 10:1-12 also tells of Jesus being questioned by the Pharisees about divorce. However, in the account in Mark, no mention is made about adultery being grounds for divorce.

Answer: Jesus

Jsesus made the statement Moses allowed divorce due to the hardness of heart of the people. According to Matthew 19:3-6, the Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him, asking if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason.

In His response, Jesus quoted Old Testament Scripture pointing out God "made them male and female" and a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Jesus went on to state, "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

The Pharisee in turn countered by asking Jesus why did Moses allow certificates of divorce to be given. Jesus responded to the Pharisees: "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."

Jesus goes on to state there is no grounds for divorce, apart from adultery, as stated in the answer to Question No. 7.

Answer: Herodias

Before marrying Herod, Herodias was married to his brother Philip, as per Matthew 14:3. When John the Baptist denounced the union of Herod and Herodias, he ended up being arrested. With John locked up, Herodias would be successful in pulling strings behind the scenes to have him executed. See Matthew 14:1-12 for details.

Answer: 1 Corinthians

Out of the thirteen books Paul is credited with writing, the word 'divorce' can be found in only the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, using the NKJV and the NIV. (The KJV does not use the word 'divorce' in 1 Corinthians 7, but rather makes mention of a man 'departing' from his wife. As a result, the word 'divorce' is not found at all in Paul's books in the KJV.)

1 Corinthians 7:10-16 is regarded as a passage about marriage vows and the importance of keeping them and in three different places in the passage, Paul makes mention of divorce.

For example, in 1 Corinthians 7:13, Paul writes: "And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him."