Bible Dictionaries

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

Divorce, Divorcement

"to let loose from, let go free" (apo, "from," luo, "to loose"), is translated "is divorced" in the AV of Matthew 5:32 (RV, "is put away"); it is further used of "divorce" in Matthew 1:19; 19:3,7-9; Mark 10:2,4,11; Luke 16:18 . The Lord also used it of the case of a wife putting away her husband, Mark 10:12 , a usage among Greeks and Romans, not among Jews. See DISMISS.

primarily, "a defection," lit., "a standing off" (apo, "from," stasis, "a standing;" cp. aphistemi, "to cause to withdraw"), denotes, in the NT, "a writing or bill of divorcement," Matthew 5:31; 19:7; Mark 10:4 . In Sept., Deuteronomy 24:3; Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:8 .