Reviews Divorce and Remarriage by David Instone-Brewer

"I-B. has cast his net widely, and much of what is of interest to readers here will be found in the more academic discussion which goes on in the footnotes." D.D. Swanson Society for Old Testament Study 2003

Full review:
	The subject of divorce and remarriage is a very live issue within the Church of England, as well as in other parts of the Christian Church, and this book joins a growing corpus of monographs on the subject, and so will be of interest primarily within this on-going Christian discussion. The purpose of this book as stated by the author is 'to understand the meaning of the New Testament teaching on divorce and remarriage as it would have been understood by its original readers' (p. ix). The setting of the social and literary context is what will be of interest to readers of the B.L., however. Beginning with a study of the marriage contract in the ANE, I-B. then turns to the Pentateuch, and finds that what is distinctive in the Pentateuch is not a monogamous ideal, but the greater rights given to women within marriage and remarriage. In the Later Prophets, God is in a typical ANE marriage contract with Israel, but becomes a divorce with hopes of remarriage. The Intertestamental Period is characterized, via Qumran, Elephantine and Simeon ben Shetah, as one of increa-sing rights for women, greater marital insecurity, and greater attempts to discourage divorce. This is the setting for the original readers of the NT. I-B. has cast his net widely, and much of what is of interest to readers here will be found in the more academic discussion which goes on in the footnotes. The socio-literary setting argued here has implications for OT students beyond the specific application for which this book is written. D.D. Swanson
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