Divorce as punitive expulsion : toward a model of marital dissolution in Old Testament covenant ethics

Durso, Michael R.

1 online resource (xxi, 151 leaves)

Includes abstract.

Thesis (M.A.B.T.S.) -- Covenant Theological Seminary, 2026

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-151).

Title

Divorce as punitive expulsion : toward a model of marital dissolution in Old Testament covenant ethics

Last modified

05/28/2026

Creator

Durso, Michael R.

Abstract

A conceptual tension persists in biblical interpretation: covenantal frameworks signal permanence and stability yet observed covenant dynamics in the Old Testament include exclusion, expulsion, and divorce. Because theological accounts of marriage and divorce frequently appeal to analogy with the divine covenant, insufficient attention to the structural features of covenantal relationships has led to ongoing ambiguity regarding the possibility and nature of marital dissolution. This study argues that the Old Testament conceptualizes divorce as punitive expulsion, analogous to being “cut off” from one’s people or land (karet penalty), and that dissolution of the marital bond occurs ipso facto through covenant vacancy following expulsion. It further contends that insufficient distinction between corporate and individual dimensions of covenant membership has obscured a crucial structural asymmetry between the divine covenant and marriage: a divine covenant comprises multiple individuals nested within a corporate structure whereas the marriage covenant itself is constituted by two individuals. Methodologically, the study employs abduction (inference to the best explanation), proposing a conceptual framework that accounts for the full range of biblical data rather than privileging either marriage texts or divorce texts in isolation. The analysis integrates exegetical and lexical analysis, biblical-theological synthesis, metaphor theory, and engagement with ancient Near Eastern parallels regarding expulsion formulas and divorce practices. This study advances a novel conceptual framework for understanding divorce by integrating punitive expulsion and the corporate–individual structure of covenant participation as primary interpretive categories. To date, these categories have not been explicitly applied to the interpretation of divorce in biblical studies. The investigation yields five principal findings. First, punitive expulsion functions as the covenant’s self-maledictory oath-curse mechanism, responding to violations which constitute forfeiture of status or place. Second, covenant-breaking language denotes violation rather than dissolution, though such violations may trigger punitive action. Third, punitive expulsion functions simultaneously as judgment on the individual and as a mechanism for purifying and preserving the corporate community—the concept of remnant—which is disanalogous with marriage. Fourth, because marriage is individually constitutive, lacking a corporate structure, expulsion in the marital covenant results in dissolution by vacancy. Fifth, this model provides a unified account of legal, narrative, and prophetic data potentially resolving longstanding ambiguities in prior scholarship. These findings dismantle paradigms of absolute marital indissolubility by exposing the irreconcilable structural asymmetry between the divine covenant—which persists through its corporate dimension despite individual excision—and marriage, which possesses no such corporate safeguard and therefore dissolves ipso facto through vacancy upon expulsion. This study therefore presents a cohesive, biblically grounded framework for marital dissolution within Old Testament covenant ethics, one that unifies disparate textual data, informs New Testament interpretation, and carries significant ethical implications for the church’s understanding of marriage as a covenantal institution oriented toward social ethics and justice.

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