Why were only men allowed to divorce for sexual impurity? Did men not also commit sexual misconduct?

Question

In Deuteronomy 22 and 24, only men were allowed to produce a bill of divorce. Although in the case of adultery, both sexes are criminally responsible, in the case of Deuteronomy 22 and 24, there does not seem to be an equivalent law for women finding such uncleanness in their husband.

(Deuteronomy 24:1, NKJV) When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house

(Deuteronomy 22:13-15, NKJV) If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.

It is my understanding that rabbis generally also allowed women to divorce their husbands. That is a broader issue. But the more specific question is, could there not be uncleanness found in a man, as in general sexual indecency, impropriety, or something of the like, which, though not at the level of adultery (for which the punishment is death), would legally allow divorce -- a male equivalent to women's purity laws? And if not, why not?

Obviously the Bible is not completely egalitarian, but I wonder how to address this in today's context, where this is seen as a slight against women, who would not have had the same recourse as men. How do theologians explain this apparent unfairness towards women?

Related questions:

Did Moses compromise by allowing the Israelites to divorce in Deutoronomy 24:1?

What does the phrase "uncleanliness in her" refer to in Deuteronomy 24:1?

Answer 1

I wonder how to address this in today's context, where this is seen as a slight against women.

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The fact is that, in the Bible, women were not allowed to divorce men for any reason. However, there is a doctrine called "Oral Torah" by which the rabbis brought new light from God about such things. This process is recorded particularly in the Talmud as rabbis provided ruling rulings on various issues brought before them and it continues today in rabbinical courts in Israel and the U.S. Since a woman never technically divorces the man, the rabbinical courts sometimes order that a man release a woman from her marriage contract and provide financial compensation. This article discusses the history of this phenomenon.

Regarding Christian tradition, in the New Testament, the principle of Oral Torah was upheld by Jesus:

Matthew 23

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.

Indeed, Jesus himself practiced Oral Torah in his halakhic rulings, some of which dealt directly with marriage and divorce. His teaching on divorce in Mt. 5 is a prime example, where he made the rule against divorce applicable equally to men and women. Paul did likewise in 1 Cor. 7. The Christian Church further refined divorce laws over the following centuries, just as the rabbinical authorities did.

In the modern era, of the first reforms instituted by Luther was to liberalize his church's marriage laws, and today Protestant churches do not generally forbid women to divorce their husbands for infidelity:

When a spouse commits fornication (i.e., is guilty of sexual unfaithfulness), which breaks the unity of the marriage, the offended party who endures such unfaithfulness has the right, though not the command, to obtain a legal divorce and remarry. footnote

Catholics, on the other hand, still hold fast to the "no divorce" policy for either sex, based on Jesus' teaching about divorce in Matthew 5:32. (The Church understands the exception mentioned here to refer to a marriage that was unlawful to begin with.)

Conclusion: The way to address the Bible's apparent unfairness to women is to understand that in Jewish tradition, God's law unfolds and clarifies itself over history. The same may be said of Christianity.