95Divorce
kriythuth — Hebrew
kriythuth (H3748) — a cutting off, i.e. divorce; the bill of divorcement, from karath (H3772), to cut.
Kriythuth is a ‘cutting,’ from the same root H3772: the covenant cut (Cut), the sinner cut off (Karath), and here the marriage bond cut.
A dissolution term — the written instrument that legally severs the marriage covenant.
A covenant made by a legal act can be ended only by a legal act, and divorce is that act for marriage: a written bill that severs the bond and records the severance. It is not walking away but filing — a document with standing consequences. Yahuah’s dealing with unfaithful Israel is cast in exactly this legal register: a bill of divorce issued for covenant-breaking.
Deuteronomy 24:1 “Then let him write her a bill of divorcement.” The written instrument of severance.
Jeremiah 3:8 “I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce.” The covenant dissolved by legal act.
Isaiah 50:1 “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement?” The document as the proof of severance.
Malachi 2:16 “Yahuah... saith that he hateth putting away.” The weight of the act.
Divorce is the legal end of a marriage covenant — by a written bill, not just by leaving. It is paperwork that severs a contract. Even Yahuah’s judgment on unfaithful Israel is described as issuing a bill of divorce.
A marriage covenant, being a legal bond, could not just be abandoned — it had to be cut by a document, the bill of divorcement, filed and recorded. That is divorce: the official severing of a ratified bond. The same ‘cutting’ root runs through covenant, being cut off, and this.
- The one issuing it (the party) severs the bond by written instrument.
- The other party (the divorced) released and recorded as such.
- The bill (the instrument) the document that dissolves the covenant.
Movement II — The Court Runs on One Code. The standard on that bench is the Torah — the covenant terms, sworn and binding, not private feeling.