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Does anyone in Tanach ever get divorced? Not merely separated but fully divorced.

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karka-olam, welcome to Mi Yodeya and thanks very much for bringing your question here! Rather than putting in content-free filler text, I encourage you to respond to the quality filter by editing your question to include more actual content, e.g. something about what's motivating the question or what research you've tried already. Also, please consider registering your account, which will give you access to more of the site's features. – Isaac Moses Nov 19 '12 at 18:00
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pshat or midrash? – Charles Koppelman Nov 19 '12 at 18:18
Agree completely with @IsaacMoses's advice. −1 on the question from me therefore. – msh210♦ Nov 19 '12 at 18:54

3 Answers

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1) Didnt Moshe Rabbeinu get divorced from Zipporah? See Rashi Bamidar 12:1, על אודות האשה: על אדות גירושיה. Sounds like he divorced her. I dont think this shittah is universal though. Still looking for more sources.
Tosafos in Yevomos 62:a dichsiv says that possibly he wrote her a Get.

2) Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer (chapter 30) brings down the following story that records that Yishmael divorced his wife.

Once Avraham wanted to visit Yishmael to see how he was doing. Sarah okayed his visit on condition that he didn’t get off of the camel. So Avraham traveled through the desert to the home of Yishmael. When he arrived, Yishmael’s wife, Eysa, told Avraham that Yishmael had gone with his mother, Hagar, to gather dates in the desert. Avraham said he was weary from his journey, might he be served some bread and water? Eysa refused, claiming she had none.

“Please tell your husband” Avraham told her, “that an old man from Canaan came to see him. Tell him his threshold is broken.”

When Yishmael returned, his wife gave him the message. He understood that his father had attempted to visit him, and he understood from his message how cruel his wife had been. Yishmael divorced his wife.

3) (Sotah 12:a) is Amram who divorced Yocheved before remarrying her upon Miriam's advice. In fact, the Gemoro relates that the whole nation followed suit and divorced their wives. (Albeit, they [including Amram] all remarried soon after!)

4) King David's wife Queen Batsheva was previously married to Uriah. Uriah wrote a Get to her before he went to war so she should not be an Agunah if he were not to return. This Get came into effect at Uriah's demise, itself brought about by the King. (Kesubos 9:b)

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+1. Any source for Amram? – msh210♦ Nov 19 '12 at 19:26
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@msh210 there you go – yehuda Nov 19 '12 at 19:39
up vote 12 down vote

The only divorce I can find in Tanach al pi peshat is Avraham's divorcing Hagar. The verse (Genesis 20:10) says:

גָּרֵשׁ הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת, וְאֶת-בְּנָהּ
Cast out this bondwoman and her son.

The word used is גרש which is the word used for divorce generally in Tanach (eg. Leviticus 22:13) and it seems to be the peshat here because we never hear of Hagar again.

For what it's worth, pseudo-Jonathon explicitly interprets the verse: ופטרה בגיטא - and he exempted her with a document.

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Actually we do hear of Hagar again, Rashi says that when Rivka met Yitzchok for the first time, he was returning from fetching Hagar to remarry Avrohom now Sarah was no longer alive! +1 anyway – yehuda Nov 20 '12 at 5:55
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@yehuda My answer was focusing on the peshat of the pesukim, but anyway that Rashi clearly implies they were not married in the interim. – Double AA♦ Nov 20 '12 at 6:05
up vote 3 down vote

Hashem told Hoshea to get divorced

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Can you cite a source for this? – Double AA♦ Nov 19 '12 at 20:22
Could be he is ref to Rashi in Hoshea 2:1,but still not sure how one would explain it as such, since it is a parable. – sam Nov 20 '12 at 0:39
@sam I know to which story in Hoshea he likely refers, I just don't see in the pesukim where it explicitly says divorce. If he is referring to a midrash he should certainly state as much. (And not all rishonim think it is a parable, eg. Abravanel and likely Rashi (also Malbim, but he isn't a Rishon).) – Double AA♦ Nov 20 '12 at 3:25
...not to mention that some of yehuda's answers might be parables as well. – Double AA♦ Nov 20 '12 at 17:39
The source for Hoshea is presumably the Gemoro Pesochim 87a – user2106 Nov 20 '12 at 21:30
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