What were the reasons for divorce in Old Testament times?

Answer 1

A:Grace I. Emmerson (The World of Ancient Israel: Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives, Women in ancient Israel) says that in Old Testament times the right of a husband to divorce his wife at any time and for any reason was absolute. However, there seems to have been strong in principle opposition to exercising this right, and the extent to which this freedom was exercised in practice it is impossible to tell. There was no circumstance in which a wife might divorce her husband. Adultery on the part of the wife could be punished by death, so no divorce was needed.