[VIDEO BELOW] We know God meant marriage to be loving, faithful, and lifelong. And many of us have heard from childhood that “God hates divorce” using the words of Malachi 2:15-16.
But does that mean that all divorce is prohibited? No, Jesus Christ allowing divorce for sexual immorality, and the apostle Paul allowing for divorce for abandonment. The Law of Moses allowed divorce for sexual indecency (immorality), abuse, and neglect.
As you know, most of the Bible was written in Hebrew. The Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) was written in that ancient language more than 2500 years ago.
Does Malachi 2:15-16 say “God hates divorce” (or “I hate divorce”) in the Hebrew text? No, it doesn’t.
The book of Malachi was written more than 2,400 years ago, nearly 500 years before Christ.
For the first 2,100 years or so, Malachi 2:16 was interpreted as an anti-treachery verse, not an anti-divorce verse. That’s how the great Bible translators Jerome and John Wycliffe, and Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin viewed it.
They interpreted it as a condemnation of a man who hates his wife and divorces her unjustly.
But then King James’s translators changed it into an anti-divorce verse for 385 years starting in 1611.
That ended in 1996 after the Dead Sea scroll fragment of Malachi 2:16 (the oldest known copy of the verse) was published, and many scholars interpreted it again as an anti-treachery verse.
➡️ No new major Bible translation since 1996 has interpreted it as “God hates divorce.”
Not the New International Version (NIV 2011 update), English Standard Version (ESV) or Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
The ESV, CSB, and NIV 2011 have the anti-treachery interpretation, not the “God hates divorce” wording.
(Note: The old 1984 version of the NIV interpreted it as “I [God] hate divorce,” but the translators changed it in their 2011 update.)
➡️ “So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel,” does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.” —Malachi 2:15b-16 (NIV 2011 update)
To see my video explanation of this, see YouTube: https://youtu.be/swy65LUIdg0?si=gZqXTXH8nCDYkvgh
To see 18 translations of Malachi 2:16 over history, click here: https://www.lifesavingdivorce.com/malachi
To see how John Calvin viewed this verse in the 1500s, go here: https://www.lifesavingdivorce.com/calvin
Instead they translate Malachi 2:15-16 as pointing out violent, unjust, and hate-filled men who want to divorce their wives without just cause.
| ANCIENT, EARLY and MODERN TRANSLATIONS | Who does the hating? | What does he hate? | Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Septuagint LXX 3rd-1st Century BC (Brenton) | The husband | his wife | But if thou shouldest hate thy wife and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, |
| Septuagint (LXX) 3rd-1st Century BC | The husband | his wife | But if having hated you divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, |
| Qumran 4QXIIa 2nd Century BC | The husband | his wife | “For if you have hated (and) divorced,” [says the LORD] God of Israel, |
| Aramaic (AD 2nd Century) | The husband | his wife | But if you hate her, divorce her, says the LORD God of Israel, |
| Latin Vulgate AD 382 | The husband | his wife | “When you have hate, divorce! |
| Wycliffe Bible 1395 | The husband | his wife | when thou hatest her, leave thou her, saith the Lord God of Israel. |
| Coverdale Bible 1535 | The husband | his wife | Yf thou hatest her, put her awaye, sayeth the LORDE God of Israel |
| Matthew Bible 1537 | The husband | his wife | Yf thou hatest her put her awaye sayeth the Lorde God of Israell |
| Great Bible 1539 | The husband | his wife | Yf thou hatest her put her awaye sayeth the Lorde God of Israell |
| Luther Bible 1545 | The husband | his wife | Indeed, he who bears her ill will and repudiates her,… |
| Bishop’s Bible 1568 | The husband | his wife | If thou hatest her, put her away, saith the lorde God of Israel: |
| Geneva Bible 1587 | The husband | his wife | If thou hatest her, put her away, sayeth the Lorde God of Israel, |
| Douay-Rheims 1582 | The husband | his wife | When thou shalt hate her put her away. |
| King James Bible 1611 | God | divorce | For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away |
| Young’s Literal Translation 1862 | God (I) | divorce | For [I] hate sending away, said Jehovah, God of Israel, |
| English Revised Version 1881 | God (I) | divorce | For I hate putting away, saith the LORD, the God of Israel, |
| American Standard Version 1901 | God (I) | divorce | For I hate putting away, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, |
| Revised Standard Version 1973 | God (I) | divorce | “For I hate divorce, says the LORD the God of Israel, |
| New International Version 1984/2011 | God (I) | divorce | “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel,… |
| New American Standard Bible 1989 | God (I) | divorce | “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, |
| New Revised Standard Version 1989 | God (I) | divorce | For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, |
| New Living Translation 1996 | God (I) | divorce | “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. |
| Christian Standard Bible 2003 | The husband | his wife | “If he hates and divorces [his wife],” says the Lord God of Israel, |
| New International Version 2011 update | The husband | his wife | “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel |
| English Standard Version 2011 | The husband | his wife | “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel,… |
Chart ©2025 Gretchen Baskerville, LifeSavingDivorce.com. Permission is granted to use this only if used without change and in its entirety.
So…
Watch the 5-minute video to see how Malachi 2:16 is translated in these three major Bible translations: NIV, ESV, and CSB.
VIDEO:
For more on God and divorce, such as “Is divorce the unpardonable sin?” or “Does God allow divorce for any reason,” see Myth 18.
For a definition of life-saving divorces, read the book, What is a Life-Saving Divorce?
Chapter 6 of that book is entirely on “What Does the Bible Say About Divorce.” It explains all the divorce passages in Scripture.
Malachi 2:16 – Hasn’t the Bible Always Said,
“God Hates Divorce”? No!
For more on the myths of divorce, buy the Life-Saving Divorce.
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