DIVINE

That which belongs or pertains to God, or is godlike or heavenly.

In some places in the Hebrew Scriptures the words ʼEl (the singular form of the word “God”) and ʼElo·himʹ (the plural form of excellence of the word “God”) are used one after the other. Thus at Joshua 22:22 and Psalm 50:1 the Hebrew text reads ʼEl ʼElo·himʹ Y^eho·wahʹ. While some translations (BC [Spanish], Ro) simply transliterate the first two words of this phrase, others render them as “the God of gods” (AT, JB, La, VM [Spanish]) or, somewhat more accurately, “The Mighty One, God” (AS, Mo, RS), and “Divine One, God” (NW).—See EL; ELOHIM.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures certain words derived from the·osʹ (god) appear and relate to that which is divine. The related words theiʹos, thei·oʹtes, and the·oʹtes occur at Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9 and 2 Peter 1:3, 4.

At Acts 17:29, Paul, when in Athens, showed that it was illogical for humans to imagine that “the Divine Being [to theiʹon, form of theiʹos] is like gold or silver or stone.” (NW) Many translators here use terms such as “the Godhead,” “the Deity,” or “the divinity” (AV, AS, Dy, ED, JB, RS), while E. J. Goodspeed’s translation says, “the divine nature.” (AT) Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (p. 628) shows that the phrase to theiʹon was used by ancient Greek writers to mean “the divine Being or Essence, the Deity.” According to ancient Greek usage, then, this word can be translated by words indicating divine personality or by terms indicating divine qualities or attributes, and this is true of the other words (thei·oʹtes and the·oʹtes) mentioned earlier. Obviously, then, the context and sense of what is stated must guide the translator in his choice of words.

At Romans 1:20 the apostle refers to the undeniable visible evidence of God’s “invisible qualities,” in particular his “eternal power and Godship [thei·oʹtes].” (NW) Other translations read “Godhead,” “deity,” or “divinity,” while Goodspeed’s translation says “divine character.” Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament (Vol. III, p. 16), in commenting on this text, states “[Thei·oʹtes] is godhood, not godhead. It signifies the sum-total of the divine attributes.”

Then, at Colossians 2:9 the apostle Paul says of Christ: “It is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality [form of the·oʹtes] dwells bodily.” Here, again, some translators lean toward attributing personality to the word the·oʹtes, rendering it as “Godhead” or “Deity.” E. J. Goodspeed’s translation, however, says, “It is in him that all the fulness of God’s nature lives embodied.” (See also Weymouth.) Lexicographers Liddell and Scott also allow for the meaning of “divine nature” here, and Robinson’s Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament (p. 334) gives as one meaning of the word “the divine nature and perfections,” referring to Colossians 2:9 as an example.

It can be seen that the renderings of Colossians 2:9 that favor a sense of personality would give the idea of God’s personally dwelling in Christ, a view held by trinitarians. The translations expressing “divine nature” or qualities would, instead, indicate that Christ is the very embodiment of the divine qualities, such as wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 2:3; Rev. 5:11, 12); hence, as the context shows, those in the Christian congregation would look to the resurrected Jesus, their divinely appointed Head, for all their guidance and instruction, as well as blessings, from God, and not to human philosophers and traditionalists. (Col. 2:8-10; compare 1:18-20.) Jesus, therefore, had the “fullness” of all that such Christians needed. This, it must be noted, was granted him by his Father, who raised him from the dead and sat him “on the right hand of [God’s] majesty” as the “reflection of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of his very being.”—Heb. 1:1-3; Phil. 2:8-11.

Finally, at 2 Peter 1:3, 4 the apostle shows that by virtue of the “precious and very grand promises” extended to faithful anointed Christians by divine power, they “may become sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Elsewhere in the Scriptures Christians are referred to as ‘sharing’ with Christ in his sufferings, in a death like his, and in a resurrection like his to immortality as spirit creatures, becoming joint heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom. (1 Cor. 15:50-54; Phil. 3:10, 11; 1 Pet. 5:1; 2 Pet. 1:2-4; Rev. 20:6) Thus it is evident that the sharing of Christians in “divine nature” is with Christ, and also with their fellow heirs, rather than with Jehovah God. Since “nature” is generally associated with that which is produced, or is born or grows, it is inappropriate to speak of God as having “nature”; he is without birth or growth, having no beginning. However, he can give divine nature or qualities to others.—Ps. 90:1, 2; 93:2; 1 Tim. 1:17.

The verb form “to divine” generally means to employ divination, a practice directly condemned by Jehovah God.—Deut. 18:10-12; see DIVINATION.

DIVORCE

Legal and Scriptural dissolution of the marital union. Hence the severance of the marriage bond between a husband and a wife.

When Jehovah united Adam and Eve in wedlock he made no provision for divorce. Jesus Christ made this clear when answering the Pharisees’ question: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on every sort of ground?” Christ showed that God purposed for man to leave his father and his mother and stick to his wife, the two becoming one flesh. Then Jesus added: “So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Matt. 19:3-6; compare Genesis 2:22-24.) The Pharisees next asked: “Why, then, did Moses prescribe giving a certificate of dismissal and divorcing her?” In reply, Christ said: “Moses, out of regard for your hardheartedness, made the concession to you of divorcing your wives, but such has not been the case from the beginning.”—Matt. 19:7, 8.

Though divorce was allowed among the Israelites on various grounds as a concession, Jehovah God regulated it in his law given to Israel through Moses. Deuteronomy 24:1 reads: “In case a man takes a woman and does make her his possession as a wife, it must also occur that if she should find no favor in his eyes because he has found something indecent on her part, he must also write out a certificate of divorce for her and put it in her hand and dismiss her from his house.” Just what “something indecent” (literally, “the nakedness of a thing”) was is not specifically stated.

Separate views concerning this ‘indecency’ were held by the two schools of Jewish rabbis in existence prior to and during the days when Jesus Christ was on earth. One school, headed by Shammai, considered this ‘indecency’ to be adultery. However, that it was not adultery is indicated by the fact that God’s law given to Israel decreed that those guilty of adultery be put to death, not merely be divorced. (Deut. 22:22-24) The older rabbinic school of Hillel I and his followers thought the expression applied to a number of minor matters, interpreting it broadly to denote faults, deformities and shortcomings on the wife’s part, even to the point of spoiling food by burning it or by improperly seasoning it.

Though Deuteronomy 24:1 does not specify the ‘indecency’ that would give a Hebrew husband some basis for divorcing his wife, doubtless originally it involved serious matters, perhaps such as the wife’s showing gross disrespect for the husband or bringing shame on the household. Since the Law specified that “you must love your fellow as yourself,” it is not reasonable to assume that petty faults could be