collection. There is no reason to think that the old Israelite law on divorce is preserved in the Pentateuch in its entirety or even in outline. Because of the similarity of the Pentateuch with other ancient Near Eastern law codes, we must assume that where the Old Testament is silent, there was broad agreement with the prevailing culture. However, the Israelites were very proud that they did not conform to the prevailing culture of the nations surrounding them. We can therefore assume that when