[Esaias]

And again, the question of spousal abandonment must be reconciled with the fact that a woman who was put away, but not divorced, could NOT lawfully remarry.

Also, most of these discussions fail to define exactly what is a valid marriage to begin with. Just because people have a court document saying they are married doesn't necessarily make it so. This is not only true of marriages after divorce, but also of a person's FIRST marriage!

And yet, the role of courts in deciding these matters is explicitly affirmed by God, and we do err if we think marriage is wholly outside the bounds of the judicial power.