Bird's-eye view
In this remarkable and gracious provision within the Mosaic case law, we find a profound statement about God's priorities for a newly established household. Immediately following laws concerning divorce, this verse stands out as a positive and foundational command. The Lord, in preparing Israel for nationhood, carves out a protected space for the first year of marriage. This is not a sentimental afterthought; it is a strategic investment in the future of the nation. By exempting a newly married man from the most demanding public duties, military service and other civic burdens, the law establishes the home as the bedrock of the culture. The command is not merely for the man to be present, but for him to actively cultivate joy and gladness in his wife. This law reveals a God who is intensely interested in the intimate details of marital love and who designs His law to promote the flourishing of the covenant of marriage, which is the essential building block of a godly society.
This is not simply about procreation, though that is certainly included. It is about the establishment of a new covenantal unit, a little church, a little kingdom. The first year is a sabbath of sorts, a time for the couple to lay a foundation of shared life, affection, and knowledge of one another without the immense pressures of war or other state-imposed obligations. It is a testament to the fact that a strong nation is not built primarily on the strength of its army, but on the strength of its marriages. The gladness of a wife is here presented as a matter of national importance.
Outline
- 1. A Sabbath for a New Household (Deut 24:5)
- a. The Subject: A Man with a New Wife (Deut 24:5a)
- b. The Exemption: Freedom from Public Burdens (Deut 24:5b)
- c. The Duration: A Full Year (Deut 24:5c)
- d. The Purpose: To Give Gladness to His Wife (Deut 24:5d)
Context In Deuteronomy
This verse is situated in a section of Deuteronomy (chapters 21-25) that contains a wide array of specific laws for Israel's community life. These are the practical applications of the broader principles laid out in the Decalogue. The immediate context is a series of laws governing family and social relationships. Just before this verse, Moses deals with the grim reality of divorce (Deut 24:1-4). It is striking that immediately after laying down regulations for the dissolution of a marriage, God provides a law for the sanctification and strengthening of a new one. This juxtaposition highlights God's restorative and constructive purpose. He is not merely managing sin; He is actively cultivating righteousness and joy. The surrounding laws deal with pledges, leprosy, justice for the poor, and gleaning rights. In the midst of these weighty social concerns, God inserts this beautiful and tender provision for newlyweds, demonstrating that the health of the individual household is not a private affair but is integral to public justice and national well-being.
Key Issues
- The Sanctity of the First Year of Marriage
- The Relationship Between Household and State
- The Husband's Responsibility for His Wife's Joy
- The Theocratic Principle of Law
- Application to the New Covenant Believer
A Joyful Foundation
We live in a utilitarian age that views everything through the lens of productivity and efficiency. In such a world, a law like this seems almost frivolous. Exempt a healthy young man from military service for a whole year just so he can be with his wife? What about the needs of the state? What about the war effort? But God's economy is entirely different from man's. God knows that the primary institution He created was not the state, but the family. The family, established in Eden, predates the army, the legislature, and the tax office. And so, in His law, God protects the foundational institution from being swallowed by the demands of the secondary ones.
This law is a declaration that the establishment of a new family is a sacred duty, one that requires time, focus, and freedom from distraction. The first year of marriage is not just a honeymoon period; it is a foundational year. It is the time when the patterns are set, when the covenant takes on flesh, when two become one in a practical, day-to-day reality. For the state to interfere with this, to demand the man's service at the expense of his home, would be to eat its own seed corn. A nation of strong, happy, and fruitful marriages is a nation that will have no shortage of faithful soldiers in the next generation. This law is profoundly wise, building a strong society from the ground up, starting with the gladness of one man and one woman in their new home.
Verse by Verse Commentary
5 “When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give gladness to his wife whom he has taken.
When a man takes a new wife... The law applies from the very beginning of the marital covenant. The term "new wife" highlights the freshness and delicacy of the relationship. This is a formative period. The habits, affections, and mutual understanding developed in this first year will shape the entire future of the marriage. God in His wisdom recognizes that this new creation, the "one flesh" union, needs a protected environment in which to grow strong roots.
he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty... This is a sweeping exemption. The first prohibition is military. War is the most disruptive and demanding of all state activities, and the new husband is to have no part in it. The second prohibition is broader: "nor be charged with any duty." This would include various forms of civic corvee labor or other public responsibilities that would take him away from his primary task. The state, in effect, is told to keep its hands off. The man's duty for this year is not to the nation at large, but to the little nation he has just founded in his home.
he shall be free at home one year... The exemption is not so that he can be idle or pursue his own hobbies. He is not free from responsibility, but free for a specific responsibility. He is to be "free at home." His sphere of labor, concern, and activity is to be centered on the domestic realm. This year is a gift of time, a sabbath for the establishment of his household. It is a time for him to learn his wife, to build a life with her, to establish the routines of a shared existence under God.
and shall give gladness to his wife whom he has taken. This is the glorious purpose clause that illuminates the entire law. The man's freedom is directed toward a positive goal: his wife's joy. The Hebrew word for "give gladness" is active and intentional. It is his job, his sacred duty for this year, to make his wife happy. This is a stunning refutation of all forms of stoic or chauvinistic masculinity. The husband's role is not to be a detached ruler, but a cultivator of joy. He is to learn her, cherish her, delight in her, and lead in such a way that her heart is filled with gladness. This command assumes that a wife's emotional and spiritual well-being is a central concern for a godly husband and, remarkably, for the law of God itself. He has "taken" her, and this implies a responsibility to care for what he has taken. Her gladness is his project.
Application
Now, we are not under the Mosaic civil code. Christians are not required to lobby for a military draft exemption for newlyweds. The specific application has passed away with the old covenant political order. But the principle, the wisdom embedded in this law, is permanent and eternally relevant because it is rooted in the creation order and reflects the character of God.
First, this law teaches us God's high view of marriage. In an age that treats marriage as a temporary arrangement for personal fulfillment, we are reminded that God sees it as the essential foundation of society, worthy of legal protection and public honor. The church must be a place that treasures and protects new marriages, providing them with the support, teaching, and space they need to build a strong foundation.
Second, it provides a clear mandate for husbands. While the one-year exemption is not in force, the duty to "give gladness to his wife" most certainly is. A husband's calling is to be the chief architect of the joy and flourishing of his home. This is not a grim duty, but a glorious one. It requires self-sacrifice, attentiveness, and a deep, Christ-like love that seeks the good of the other before his own. A man should measure his success as a husband not by his paycheck or his public reputation, but by the settled joy and contentment he sees in his wife's eyes.
Finally, this verse is a beautiful picture of the gospel. Christ is the bridegroom who has taken a new bride, the Church. He has fought the great war for us, and He has freed us from the ultimate public burden, the condemnation of the law. And what is His purpose? It is to "give gladness" to His bride. He is sanctifying her, washing her, and preparing her for the day when He will present her to Himself "in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:27). His entire work is aimed at our eternal joy. This little law in Deuteronomy is a whisper of that great romance, the love of God for His people, a love that makes our gladness His sacred business.