What happens if the analogy of marriage as a binding covenant is pressed? It is the nature of contracts or covenants that if one or the other party persistently fails to keep his or her end of the bargain, then the covenant can be declared null and void.
What about a marriage covenant? If any of the essential elements of a marriage covenant is persistently withheld or grossly violated, the party denied would have the moral and legal right to divorce. So, for instance, malicious cruelty (against the love obligation), flat refusal to grant sexual privileges (against the love and one-flesh principle), abandonment (against the one-household principle), adultery or even spiteful flirtation (against the faithfulness principle), lack of support for the woman (against the obligation of the husband to support her), and open and sustained defiance against the husband's leadership (against the male-leadership principle) would all be legitimate grounds for divorce in OT times.