Bible Question:

Does Deuteronomy 24:1-four say a person can marry their ex-spouse again?

Bible Answer:

Deuteronomy 24:one-4 is about divorce and remarriage. The passage tells us that a man or woman cannot return to a former spouse and marry him or her if the quondam spouse had afterwards married another person. Here is the passage,

When a man takes a married woman and marries her, and information technology happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has institute some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man'due southmarried woman , and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts information technology in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not immune to accept her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an anathema before the LORD, and y'all shall non bring sin on the state which the LORD your God gives you equally an inheritance. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (NASB)

Does the Bible Say I Can Remarry My Ex-Spouse

First Husband Divorces His Married woman

God gave the Israelites this instruction through the prophet Moses. In this passage, Moses gave the Israelites an illustration and and then concluded with a biblical principle. The illustration helps us understand the principle. Moses starts past painting the picture of a hubby divorcing his wife for some reason. Moses does not clearly explicate the reason for the divorce evidently because his purpose was non to provide a list of God-approved reasons for divorce. It is clear from Malachi 2:16 that God hates divorce. In Matthew 19:8 Jesus tells us that when God permits divorce, it is only considering we have hard hearts. The only reason that Moses gives united states of america for the divorce is that the husband found some "indecency." The Hebrew word for indecency is עֶרְוָה or erwa. The general consensus of Bible translators is that the significant of the discussion is unknown since they translate the words every bit "something wrong," "something indecent," "something offensive," "something improper" and "some indecency."

However, it should exist noted that the word usually refers to nakedness or genitals. Out of the 54 times the word appears in the Old Testament, it occurs 32 times in Leviticus 18. Since Leviticus xviii is predominately nearly sexual sins, this would advise that the indecency is related to some sexual issue. In Matthew five:32 and 19:4-9, Jesus teaches us that divorce is permitted for porneia or various sexual sins. This would seem to suggest that the indecency was some form of sexual immorality.

Deuteronomy 22:20-22 eliminates that meaning of indecency.

But if the thing is true, that show of virginity was not institute in the immature woman, then they shall bring out the immature adult female to the door of her father's house, andthe men of her city shall stone her to decease with stones, considering she haswashed an outrageous thing in State of israel by whoring in her begetter's firm.So you lot shall purge the evil from your midst. Deuteronomy 22:20-22 (NASB)

The first part of the passage is near premarital sex, and the last part of the passage is about adultery. In both situations the punishment of the guilty individuals was death. This eliminates sexual immorality as being the cause of the indecency. In the Jewish culture premarital sex was tantamount to marriage, which explains the accuse of infidelity. This passage helps us sympathise that the indecency cannot refer to some sexual sin. Instead, it refers to some unknown simply serious crime.

Earl S. Kalland makes this comment near the word indecency.

Something less than infidelity must be meant here, since the punishment for infidelity is death ([Deuteronomy] 22:22-27; Lev. 20:ten). Being guilty of "something indecent," nevertheless, is more than than trivial.[i]

It is of import to note that Moses' purpose was not to requite us a God-approved justification for divorce. His purpose was to requite us an analogy to assist us understand a biblical principle. Therefore, permit usa continue.

Second Married man Divorces Her or Dies

Next nosotros are told that she decided to marry another man. Moses does not command her to remarry. The purpose of this analogy is not to teach that she should remarry or not marry. The illustration just states that she marries some other man. But her new husband either 1) becomes unhappy with her for some reason and legally divorces her or ii) dies. Either by beingness divorced or her married man'south death, she is legally able to marry from a secular perspective.

Can the Wife Marry Her Former Husband Again?

Moses has created a hypothetical situation and is fix to teach the states a principle. Now he explains that her first husband cannot have her back. That is, he cannot remarry her. Why? The only reason given in Scripture that would foreclose her from remarrying her ex-spouse is that the showtime divorce was not for reasons of immorality. We say the first divorce was non a biblical divorce since neither the husband or the ex-married woman had the right to remarry.  The report Porneia Definition — What is the meaning of the Greek word porneia in the Bible? explains the various forms of sexual activities that are immoral. Consequently, since the offset divorce was not a biblical divorce, she committed adultery by marrying the second human being. Think that in Matthew 5:32 and 19:4-9, Jesus teaches that adultery occurs when a spouse divorces for whatsoever reason other than sexual immorality.

This is the correct interpretation since Moses says that "she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD." The first divorce was acceptable, but she did non have the right to remarry anyone. Both the adult female and her ex-spouse would have to remain single. But since she remarried, she committed infidelity and could not go back to the first spouse. Jeremiah 3:1 teaches u.s. that a spouse could not remarry their first spouse after marrying someone else.

Conclusion:

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is an important passage since many couples have divorced and then wanted to remarry. The principle that is taught in this passage is that the first couple can remarry only if both individuals remained unmarried since the divorce. The reason is that Deuteronomy describes an unbiblical divorce. For more information well-nigh the various conditions for biblical divorce and remarriage, please visit the study "Biblical Divorce and Remarriage."

References:

i.  Earl S. Kalland. Deuteronomy. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Zondervan Publishing. 1992. vol. 3. p. 145.

Suggested Links:

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Porneia Definition — What is the meaning of the Greek discussion porneia in the Bible?
Biblical Divorce and Remarriage
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