Bible Question:

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

Bible Answer:

Deuteronomy 24:1-iv is near divorce and remarriage. The passage tells us that a man or woman cannot render to a one-time spouse and marry him or her if the quondam spouse had afterwards married another person. Here is the passage,

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts information technology in her manus and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another homo'due southmarried woman , and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his married woman, and then her quondam hubby who sent her abroad is not allowed to take her over again to exist his married woman, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives yous as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (NASB)

Does the Bible Say I Can Remarry My Ex-Spouse

Beginning Husband Divorces His Wife

God gave the Israelites this instruction through the prophet Moses. In this passage, Moses gave the Israelites an illustration and and then ended with a biblical principle. The analogy helps us empathize the principle. Moses starts by painting the picture of a husband divorcing his wife for some reason. Moses does not clearly explain the reason for the divorce apparently because his purpose was not to provide a list of God-approved reasons for divorce. Information technology 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 because nosotros have hard hearts. The just reason that Moses gives us for the divorce is that the husband establish some "indecency." The Hebrew discussion for indecency is עֶרְוָה or erwa. The general consensus of Bible translators is that the meaning of the discussion is unknown since they translate the words as "something wrong," "something indecent," "something offensive," "something improper" and "some indecency."

However, it should be noted that the word normally refers to nakedness or genitals. Out of the 54 times the discussion appears in the Old Attestation, information technology occurs 32 times in Leviticus 18. Since Leviticus 18 is predominately about sexual sins, this would propose that the indecency is related to some sexual issue. In Matthew v:32 and 19:4-nine, Jesus teaches us that divorce is permitted for porneia or diverse sexual sins. This would seem to suggest that the indecency was some grade of sexual immorality.

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

But if the affair is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, and so they shall bring out the young adult female to the door of her male parent'south business firm, andthe men of her urban center shall stone her to death with stones, because she hasdone an outrageous affair in State of israel by whoring in her begetter's firm.So y'all shall purge the evil from your midst. Deuteronomy 22:20-22 (NASB)

The first part of the passage is about premarital sex, and the terminal part of the passage is most infidelity. In both situations the penalization of the guilty individuals was death. This eliminates sexual immorality equally being the crusade of the indecency. In the Jewish civilisation premarital sex was tantamount to wedlock, which explains the charge of adultery. This passage helps us understand that the indecency cannot refer to some sexual sin. Instead, it refers to some unknown only serious offense.

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

Something less than adultery must exist meant hither, since the punishment for adultery is death ([Deuteronomy] 22:22-27; Lev. xx:10). Beingness guilty of "something indecent," all the same, is more than trivial.[1]

It is important to note that Moses' purpose was not to give u.s. a God-canonical justification for divorce. His purpose was to give usa an illustration to help us understand a biblical principle. Therefore, allow united states continue.

Second Husband Divorces Her or Dies

Next we are told that she decided to marry another man. Moses does not control her to remarry. The purpose of this analogy is not to teach that she should remarry or not ally. The illustration simply 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 2) dies. Either by existence divorced or her husband's death, she is legally able to marry from a secular perspective.

Can the Married woman Marry Her Former Husband Again?

Moses has created a hypothetical state of affairs and is ready to teach united states a principle. Now he explains that her beginning hubby cannot take her back. That is, he cannot remarry her. Why? The only reason given in Scripture that would preclude her from remarrying her ex-spouse is that the offset divorce was not for reasons of immorality. We say the start divorce was not a biblical divorce since neither the husband or the ex-wife had the right to remarry.  The study Porneia Definition — What is the pregnant of the Greek discussion porneia in the Bible? explains the various forms of sexual activities that are immoral. Consequently, since the first divorce was not a biblical divorce, she committed adultery by marrying the second man. Retrieve that in Matthew 5:32 and 19:4-9, Jesus teaches that infidelity occurs when a spouse divorces for any 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, merely she did not have the right to remarry anyone. Both the woman and her ex-spouse would have to remain single. Only since she remarried, she committed infidelity and could not go dorsum to the beginning spouse. Jeremiah iii:1 teaches us that a spouse could non remarry their first spouse after marrying someone else.

Conclusion:

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is an of import passage since many couples have divorced and then wanted to remarry. The principle that is taught in this passage is that the start couple can remarry simply if both individuals remained unmarried since the divorce. The reason is that Deuteronomy describes an unbiblical divorce. For more than information about the diverse conditions for biblical divorce and remarriage, delight visit the study "Biblical Divorce and Remarriage."

References:

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

Suggested Links:

Can I ally my first husband again with God'due south blessing?
Porneia Definition — What is the pregnant of the Greek give-and-take porneia in the Bible?
Biblical Divorce and Remarriage
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Should I divorce my 2nd spouse to stop my adultery?
Can someone be guilty of infidelity if divorced confronting their volition?
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