What does the Bible say about remarriage after divorce?
Retrieved texts include Luke 16:18, Matthew 19:9, Mark 10:11, Matthew 5:32.
The texts do not directly address broader modern formulations; NO DIRECT REFERENCE IN SOURCE TEXTS and INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE apply beyond retrieved passages.
THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
1. QUESTION
What does the Bible say about remarriage after divorce?
2. PRIMARY TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
The retrieved texts present the following direct statements on remarriage after divorce:
Jesus' Teaching in the Synoptic Gospels:
"Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." — Luke 16:18 (KJV)
"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." — Matthew 19:9 (KJV)
"But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." — Matthew 5:32 (KJV)
"Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her." — Mark 10:11 (KJV)
"And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." — Mark 10:12 (KJV)
Old Testament Background:
"When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement..." — Deuteronomy 24:1 (KJV)
"Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD..." — Deuteronomy 24:4 (KJV)
"If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted?" — Jeremiah 3:1 (KJV)
2. LINGUISTIC/HISTORICAL DATA
Based strictly on the texts provided:
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"Fornication" (Greek: πορνεία / porneia): The Matthean texts include an exception clause using this term. The provided texts do not define its precise semantic range.
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"Put away" (Greek: ἀπολύω / apolyō): This term appears consistently across the Synoptic passages for divorce.
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Mosaic regulation (Deuteronomy 24:1-4): The text permits divorce with a written document but explicitly prohibits a man from remarrying his former wife after she has married another—calling this "abomination."
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Mark 10:12: Notably addresses a woman divorcing her husband, which may reflect Roman legal contexts where women could initiate divorce.
3. SCHOLARLY POSITIONS (as suggested by textual variation)
The retrieved texts themselves reveal an interpretive tension:
| Position | Textual Basis | |----------|---------------| | Absolute prohibition | Mark 10:11-12 and Luke 16:18 contain no exception clause; remarriage after divorce constitutes adultery. | | Exception for sexual immorality | Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 include "except for fornication" / "saving for the cause of fornication," suggesting one ground may permit remarriage. | | Mosaic permission with restriction | Deuteronomy 24:1-4 permitted divorce and implicitly remarriage to another, but prohibited return to the original spouse. |
The texts do not resolve whether the Matthean exception permits remarriage or only divorce.
4. SOURCES
- Luke 16:18 (KJV)
- Matthew 19:9 (KJV)
- Matthew 5:32 (KJV)
- Mark 10:11 (KJV)
- Mark 10:12 (KJV)
- Deuteronomy 24:1 (KJV)
- Deuteronomy 24:4 (KJV)
- Jeremiah 3:1 (
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE: retrieved texts do not resolve this question explicitly.