According to the Law - could a woman remarry?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

trofimus

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2015
10,684
794
113
#21
If anybody has some answer to my questions, please, do it. Try to ignore those who are going with their agenda of "such questions must not be asked".
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#22
But Jesus defies these expectations in at least four ways, which have implications for us.

Jesus Speaks With Women in Public
First, Jesus refuses to treat women as inferior. Given the decidedly negative cultural view of women in Jesus’ time, the Gospel writers each testify to Jesus’ treating women with respect, frequently responding in ways that reject cultural norms. He recognizes their dignity, their desires and their gifts.

Jesus, for example, speaks to women in public. He steps forward in a crowd of mourners to speak with the widow at Nain, and to call her son back to life (Luke 7:11-17).

He cures a woman who had been crippled for 18 years, laying hands on her in the Temple and saying, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity” (Luke 13:12). When the leader of the synagogue becomes indignant that Jesus has healed a woman on the Sabbath, Jesus uses a title of particular dignity for her, “daughter of Abraham” (Luke 13:16).

While the expression “son of Abraham” was often used to indicate that a male Jew was recognized as bound by covenant to God, women had never been called “daughters of Abraham.” With this title, Jesus recognizes this woman as having equal worth. In John 4:4-42, Jesus ignores two codes of behavior. He initiates a conversation with a foreigner, a Samaritan. In addition, this foreigner is also a woman. Her surprise is included in the narrative: “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (John 4:9).

Jesus not only speaks with her but also enters into a prolonged dialogue, a dialogue which recognizes and honors her thirst for religious truth. Ultimately, he reveals his identity as the Messiah. When his disciples return, they are clearly uneasy with Jesus’ behavior. John includes the questions they are afraid to verbalize: “What are you looking for? Why are you talking with her?” (John 4:27).​
The Gospel writer does not hesitate to conclude the story with a comment that, although in Jewish thought a woman’s testimony was not trustworthy, here the Samaritan woman’s excited words are heard and acted upon. “Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified” on his behalf (John 4:39).

same source
 

Jewel5712

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2018
4,091
2,271
113
#23
It states in the Bible that its the MEN that will be held accountable to God for thier wives and families just as God called ADAM out after sinning and not EVE...and still..to this day..men try to avoide taking responsibility..

So..even if a woman divorces her husband it will be HIM that is held accountable for His wife and kids..HE should be the spiritual leader of his family..
@7seasrekeyed ..DISREGARD..old covenant..my bad!
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#24
If anybody has some answer to my questions, please, do it. Try to ignore those who are going with their agenda.
speaking of agendas, here is God's agenda

28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

women AND men, are no longer under OT law

the law was only a SHADOW of the real thing

the REAL, is salvation through Jesus Christ and belief that He died on YOUR behalf and you are now made righteous IN Him and your sins are forgiven

we should rejoice in God and spread the GOOD NEWS of the gospel and not this constant drumming of the law which is past and particularly trying to tell women they are not equal to God

this is not the gospel. it is law and it is not salvation

the OT should be studied and it is the foundation for the NT..but it should be understood that the law, given to the JEWS is not and has never been, the standard for Gentile believers

Paul got VERY angry when he saw how certain men were teaching that Gentile believers had to be circumcised and it seems we still have to deal with this type of thing in this day and age

there is salvation ONLY by faith. no law! no works!

it is ALL the work of Christ and He completed that work and satisfied the punishment for OUR sins

and while we should know the law, we should appreciate it through the lens of the NT for the NT IS the actual fulfillment of what went before, but we do not put ourselves back under law
 

Jewel5712

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2018
4,091
2,271
113
#25
you may find it interesting to note that much of what the Jewish religious teachers of the law taught by Jesus time, was NEVER sanctioned by God

Jesus attitude towards women was 'groundbreaking' in the sense that He actually treated them like human beings

here is a sample of the way women were treated back in the day by these 'religious god-fearing' unloving men

Women’s Place: In the Home
Jewish culture in the first century was decidedly patriarchal. The daily prayers of Jewish men included this prayer of thanksgiving: “Praised be God that he has not created me a woman.”

A woman’s place was thought to be in the home. Women were responsible for bearing the children, rearing them and maintaining a hospitable home. Men were not to greet women in public. Some Jewish writers of Jesus’ time, such as Philo, taught that women should never leave the home except to go to the synagogue.

Generally marrying young, a woman was almost always under the protection and authority of a man: her father, her husband or a male relative of her husband if she was a widow.

This left women in a very vulnerable position within Judaism. They had little access to property or inheritance, except through a male relative. Any money a woman earned belonged to her husband. Men could legally divorce a woman for almost any reason, simply by handing her a writ of divorce. A woman, however, could not divorce her husband.

In the area of religious practice, women were in many ways overlooked. Men were required to pray certain prayers daily, but women were not. While the study of Scripture was regarded as extremely important for men, women were not allowed to study the sacred texts. Rabbi Eliezer, a first-century teacher, is noted for saying, “Rather should the word of the Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman.”​
At the Temple in Jerusalem, women were restricted to an outer court. In synagogues they were separated from the men and not permitted to read aloud. They were not allowed to bear witness in a religious court.

source
Yes.. Knew some of that..i had to disregard my previous post to you..
 

Jewel5712

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2018
4,091
2,271
113
#26
If anybody has some answer to my questions, please, do it. Try to ignore those who are going with their agenda of "such questions must not be asked".
Lol..you still havent answered MY initial question..lol in post #6
 

Jewel5712

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2018
4,091
2,271
113
#27
If you need to know about it being according to the law, read and understand the law. Most folks who talk about the law in this forum have never read it nor studied it, but they all are authorities on the law......
Aparently..but my question is still to him..why WORRY about the law since we no longer live under it? Im still waiting on his answer...
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#29
Aparently..but my question is still to him..why WORRY about the law since we no longer live under it? Im still waiting on his answer...

my theory on why some people constantly want to go back to law, and this would include back in the day, is because they believe it gives them 'authority'

however, the Bible says that ALL authority has been given to Christ Jesus

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18

so we need to remember that and worship Him and not the law which represents death

however, we should study and know the OT as a foundation for the new. but not in the sense of trying to operate grace through the law because they are not compatible

one, the law, has been done away with and the other is nothing we can earn

as Christians, the law written on our hearts is there by the Spirit of God and we follow it in the sense it has been satisfied through Christ and through no efforts of our own
 

Jewel5712

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2018
4,091
2,271
113
#30
my theory on why some people constantly want to go back to law, and this would include back in the day, is because they believe it gives them 'authority'

however, the Bible says that ALL authority has been given to Christ Jesus

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18

so we need to remember that and worship Him and not the law which represents death
AMEN...i couldnt figure out why people insist on living under the law and not under God but still say thier a christian? Doesnt that contradict each other?
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,196
6,509
113
#31
A study of Psalm 119 would be helpful for any who doubt the wisdom and teachings contained in the law.

The constnt references to "your Word" should awaken all to Jesus Christ's constant mention throughout this Psalm.

I know most of the law is no longer viable as any being able to keep it since most of it deals with the Temple, Sacrifice, the Levititcal Priests etc.......but the laws that compose love will always be valid ad viable for they make up what should be Love. Jesus teaches us this, this is why He teaches the law is not destroyed rather it is fulfilled by Him.

We must all learn from Jesus Christ........do not teach against the least of the laws which compose andmake up love.....those laws are yet to be observed under grace and mercy, however it is automatic for the believer in the Holy Spirit.

As a new person would you steal? Kill? Disrespect your parents? Worship any other god, they are all false? Move your neighbor's land mark in order to benefit your possessions? Keep you enemy's belongins should you come across them and know they are his?

The laws that always will be in effect are natural to any in Jesus christ, but are they to be forgotten? Tell the One Who teaches they are not.... That would not be wise.

We are not saved by obeying the laws; WE ARE SAVED BY REPENTENCE FROM THIS WORLD, THE CREATION, IN FAVOR OF THE cREATOR AND THE kINGDOM. Never fear the wisdom of the law,. It is the wisdom of our Maker.
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#32
AMEN...i couldnt figure out why people insist on living under the law and not under God but still say thier a christian? Doesnt that contradict each other?
right

OT law puts women in a very vulnerable place...at the mercy of men so to speak

NT fulfillment of the law through Christ elevates women to one in Christ with all who believe in Him

as far as divorce goes, women could remarry in the OT, but not, as has been pointed out, to the man who divorced them in the first place

but carrying that into our life in Christ is not applicable ( Christian men cannot divorce their wives at their whim) and as the op title is 'According to the law, could a woman remarry', seems legit in and of itself, but if we read down the page, it seems there is another question at the heart of this

the op goes on to say:

Why is she called after the second marriage to be "defiled"?

Why is Paul saying that she is bound to her husband till he dies?

And does this apply also today?
so I have been very busy answering the question of 'does it apply today' . we have to seek our answers in the NT and not the law given to the Jews thousands of years ago

God says He hates divorce and that has not changed and Jesus address that when He speaks to the Pharisees

1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’a 5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’b ? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” Matthew 19

but even the above from Matthew 19 is not all that the NT contains on marriage because Paul writes about marriage and likens it to the church and Christ (church being believers) and calls it a mystery

marriage is a covenant and and like any covenant it can be broken with consequences. Jesus indicates a person is free to remary if their spouse committed adultery...but even so it is better to reconcile and turn from sin, however if a person continues in that sin, the other is free and not committing adultery if they choose to remarry.

some believe that a marriage covenant is also broken if a man or woman is abusive and departs from the vows they took in that way. I am not suggesting that, but I guess people can make up their own minds when considering that
 

BenFTW

Senior Member
Oct 7, 2012
4,834
981
113
33
#33
I think that while we are not under the Law of Moses, we ought to be careful with diminishing the lessons found therein on righteousness and holiness (all scripture is given by inspiration of God...for instruction in righteousness). Consider that people were getting rid of, throwing away, the wife of their youth. Why? For the next young thang, or woman they found attractive. It was lust that led to adultery, breaking their covenant with their wife and God.

As 7seasrekeyed mentions, many of the principles of marriage (and divorce) are rehashed in the NT (meaning they are still applicable). Under Moses authority he allowed men to divorce, or put away, their wives. Jesus says this was because of the hardness of their hearts, but, basically, that it shouldn't be so. They are one flesh, in a covenant, and are to be faithful to another. The freedom to remarry being death or a valid divorce (sexual immorality).
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
24,167
12,764
113
#34
She couldn't remarry her first husband is the way I am reading it. Not that she couldn't remarry at all, because how could she have gotten a second husband in the first place? I would assume the certificate was so that she could marry another person? The issue seems to be going back to the person she divorced (after having relations with another man).
Correct. How in the world could anyone misunderstand that?
 

trofimus

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2015
10,684
794
113
#35
I think that while we are not under the Law of Moses, we ought to be careful with diminishing the lessons found therein on righteousness and holiness (all scripture is given by inspiration of God...for instruction in righteousness). Consider that people were getting rid of, throwing away, the wife of their youth. Why? For the next young thang, or woman they found attractive. It was lust that led to adultery, breaking their covenant with their wife and God.

As 7seasrekeyed mentions, many of the principles of marriage (and divorce) are rehashed in the NT (meaning they are still applicable). Under Moses authority he allowed men to divorce, or put away, their wives. Jesus says this was because of the hardness of their hearts, but, basically, that it shouldn't be so. They are one flesh, in a covenant, and are to be faithful to another. The freedom to remarry being death or a valid divorce (sexual immorality).
Of course NT is much strict in this area than the OT. The NT does not allow what the OT allowed.

My question was about the OT, I want to understand how it worked. Your explanation that such a woman was defiled for her previous husbands only makes sense.

On the other hand, Paul is saying in Romans that what the law says about woman being bound to her husband till he dies is still applicable today. So not everything the Law says is put away and we should be careful while reading the Bible, these questions are serious and matter in our daily life.
 
R

Ralph-

Guest
#36
why WORRY about the law since we no longer live under it?
Because it's a picture of Christ and the Church.


This left women in a very vulnerable position within Judaism. They had little access to property or inheritance, except through a male relative.

source
Jesus is the male relative through whom we the church have access to the inheritance.
 

Jewel5712

Well-known member
Jun 22, 2018
4,091
2,271
113
#37
I think that while we are not under the Law of Moses, we ought to be careful with diminishing the lessons found therein on righteousness and holiness (all scripture is given by inspiration of God...for instruction in righteousness). Consider that people were getting rid of, throwing away, the wife of their youth. Why? For the next young thang, or woman they found attractive. It was lust that led to adultery, breaking their covenant with their wife and God.

As 7seasrekeyed mentions, many of the principles of marriage (and divorce) are rehashed in the NT (meaning they are still applicable). Under Moses authority he allowed men to divorce, or put away, their wives. Jesus says this was because of the hardness of their hearts, but, basically, that it shouldn't be so. They are one flesh, in a covenant, and are to be faithful to another. The freedom to remarry being death or a valid divorce (sexual immorality).
Yeah..i think ive posted scripture before about disregarding the OT law all ohrther...no..we stil can incorporate the OT to law in our lives but are not BOUND by it..Jesus fufilled that law..HE became the "new law"
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,196
6,509
113
#38
Jesus Christ has fulfilled all of the laws concerning a king of Israel, and He is King forever.

Some of you do not know this for when you hear or read it the veil of Moses is yet blinding you.

He fulfills all of the Levitical laws of priesthood and so do we........again, you probably cannot see this through that vei.
Jesus is the Head and the Corner stone of the Temple and we are living Stones of the Temple to be reassembled by Him when He returns. This is understood by understanding th laws He has fulfilled concerning the Temple and the Sacrifice for Sin........no more animal sacrivies.........right that veil again.

One of the saddest attacks against those who believe Jesus when He teaches that He does noty destroy the law is that if we obey we must obey all 613 laws........this is pathetic when understanding what Jesus has fulfilled and yet is fulfilling.

Another pathetic attack is that if we obey the laws even as taught by Jesus Christ we are not under grace and we do not have mercy........yes, that veil is on many who claim to be in Yeshua.......they are not, or they are temporarily deceived.
Those who believe Jesus learn frim Him, not from people who are are afraid to understand the law under grace.


Those with the veil think the law was destroyed on the cross when it says clearly it is the curse of the law that is destroyed on the cross.......that curse is death. It is death to not obey God..........His laws, when understood and seen without the veil of Moses is wisdom and understanding.

Try reading Psalm 119 and each time you see the words "His Word" put the SAvior's name there. He and his Word are One.
 
R

Ralph-

Guest
#39
What was the certificate of divorce for, then, if no woman could remarry after she was divorced?
I see it as a lawful declaration of detachment from her husband. That's the significant part of what we're talking about here--the fact that the woman according to the law is no longer bound to her husband.

God divorced his people, the Israelites, because of their uncleanness, and by law they aren't allowed to be joined to God again:

"1“If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—
would you now return to me?”-Jeremiah 3:1


The law is the barrier between fallen man and God. It is the legal pronouncement of the distance unclean sinners must keep from God. But God, through Christ, has overcome that legislated distance between us and God.

God's intent is that we all see we don't really want to relate to God through law because if we do that means we are obligated by that law to be cutoff from him, not brought near to him. Not because there's something wrong with the law but because we are sinners.
 
K

Karraster

Guest
#40
Could a woman in the OT Law remarry, i.e. to marry another man after she was divorced?

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD.
Dt 24:1

For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.
So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

R 7:2

What was the certificate of divorce for, then, if no woman could remarry after she was divorced?
Good topic. Nice change from the usual stuff around here.

This may answer your question, at least I was perplexed by not being able to find what Paul says in the Old testiment about the widow being free to marry. There is no Torah law allowing a widow to remarry quite the contrary it says that is forbidden. Only in the case of Leverite marraige is she allowed to marry her dead husband's brother if she has had no son. The purpose is to continue the blood line.

I suspect Paul is talking about Jewish law (Romans 7:1-3) as his example when trying to get his point across. Jewish law or Halacha (mishnah) says:

When a Jewish woman is widowed she may remarry and it's not considered adultery. A woman is acquired in marraige in 3 ways, she acquires her freedom in 2-divorce or by her husbands death. As for divorce it is well since it is written "then he shall write for her a bill of divorcement" but whence do we know she is freed by he husband's death? It is logic. He, the husband, bound her hence he frees her...divorce completely frees her....death completely frees her...

It's important to realize what laws Paul is speaking of. He is Pharisee. He throws a bit of rabbinic law in the mix as examples. When his audience is knowledgeable about law that is. Important to know who his audience is.