Deuteronomy 24:4 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: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 24:4 nkjv
then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after 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 is giving you as an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 24:4 niv
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. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 24:4 esv
then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 24:4 nlt
the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the LORD. You must not bring guilt upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession.
Deuteronomy 24 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jer 3:1 | “If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return... | Direct reference to Dt 24:4 for Israel's unfaithfulness. |
| Dt 24:1-3 | When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because... | Preceding laws on divorce and certificate. |
| Mt 5:31-32 | "It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But... | Jesus' teaching on divorce, except for sexual immorality. |
| Mt 19:3-9 | And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce... | Jesus reaffirms marriage as permanent, except in specific cases. |
| Mk 10:2-12 | And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce... | Similar to Matthew, Jesus highlights permanence. |
| Lk 16:18 | “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman... | Adultery in remarriage without valid grounds. |
| 1 Cor 7:10-16 | To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate... | Pauline instruction on marriage, divorce, and remaining unmarried. |
| Lev 18:25 | And the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. | Land defiled by sexual sins and uncleanness. |
| Lev 18:28 | lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation... | Consequences of defiling the land through unrighteous acts. |
| Lev 20:22-23 | “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where... | Link between obedience to law and remaining in the land. |
| Num 35:33-34 | You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement... | Land pollution from specific transgressions. |
| Jer 2:7 | And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But... | Israel defiled God's land with their abominations. |
| Ezek 36:17-18 | “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways... | Israel's defilement of the land due to their conduct. |
| Ps 106:38 | They poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to... | Land polluted by the shedding of innocent blood. |
| Dt 18:9-12 | “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow... | Listing various abominable practices of the nations. |
| Prov 6:16-19 | There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty... | Examples of moral abominations to God. |
| Mal 2:13-16 | And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping... | God hates divorce, seen as treachery. |
| Hos 1:2 | When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself... | Metaphor of Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness as a harlot. |
| Jer 3:6-9 | The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what faithless Israel... | Israel as an unfaithful wife defiling the land. |
| Ezek 16:26-32 | You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh, and increased... | Jerusalem's spiritual prostitution and unfaithfulness. |
| Jas 4:4 | You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore... | Spiritual adultery applied to worldly alliance. |
Deuteronomy 24 verses
Deuteronomy 24 4 Meaning
Deuteronomy 24:4 prohibits a man from remarrying his divorced wife if, subsequent to their divorce, she has married another man and that second marriage has ended, whether through death or divorce. Such a reunion with her first husband would constitute a state of "defilement" and is considered an "abomination" before the LORD, threatening to bring sin upon the land that God has given to Israel as an inheritance. This law establishes a strict boundary around remarriage, emphasizing the unique and sacred nature of the marital bond and its spiritual implications for the nation.
Deuteronomy 24 4 Context
Deuteronomy 24 is part of a series of specific statutes given to Israel by Moses before their entry into the Promised Land. This chapter addresses various aspects of civil and domestic life, emphasizing justice, compassion, and moral purity within the covenant community. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 deals with the intricacies of divorce and remarriage. Verses 1-3 describe the process by which a man could divorce his wife and the allowance for her to remarry another. Verse 4 then places a crucial restriction: if a woman, having been divorced by her first husband, subsequently marries another man, and that second marriage also ends (whether through death or divorce), her first husband is explicitly forbidden from remarrying her. This law serves to highlight the seriousness of divorce and to maintain the integrity and purity of familial and land relationships within the Israelite community, preventing a kind of rotational marriage or exploitation.
Deuteronomy 24 4 Word analysis
- her former husband (Hebrew: ba'alah harishon): Literally means "her first owner" or "her first master." This emphasizes the husband's position of legal and protective authority within marriage in that ancient Near Eastern context. It highlights the prior covenantal relationship that existed.
- who sent her away (Hebrew: shillchah): Derived from the verb "to send" or "to dismiss," specifically used for formal divorce proceedings. It indicates a legal act of dissolution of the marriage, marked by the giving of a bill of divorce (as per Dt 24:1).
- may not take her again (Hebrew: lo yukal laqachat otah shuv): A strong, unequivocal prohibition. "Take" (laqachat) refers to the act of marriage. The phrase explicitly forbids the first husband from re-establishing the marital bond after the intervening marriage.
- after she has been defiled (Hebrew: acharei asher nitma'ah): The crucial term here is nitma'ah, meaning "to be made unclean" or "to be polluted." This "defilement" refers to her state resulting from sexual intimacy in her second marriage. It's not a moral judgment on her as a person but a ritual and legal impurity that breaks her connection to the first husband in an irreparable way. Her new physical and legal bond with another man makes her fundamentally changed for the initial husband in the eyes of God's law.
- for that is an abomination (Hebrew: ki to'evah hi'): To'evah is a powerful Hebrew word denoting something deeply offensive, repugnant, or detestable to God, often associated with practices that violate core divine standards (e.g., idolatry, certain sexual sins, unjust weights). Here, it elevates this specific marital reversal beyond mere unlawfulness to a severe breach of covenant righteousness and sacred order.
- before the LORD (Hebrew: lifnei Yahweh): Emphasizes that this act is not just a civil transgression but a direct offense against God himself, who is the ultimate Lawgiver and arbiter of purity.
- And you shall not bring sin upon the land (Hebrew: w'lo tachati'u et ha'aretz): Tachati'u (cause to sin) refers to incurring guilt or bringing judgment. The act of marrying the defiled woman back leads to the community sharing in this "sin," which defiles the very land given to Israel. This demonstrates the profound interconnectedness between the people's actions, their relationship with God, and the sanctity of the Promised Land.
- that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance: Reinforces that the land is a divine gift, implying a responsibility to keep it holy and undefiled by upholding God's laws, lest the land "vomit out" its inhabitants (Lev 18:25).
Words-group Analysis
- "her former husband... take her again... after she has been defiled": This sequence underscores the finality imposed by a subsequent marriage after divorce. Once the "defilement" occurs (through union with another man), the original bond is not merely dissolved but made impossible to restore by law, creating a spiritual barrier.
- "for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land": These phrases constitute the severe consequence clause. The action is not merely "unlawful" but actively hateful to God, carrying collective repercussions. It reveals that violations of family integrity and purity rituals directly affect the well-being and holiness of the entire nation and the land itself.
Deuteronomy 24 4 Bonus section
- Prevention of "Revolving Door" Marriages: Some scholars suggest this law aimed to prevent a situation where a man might repeatedly divorce and remarry the same woman after she had relationships with other men, thereby potentially abusing the divorce law, ensuring a sense of finality for divorce (in specific cases), or exploiting the wife.
- Metaphorical Significance in Prophecy: This specific law becomes a potent theological metaphor in the Old Testament, most notably in Jeremiah 3:1-8. Here, Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness, likened to a wife going after other gods (idolatry), makes her "defiled" and seemingly unable to return to the LORD in the same way a physical wife cannot return to her first husband after "defilement" through another marriage. However, God, in His mercy, still calls Israel to return (Jer 3:12-14), indicating a greater grace in the divine-human covenant than in the Mosaic marital law.
- Legal Purity vs. Moral Fault: It is crucial to note that the "defilement" (nitma'ah) here is a legal and ritual impurity imposed by God's law regarding marriage, not an inherent moral flaw of the woman that makes her eternally despicable. It is the specific act of the first husband taking her back after her union with another that is the "abomination."
- Context in broader Levitical laws: The concept of defiling the land through various abominable practices is consistent with priestly legal concerns found throughout Leviticus (e.g., Lev 18:25-28). The moral and ritual purity of the land, being God's dwelling place with His people, was paramount.
Deuteronomy 24 4 Commentary
Deuteronomy 24:4 articulates a prohibition that profoundly reflects God's view of covenant relationships and holiness. It reinforces the sanctity and seriousness of marriage as an enduring bond. While divorce was permitted due to the hardness of hearts (Mt 19:8), God establishes boundaries on remarriage, particularly when an intervening marriage has occurred. The term "defiled" highlights a ritual and legal change in the woman's status concerning her first husband, not a permanent moral stain on her character. Her intimacy with another man in a marital covenant rendered her unfit to return to the original marital covenant with the first husband, a status defined by God's own purity standards. The classification of such a remarriage as an "abomination before the LORD" and a source of "sin upon the land" reveals its gravity. This teaches that even legally permissible acts (the first divorce, the second marriage) can create an irreparable breach if certain steps are taken. It underlines God's desire for purity within families and for the corporate life of Israel, connecting private actions directly to public welfare and the spiritual health of the land, an inheritance from God that must remain holy. This law likely served to deter casual divorce, protect women from being endlessly cycled through marriages, and establish clarity in lineage and marital relationships within the community.