Can a man remarry his ex-wife if she got married after their divorce and then divorced her 2nd husband after him?

Answer From The Annual Reading Schedule - Week 47 Notes For Deuteronomy: No. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 discusses the case of a man divorcing a wife and then her remarrying and becoming defiled. The fact that she became defiled shows that divorce and remarriage was never Yahweh's will because if it was then nothing would cause her to become defiled by doing it. A woman is bound to her husband until he dies – period (Jeremiah 3:1, Romans 7:1-3, 1 Corinthians 7:39). However, before Yahushua came, it was not absolutely clear that remarriage while the former husband was alive was actually a form of adultery. I say, a "form" adultery, because Yahweh did not make it punishable by death before Yahushua came for a woman to remarry after her husband divorced her, but we learn from Yahushua that it is, in fact, adultery (which means it obviously is not Yahweh's will). However, the other form of adultery was already known as adultery, and was punishable by death.

With the teachings of Yahushua, we now know that remarriage after divorce for a woman is adultery too. However, I believe she is bound to stay in that second marriage, even though it was adultery, because it's a marriage covenant. Two wrongs don't make a right. It was wrong to violate the first covenant, and if she violates the second marriage covenant, I think that's probably just as wrong also.

We also see in Joshua 9 they were bound to stay in a forbidden covenant which further supports that you cannot always get out of an agreement, even if that agreement was originally forbidden and wrong to get into; depending on what that agreement is and what was said, etc.. However, once a divorce happens and a remarriage happens, that bars the woman from ever returning to her first husband ever again. I also believe she can't marry a third husband unless both the first and second die and she has no former living husbands and is considered an official "widow" and not a divorced woman. The teachings of Yahushua make it clear that any woman who has been put away – a divorced woman – who remarries is committing adultery. Once all former husbands die, a woman is no longer a "divorced woman", but a "widow" instead. Widows can remarry, of course. But with any former husbands alive, a woman is a divorced woman still and not yet in a full, definite, widow status which permits remarriage.

Some people refer to 1 Corinthians 7:15 and think that not being in bondage means you can remarry if the spouse was an unbeliever. All that not being under bondage may mean is you're not bound to chase down an unbelieving spouse to live in a non-peaceful home with a non-believing spouse who leaves you and fulfill marital duties once they voluntarily leave. Not being bound to be stuck living every day with them does not necessarily mean you can remarry. He concludes 1 Corinthians 7 by saying the wife is bound as long as the husband lives. There is simply not enough evidence to prove he meant a woman can definitely remarry.

Besides, that would also contradict Yahushua's teachings and require a more detailed explanation. How can you separate what Elohiym has joined together? And if you weren't joined by Elohiym, then why try to save the marriage to begin with if it's not really a marriage? He first recommends you try to save the marriage in verse 12 and 13. That, to me, shows it is a real marriage joined by Elohiym. There are too many contradictions and unanswered questions with these doctrines that teach you can divorce due to someone being an unbeliever – based on only one verse in 1 Corinthians 7 which is not absolutely clear to mean remarriage is permissible, and you are left contradicting Yahushua's words in my understanding as well. I have tons of questions I could ask someone which I don't think anyone can sufficiently answer, and tons of points I could bring up.

There are other details and scenarios for marriage that are important and I have not covered every aspect and angle and situation in detail, because the focus on this is only discussing a woman in a limited situation similar to Deuteronomy 24. These comments are not exhaustive of the marriage topic and don't address every situation. Don't use these limited commentary notes as though they can answer all your questions because they weren't written to be used that way.

As a side note: The KJV says in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 12, "But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away." The phrase at the end, "let him not put her away", is an incorrect translation.

The last 9 Greek words in both the Nestle-Aland Greek and the Textus Receptus Greek show:

With Strong's numbers this is:

In English, with Strong's numbers, the literal translation is:

Regarding the KJV translation of, "and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away", here are two comments:

a) The word, "him", is only there once in the Greek, not twice. The KJV added it a second time.
b) The word "leave" from G863 is not the same word used referring to a divorce situation in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

A better translation of the end of this verse is, "and she approves to dwell with him, don't leave her". It is not necessarily discussing divorce or remarriage in this verse, only leaving which results in separation. The KJV is incorrect for phrasing as a divorce scenario and adding the word "him" a second time.

1 Corinthians 7:13 is similar and ends with simply "don't leave the man/husband".

Back to the Deuteronomy 24:1-4 discussion: Someone might try to argue that if the woman initiated the divorce that would possibly make a difference since, in Deuteronomy 24, the situation is the man divorcing the woman, not the woman divorcing the man against his desires. Someone could try to argue that the man never approved of her leaving, so he has a right to take her back. However, I would now cautiously disagree with someone trying to argue those points. Even if it was a situation where the woman initiated the divorce against the man's will, remarried, and then the second husband died, I consider that too risky and possibly considered an abomination still in Yahweh's eyes if she went back to the first husband even though the circumstances would be slightly different than Deuteronomy 24.

Regardless of who did the divorce, I would say once she remarries, to be cautious and certain a great sin doesn't happen, even if she had divorced him against his will, I would still say she's barred permanently from returning to the first husband. If we say she could just because the circumstances are slightly different and we're wrong, that would be a great sin. So it's safer to say no, don't do that, even if the circumstances aren't 100% identical to the Deuteronomy 24 situation. Anytime there is a divorce and remarriage, she should never go back to the first husband ever again.

However, what if the wife was taken away from the 1st husband against his desires and he never actually divorced her and she never actually divorced him? Could he take her back then? It seems possible according to 2 Samuel 3:13-16 since there wasn't actually any divorce recorded in that case. He never approved of her leaving to begin with. The Scriptures in 2 Samuel don't make it clear there even was a divorce for certain, so it's possible no divorce ever happened at all and the second "husband" could have been an outright adulterous relationship, not a real marriage perhaps.