If a Wife Was a Divorcee and Lied to a Brother About It and They Wedded, Is That Marriage Binding on the Brother?
Direct Answer
No—if her first husband was still living when they wed, that union is not a marriage before God and is not binding on the brother. If her former husband had already died, then she was free to marry and the marriage is binding despite her lie.
Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible says a wife is “bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth,” and is loosed only by death (Romans 7:2–3; 1 Corinthians 7:39).
- Jesus said, “Whosoever shall marry her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery” (Luke 16:18; see also Mark 10:11–12). So a civil divorce does not dissolve the first covenant while the spouse lives.
- The “exception” of Matthew 19:9 concerns fornication discovered before the marriage covenant (as with Joseph and Mary, Matthew 1:18–20), not a license to dissolve a true marriage and remarry.
- Fraud or lying does not create or dissolve a marriage. The only decisive question is whether a prior, living covenant still bound her (Romans 7:2–3).
Simple Clarifying Logic
- If her former husband was alive, she was still bound to him; therefore the later wedding did not form a lawful marriage. That means:
- The union should be treated as invalid from the start (annulment).
- The brother is not bound and must cease the conjugal relationship.
- After separation and repentance, he is free to marry “only in the Lord,” because no true marriage ever existed.
- If her former husband had died before this wedding, she was free to marry; the present marriage is valid and lifelong. The lie was sin and must be confessed, but it does not dissolve a valid covenant.
Apply the steps
- Was it valid from inception? Only if the former husband was already dead.
- Does it remain binding? Yes, if valid; no, if invalid.
- Separation permitted? Required if invalid; not permitted if valid (though temporary separation without remarriage can occur for grave necessity, 1 Corinthians 7:10–11).
- Annulment? Yes, if a prior living spouse still bound her; no, if she was a widow.
- Remarriage? The brother may marry in the Lord if annulment applies; if the marriage is valid, neither party may remarry while both live (Romans 7:2–3).
One clear conclusion
- If her first husband is alive, the “marriage” is not binding and should be treated as no marriage at all.
- If her first husband is dead, the marriage is binding for life.
If you can confirm whether her former husband is living, I can state the final binding status immediately.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Questions and Answers
62-0527 §18
You can't make it contradict itself. So just read the verses before and after, and you'll catch them what he's talking about. Now, this means here, not ... see: "Does this mean a sister or a brother is free to remarry?" No, sir. See, he explained that first. See: ... unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: ... [See?] There's no such things as any believer ever being reconciled to...
Fellowship
47-1100X §1
At this time we're going to have a trumpet solo by my good friend, Brother F. F. Bosworth: Brother Bosworth. [Brother Bosworth gives a solo] My, that was very fine, Brother Bosworth. We certainly appreciated that. And I wonder, while you're kind of tuning up there, if we could have a little chorus of "Down At The Cross." It's kind of a favorite to me. I wonder if you would play it. All right, Brother Bosworth. [Brother Bosworth plays "Down At The Cross."] My, that sound like old revival times, a long time ago. Say,...
Marriage and Divorce
65-0221M §73
You notice, Abimelech would have took her for a wife. He fixed hisself to have this new Hebrew girl. And he said, "This is my..." she said, "That's my brother." He said, "That's my sister." And Abimelech said, "I'll just take her for a wife then." Could you imagine a man doing a thing like that? But he did it. And then that night while he went to sleep, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Abimelech, you're as good as a dead man." He was protecting that stream of Jewish blood there, you see. He said, "You...
A True Sign that's overlooked
61-1112 §26
Jesus told the Pharisees one time concerning the resurrection... They said, "We had a... The law says that if a brother dies and leaves a wife with no children to him, that his brother is to take that wife and raise up children to the dead." And said, "We had one that had seven brothers. And the first one took a wife, and he died leaving no seed. And then his brother took her, and then he died, and on to the seventh one. And finally the woman died." Said, "Now, in the resurrection," said, "now whose wife will she b...
Marriage and Divorce
65-0221M §77
See, she's got a living husband, so no man can marry her. Care what she does and who she is, she's got a living husband. There's no grounds for her at all. But it's not for him; because it's her, not him. Get it? You have to make the Word run in continuity. See? Nothing saying he couldn't, but she can't. See? Causes her, not him. That's just exactly what the Bible says. "Causes her..." It is not stated against him to remarry, but her! Why? Christ in the type. Notice, it is stated that he cannot remarry, only a virg...