and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
Parallel translations
- WEB When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
- KJV And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.
- BSB If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife,
- NKJV when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
- NLT When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Once divorced and sent away, the woman was free to remarry another man. The certificate legally released her to a new household.
Overview
This continues the case law begun in verse 1, recognizing the divorced woman's freedom to marry again. The provision aimed to give her dignity and security rather than leaving her bound or destitute. It sets up the specific prohibition that follows in verse 4, showing the law's careful concern for marriage's seriousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mark 10:11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.
- 1 Cor 7:15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
- Lev 22:13But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s bread: but no stranger shall eat any of it.
- Lev 21:7“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. They shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.
- Lev 21:14A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife.
- Num 30:9“But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul, shall stand against her.
- Matt 5:32but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
- Ezek 44:22Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 24:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.