The OT law forbade intermarriage with people who worshipped idols because it threatened the covenant relationship with God and his people. Marriage with close relations was also forbidden. Remarriage is permissible following the death of a spouse and, in certain circumstances, following divorce.
Intermarriage with foreigners
Examples of marriages to foreigners
Genesis 38:2, Genesis 41:45; Exodus 2:21; Leviticus 24:10; Ruth 1:4; 1 Chronicles 2:34–35; Ezra 10:18–44
Warnings against marrying foreigners
Exodus 34:16 See also Deuteronomy 7:3–4; Joshua 23:12–13
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
Intermarriage with foreigners led to idolatry
Judges 3:5–6; 1 Kings 11:1–8 Royal marriages to foreigners brought disastrous consequences. See also 1 Kings 16:31; Malachi 2:11EZR Malachi 9:1–2, Ezra 9:14, Ezra 10:1–2; Nehemiah 13:23–27
Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh — women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines — and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely. At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
Parents sought to avoid their children marrying foreigners
Nehemiah 10:30 See also Genesis 24:3–4 Abraham seeks a bride for Isaac from among his own people.Genesis 26:34–35, Genesis 27:46 Genesis 28:1–2 Isaac forbids Jacob to marry a Canaanite woman; Judges 14:3 Samson's parents encourage him to marry an Israelite.
We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.
Marriage to foreigners may be permissible
Ruth 4:13 Boaz' marriage to Ruth the Moabitess was acceptable because Ruth embraced the Israelite faith. Restrictions were on the grounds of religion not of race.
Foreign wives were put aside after the exile
Ezra 10:3 See also Ezra 10:10–17
So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.
Marriages between Christians and unbelievers
Christians should not marry unbelievers
1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Corinthians 6:14
Christians should not leave an unbelieving spouse
Restrictions on marriage to close relatives
Sexual relations with close relatives is forbidden
Leviticus 18:6–18 See also Leviticus 20:11–12, Leviticus 20:14, Leviticus 20:19–21; Deuteronomy 22:30; Ezekiel 22:10–11; Matthew 14:3–4 parallel Mark 6:17–18
Examples of marriage to close relatives
Genesis 20:12 Abraham was married to his half-sister; 2 Samuel 13:13 Tamar suggests marriage with her half-brother, Amnon.
Levirate marriage
The levirate law was instituted to preserve the dead father's name
Deuteronomy 25:5–10; Ruth 4:10 Levirate marriage refers to the legal obligation of a brother-in-law to produce heirs for his dead brother by marrying his widow. When there was no brother-in-law responsibility fell to a near relative, also described as a “kinsman-redeemer”. See also Genesis 38:8, Genesis 38:11; Ruth 1:11–13, Ruth 3:9, Ruth 4:5; Matthew 22:24–26 parallels Mark 12:19–22, Luke 20:28–31
When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her. The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.” Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,” his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.” And his family name in Israel will be called “The House of the Unsandaled.”
Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
Unwillingness to fulfil the levirate law
Genesis 38:9, Genesis 38:14, Genesis 38:26; Ruth 4:6
Regulations governing seduction and rape
Exodus 22:16; Deuteronomy 22:28–29
Remarriage
Widows are free to remarry
Romans 7:2–3 See also Ruth 1:9; 1 Corinthians 7:8–9; 1 Timothy 5:14
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
Remarriage after divorce may be adultery
Luke 16:18 parallels Matthew 19:9, Mark 10:11–12 See also 1 Corinthians 7:10–11
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Remarriage after divorce permissible in certain circumstances
Deuteronomy 24:1–4; Matthew 5:32; 1 Corinthians 7:15, 1 Corinthians 7:27–28
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.