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.
The Queen of Sheba
60-0401E §1
[Pastor introduces Brother Lamsa.] ... he speaks the language and can read the language and read the original documents in which the New Testament was written. So with him, it is so wonderful that he can read directly from the original script the very words that Jesus and the disciples spoke and wrote. He felt that these translations that we have are not always correct and true. And that's where the criticism comes in, because he criticizes the King James version, and some people think that St. Paul preached from t...
Revelation, Chapter 5, part 2
61-0618 §28
[Brother Ben Bryant says, "Brother Branham, excuse me just a minute, please?"] Yes, brother. ["I wasn't here last Sunday, and I had got wind of what you was speaking about a few months ago. And I was really disturbed about it, quite a bit, and I felt to come and tell you about it and tell Brother Neville. But I felt also that you'd knowed the wife and I made it a matter of prayer. And this morning when I came in the Tabernacle, I didn't know what had taken place, and one of the precious brothers came to me this mor...
Joseph meeting his brethren
56-1230 §76
Now, while we bow our heads to the Lord Jesus. It's been a great jubilee, a great feast, a Pentecostal feast on the Word, and the things of God, on His Holy Spirit. We want to pray God's blessings upon our missionary brethren, who are going into the field now, and God speed them right straight. We give you a promise. We'll be praying for you, brother and sister, their wives, or loved ones. Think what them women are going through with. I know by my own wife. To the pastors, or Brother Jackson, and I guess Brother Be...
Expectation
54-1206 §30
She said, "That's right." She said, "But I can't tell him." Said, "I've got three children, Brother Branham. It'd break my home up." She said, "My husband's a deacon down there in the church." And said, "If I'd ever tell him that," said, "it'd break our home up." I said, "Well, there..." She said, "Well, that isn't what's bothering me." I said, "Oh, yes, it is. It's way back in that subconscious there, still cut a streak." I said, "There's where it's at, right there. That's right." And she said, "Well, I ... I just...
Marriage and Divorce
65-0221M §31
Jesus, in our text, invites us to go back to the beginning for the true scriptural answer. Now, when He was confronted with this, there was two things in view. The priest said to Him, "Can a man put away his wife, marry another for any cause?" And Jesus said, "It wasn't so from the beginning." Then they said, "Moses suffered us a writing of divorcement," and to put her away for anything they wanted to. He said that Moses did that because ... (let that straight a while) ... because of the hardness of your hearts, bu...