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One could write 100,000 words in an effort to FORCE the Greek word "apoluo" to mean divorce, as God defined it (Deut. 24:1, 2; Jer. 3:8), and quote from others who push the same false narrative, but it would all be in vain. This is because "apoluo" (used about 67 times in the New Testament, which also defines the word) is not divorce, but only PART of it.
Consider this: If someone hands another person a steering wheel and says, "Here, take my car and go on vacation to wherever you like," who in their right mind would not understand that they were not given a car, but only part of one, and that they were going nowhere using that part? Well, God defined divorce to include a "writ of divorcement," which was followed by sending away or putting "out of the house" (Deut. 24:1, 2). Thus, if a man merely sent away, or "put away" (which is the same as the Greek "apoluo"), he did not do what God said to do to end the marriage. Therefore, according to Jesus, under the Law of Moses any woman who was not given the certificate, though APOLUOed (put away), would commit adultery if she were to take up with another man. This is not because she was divorced but because she was NOT divorced. This makes perfect sense because it is the truth.
Unfortunately, many are zealously pushing the idea that Jesus said a "divorced" person (not just a woman) would commit adultery if he/she marries. It matters not to these defenders of human tradition that they have Jesus speaking contrary to God’s law, which makes Him appear to be a sinner. They are so determined to defend their position that they make absurd arguments like: 1) "The divorce law was Moses' law, not God's law"; 2) Jesus' teaching was not contrary to Moses' Law because it applied only after his death; 3) "The woman divorced is still married to her husband"; and 4) "Jesus said Moses suffered 'putting away' because of hardness of heart, but from the beginning it was not so," as if this proves Jesus contradicted Moses and made a new law.
The above four comments (and others) are addressed on my website and/or in my free book, Put Away But Not Divorced.
The fact that "apoluo" does not mean divorce, as God defined it, is devastating to the doctrine that breaks up marriages and imposes celibacy ("forbidding to marry," 1 Tim. 4:1-3). Although this false teaching is being exposed on a broad scale, it is still being taught by many preachers who are more concerned with maintaining tradition and keeping their job and status, than with truth and the souls over which they have influence.
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