Is it permitted to marry a woman who was a prostitute before becoming a Christian?

Question:

If an immoral or prostitute woman returns from her path and repents, I know that God forgives her, but then can she marry? Or should she remain unmarried? Would anyone marry such a woman, even though she has given up adultery? Is it dangerous for a man to marry a woman who does not even know how many men she had sexual relations with, even if she has been born again?

Yes, it is permitted for such a woman to marry, in the same manner as other people are allowed. The Bible tells about a woman who had been a prostitute until she believed in God, but then she became a heroine of faith and was recorded in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

The story of Rahab the harlot

In the book of Joshua we are told the following case:

Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly fromShittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho ” So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. It was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. “It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. “Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. She said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” The men said to her, “We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household. It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.” She said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. They departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had sought them all along the road, but had not found them. Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, “Surely the LORD has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.” (Joshua 2:1-24)(NASB)

After a while the Israelites went to conquer the city of Jericho. Before they attacked …

At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city. “The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.” So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city. They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword. Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel. (Joshua 6:16-23)(NASB)

Joshua could have let Rahab with her father’s whole family go wherever they wanted, or he could have chased her. However, her faith and conversion was highly appreciated. Therefore …

Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Joshua 6:25)(NASB)

Rahab is also mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus presented in the New Testament.

Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. (Matthew 1:5)(NASB)

Here we find out that Salmon married her and she gave birth to Boaz. Faith in God brought a great transformation in this woman’s life. God gave her a family, a future, glory and a great name in Israel and worldwide.

Praise God who can take people out of the mire of sin, make them holy and settle them in glory.

About the danger of marrying a woman who was a prostitute before becoming a Christian

I assume you are referring to the danger of infecting with sexually transmitted diseases. Yes, this danger exists, but both a woman and a man who had sex before marriage and conversion, just because they think at the good of their future husband or wife and their relationship, they will go to pass the necessary examination and apply the necessary treatment if they carry on a sexually transmitted disease, and if it is an incurable one, like AIDS, precisely because they love their neighbor they will choose to serve God and others without getting married.

Translated by Felicia Rotaru