Mat 5:31 "It was also said, 'IF ANY MAN PUTS AWAY HIS WIFE, LET HIM GIVE HER A WRITTEN NOTICE OF DIVORCE.'
Mat 5:32 But I tell you that every man who puts away his wife except on the ground of unfaithfulness causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries her when so divorced commits adultery.
We have been looking at adultery and the elevation of morals from mere actions to the lustful thoughts of men. Now Jesus adds Divorce to the mix.
The OT giving of a divorce certificate.
Mat 5:31 "It was also said, 'IF ANY MAN PUTS AWAY HIS WIFE, LET HIM GIVE HER A WRITTEN NOTICE OF DIVORCE.'
Whosoever shall put away his wife. The divorce laws were very lax among the Jews. A man could put away his wife "for any cause" (Mat_19:3)
.Moses directed a legal letter of divorcement (Deu_24:1). Christ positively forbids divorce except for unchastity. Marriage is a divine institution, and the obligation is for life (Mat_19:3-9; Rom_7:1-3; 1Co_7:10-17).PNT
Barnes says That is, by Moses, Deu_24:1-2. The husband was directed, if he put his wife away, to give her a bill of divorce, that is a certificate of the fact she had been his wife, and that he had dissolved the marriage. There was considerable difference of opinion among the Jews for what causes the husband was permitted to do this. One of their famous schools maintained that it might be done for any cause, however trivial. The other maintained that adultery only could justify it. The truth was, however, that the husband exercised this right at pleasure; that he was judge in the case, and dismissed his wife when and for what cause he chose. And this seems to be agreeable to the law in Deuteronomy
Our Saviour in Mar_10:1-12, says that this was permitted on account of the hardness of their hearts, but that in the beginning it was not so. God made a single pair, and ordained marriage for life. Barnes
Mat 5:32 But I tell you that every man who puts away his wife except on the ground of unfaithfulness causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries her when so divorced commits adultery.
Notes:
But I tell you: Moses may have permitted the putting away of ones wife for any cause but I tell you, as the Divine Son of God, that the only ground for divorce was Unfaithfulness or un Chastity. Not incompatibility, nor boredom, nor whatever else that is permitted these days was allowable. Marriage was a lifelong commitment.
except on the ground of unfaithfulness
UNFAITHFULNESS. harlotry ABP translation; Λογου πορνειας, on account of whoredom A.C..
G4202 πορνεία porneia Thayer Definition:
1) illicit sexual intercourse
1a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
1b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
1c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mar_10:11,Mar_10:12
2) metaphorically the worship of idols
2a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols
Part of Speech: noun feminine
Adam Clark comments “ A real Christian ought rather to beg of God the grace to bear patiently and quietly the imperfections of his wife, than to think of the means of being parted from her. “But divorce was allowed by Moses;” yes, for the hardness of their hearts it was permitted: but what was permitted to an uncircumcised heart among the Jews, should not serve for a rule to a heart in which the love of God has been shed abroad by the Holy Spirit. Those who form a matrimonial connection in the fear and love of God, and under his direction, will never need a divorce.”
causes her to commit adultery
then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again;GNB
causeth her to commit adultery; that is, as much as in him lies: should she commit it, he is the cause of it, by exposing her, through a rejection of her, to the sinful embraces of others; and, indeed, should she marry another man, whilst he is alive, which her divorce allows her to do, she must be guilty of adultery; since she is his proper wife, the bond of marriage not being dissolved by such a divorce: and
whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery; because the divorced woman he marries, and takes to his bed; is legally the wife of another man; and it may be added, from Mat_19:9 that her husband, who has put her away, upon any other account than fornication, should he marry another woman, would be guilty of the same crime. John Gill
A study of Matthew 19:3-11
Mat 19:3 Then came some of the Pharisees to Him to put Him to the proof by the question, "Has a man a right to divorce his wife whenever he chooses?"
Mat 19:4 "Have you not read," He replied, "that He who made them 'MADE THEM' from the beginning 'MALE AND FEMALE,
Mat 19:5 AND SAID, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BE ONE'?
Mat 19:6 Thus they are no longer two, but 'one'! What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Mat 19:7 "Why then," said they, "did Moses command the husband to give her 'a written notice of divorce,' and so put her away?"
Mat 19:8 "Moses," He replied, "in consideration of the hardness of your nature permitted you to put away your wives, but it has not been so from the beginning.
Mat 19:9 And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except her unfaithfulness, and marries another woman, commits adultery."
Mat 19:10 "If this is the case with a man in relation to his wife," said the disciples to Him, "it is better not to marry."
Mat 19:11 "It is not every man," He replied, "who can receive this teaching, but only those on whom the grace has been bestowed.
Comments verse by verse
Mat 19:3 Then came some of the Pharisees to Him to put Him to the proof by the question, "Has a man a right to divorce his wife whenever he chooses?"
Notes
to put Him to the proof by the question -Tempting him - to get him, if possible, to express an opinion that should involve him in difficulty.Barnes
Trying what answer he would give to a question, which, however decided by him, would expose him to censure.A.C.
Mat 19:4 "Have you not read," He replied, "that He who made them 'MADE THEM' from the beginning 'MALE AND FEMALE,
Notes:
And he answered and said ... - Instead of referring to the opinions of either party, Jesus called their attention to the original design of marriage, to the authority of Moses an authority acknowledged by them both.
Have ye not read? - Gen_1:27; Gen_2:21-22. “And said, For this cause,” etc., Gen_2:24. That is, God, at the beginning, made but one man and one woman: their posterity should learn that the original intention of marriage was that a man should have but one wife.
Mat 19:5 AND SAID, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BE ONE'?
Mat 19:6 Thus they are no longer two, but 'one'! What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Notes:
FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER
Marriage is a Leaving officially of parents, leaving parents behind, a forsaking. The filial relationship changes completely when a couple marry. It is no longer Father/Mother/and son or daughter, but husband and wife. This is a completely new unit or union. The marriages where either member continues to hold to their parents will eventually lead to trouble and interference.
BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE
united G4347 προσκολλάω proskollaō
Thayer Definition: 1) to glue upon, glue to 2) to join one’s self to closely, cleave to, stick to
And shall cleave unto his wife - The word “cleave” denotes a union of the firmest kind. It is in the original taken from gluing, and means so firmly to adhere together that nothing can separate them.
And THE TWO SHALL BE ONE'
And they twain shall be one flesh? - Not only meaning, that they should be considered as one body, but also as two souls in one body, with a complete union of interests, and an indissoluble partnership of life and fortune, comfort and support, desires and inclinations, joys and sorrows. Farther, it appears to me, that the words in Gen_2:24, לבסר אחד lebasar achad, for one flesh, which our Lord literally translates, mean also, that children, compounded as it were of both, should be the product of the matrimonial connection. Thus, they two (man and woman) shall be for the producing of one flesh, the very same kind of human creature with themselves. See the note on Gen_2:24. A.C.
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