He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery against her.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.
- KJV And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
- BSB So He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.
- NKJV So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
- NASB And He *said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. Jesus upholds the sanctity and permanence of the marriage covenant.
Overview
Jesus applies the creation principle to remarriage after divorce, calling it adultery and notably as a wrong done against the wife, elevating her dignity. Mark's account does not mention the exception found in Matthew, and faithful Christians weigh these passages together. The thrust is a strong defense of marital faithfulness against casual divorce.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 5:31–32“It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’
- 1 Cor 7:10–11But to the married I command — not I, but the Lord — that the wife not leave her husband
- Rom 7:3So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
- Matt 19:9I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”
- Luke 16:18Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
- 1 Cor 7:4The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife.
- Heb 13:4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 10:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.