And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered, “What did Moses command you?”
- BSB “What did Moses command you?” He replied.
- NKJV And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
- NASB And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
- NLT Jesus answered them with a question: “What did Moses say in the law about divorce?”
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
Jesus responds with a question about what Moses commanded. He directs them back to Scripture as the authority on marriage.
Overview
Rather than answering directly, Jesus invites the Pharisees to state the biblical basis they have in mind. This grounds the debate in God's revealed word rather than in human opinion. It also exposes that they appeal to a concession in the law while neglecting God's deeper intent in creation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
- Gal 4:21Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
- John 5:39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
- Luke 10:25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
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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 10:3 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.