But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.
- KJV And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
- NKJV And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
- NASB But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.
- NLT But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts.
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 says Moses gave that command because of their hardness of heart. The divorce provision was a concession to human sin, not God's design.
Overview
Jesus interprets Deuteronomy's regulation as accommodating the reality of sinful, stubborn hearts, limiting harm rather than endorsing divorce. This distinguishes what God permits in a fallen world from what he originally intended. It models a careful reading of Scripture that weighs the purpose behind a command.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 19:8Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning.
- Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Neh 9:16–17But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
- Heb 3:7–10Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,
- Neh 9:26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Deut 9:6Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
- Deut 31:27For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!
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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 10:5 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
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