But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts.
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.
- BSB But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart.
- 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.
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 19:8He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Neh 9:16–17“But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments,
- Heb 3:7–10Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,
- Neh 9:26“Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.
- Deut 9:6Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people.
- Deut 31:27For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. How much more after my death?
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 10:5 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
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.