It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Parallel translations
- WEB “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’
- BSB It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’
- NKJV “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
- NASB “Now it was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away is to give her a certificate of divorce’;
- NLT “You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of 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 cites the practice of giving a certificate of divorce. It sets up His correction of a lax view of divorce.
Overview
Referring to Deuteronomy 24, Jesus notes how the certificate of divorce had been treated as easy permission to dismiss a wife. He prepares to recover God's high view of marriage against casual divorce. As elsewhere, He interprets the Law according to its true intent.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Jer 3:1They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
- Deut 24:1–4When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
- Matt 19:7They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
- Matt 19:3The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
- Mark 10:2–9And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 5:31 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.