“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’
Parallel translations
- WEB “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’
- KJV It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
- 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’;
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 3:1“They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says Yahweh.
- Deut 24:1–4When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
- Matt 19:7They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of divorce, and divorce her?”
- Matt 19:3Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
- Mark 10:2–9Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.