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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 5:31 - 5:32
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_5:31-32
31"It was said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce';32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
Mat_5:31 "sends his wife away" Mat_5:27-32 and Mat_19:3-12 deal with the same issue. Be careful not to read your preconceived cultural notions into these passages! In context, Jesus was showing the ways that one commits adultery other than those taught by the Scribes: (1) mental lust and (2) putting away one's spouse except for sexual unfaithfulness (cf. Deu_24:1). Jesus shows Himself to be Scripture's proper interpreter (i.e., Mat_5:17-19; Mat_5:21-48).
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV "a certificate of divorce"
TEV "notice of divorce"
NJB "a writ of dismissal"
This is a quote from Deu_24:1-4. Moses did this to protect the wife who had no rights or resources at all in that day and culture. Remarriage was assumed. However, Jesus asserted that was a concession to their fallenness, not God's ideal. Divorce is not the unpardonable sin, but it is a failure which affects societal stability.
Mat_5:32
NASB, NRSV "except for the reason of unchastity"
NKJV "for any reason except sexual immorality"
TEV "she has not been unfaithful"
NJB "except for the cause of an illicit marriage"
This "exception clause" is unique to Matthew's Gospel. Probably because it related to Jewish views of inheritance rights given by God which Gentiles would not comprehend.
"Unchastity" is the term porneia, as in Mat_5:27. This referred to any kind of sexual misconduct. This was often interpreted as "fornication" or " unfaithfulness." There were two rabbinical schools of interpretation: (1) Shammai, who allowed divorce for inappropriate sexual activity only (" some indecency," Deu_24:1) and (2) Hillel, who allowed divorce for any reason (i.e., " she finds no favor in his eyes," Deu_24:1). Divorce had become a major problem within Judaism. Some scholars see this term related not to sexual intercourse, but to incest (cf. Leviticus 18; 1Co_5:1). Still others think it relates to the issue of virginity discussed in Deu_22:13-21. In the OT adultery affected family inheritance, which was sacred and given by God (Joshua 12-24). The "Year of Jubilee" is an illustration of this concern.
▣ "makes her commit adultery" This is an aorist passive infinitive. The passive voice is crucial in a proper interpretation of "causes her to commit adultery." The very act of divorcing a wife caused the woman to be stigmatized by the community as an adulteress whether or not she was guilty. The one remarrying her also became stigmatized. This is not a dogmatic statement referring to remarriage as being adultery (cf. A. T. Robertson in his Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 1 p. 155).
It needs to be stated that this difficult subject of divorce must be dealt with in context. Here it is a message to disciples while in Mat_19:1-9 and Mar_10:2-12 the setting is Pharisaic trick questions. We must guard against forming our theology on divorce by merging these contexts and claiming to have Jesus' neutral theological views on the subject.