And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
A woman who sends away her living husband in order to be married to another man breaks the marriage bond and is guilty of adultery, so a separated wife is to stay unmarried or be reconciled unless death has ended the union. The wrong condemned is not the separation itself but entering a new marriage, and the same rule binds husband and wife alike under one law of faithfulness. Marriage is a union God joins as one flesh that no person is to break, and permission for divorce under Moses was granted because of hardness of heart and not as the original design, a lesson reinforced by the failures and sorrows of polygamy in the patriarchs and kings. The saying states the general rule while sexual unfaithfulness is the one cause that dissolves the bond, so an innocent wife legally freed by her husband's fornication may marry again without guilt, while those who held it strictly taught it allows no excuse for taking the place of another's spouse. It condemns divorce at pleasure or for trivial disagreement, and it sets a gospel law for the heart rather than a civil statute, calling believers to honor marriage as sacred and not to enter or bless remarriages formed in defiance of it.
Meaning of the Verse
A woman who puts away her husband and is married to another commits adultery while her husband is living. A separated wife is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and remarriage is permitted if the spouse has died. This agrees with the teaching that a wife remains bound to her husband while he lives and should not depart to marry another. The adultery lies in marrying another, not in the act of divorce itself, and the same standard applies equally to women and men. Wife and husband stand equal under God's law of marriage, and the seventh commandment binds both sexes alike.
Marriage is a bond God joins as one flesh that people must not break. Divorce was permitted under Moses because of hard hearts, not because it was the original plan. Together with the surrounding teaching, remarriage after divorce is presented as adultery, while Matthew's fuller statements supply the exception for fornication. There is also the teaching that there is no exception to this law.
The experiences of the patriarchs in polygamy and unfaithfulness happened as ensamples and were written for admonition to uphold the inviolable sanctity of the one-man and one-woman marriage relation. Abraham with Hagar, Jacob with his wives, David with his divided household, and Solomon with his colossal experiment serve as living chart lessons of the law of types and precedents pointing to that sanctity. The verse is among the teachings that present Jesus as a model of justice and respect for the rights of others.
Exception for Unfaithfulness
The statement gives the general rule that a woman who divorces her husband and marries another commits adultery, while the fuller statements in Matthew supply the specific exception. Fornication or sexual immorality is the one proper cause for divorce because it dissolves the marriage bond, so the statement does not deny remarriage when that exception applies. The innocent spouse when legally freed on that just cause may remarry, and by itself the statement does not cancel that permission for remarriage after divorce for just cause. The bond rests on God joining husband and wife as one flesh, and permission for divorce under Moses came because of hard hearts and not because it was the original plan.
It is also taught as a law with no exception that must not be broken by people. Neither a man nor a woman may build happiness by taking the place of a spouse in another person's marriage, and no excuse makes such a course other than contrary to God's law. In context the condemnation falls on divorce for trivial causes and at the mere pleasure of the party, a practice common among the Jews at that time and in later times. Ordinary disagreements are not grounds for divorce, and the marriage bond remains sacred and is not ended merely because spouses cannot live together. The one just cause of fornication given in Matthew stands excluded from that condemnation of divorce at pleasure.
When divorce rests on Scriptural grounds and the person remarrying is the innocent party, remarriage is permitted. When the husband has lost his moral right by fornication and the innocent wife is legally freed from him, she may marry again without committing adultery, and a man who is otherwise free and marries her does not commit adultery. The question has been raised in connection with this teaching whether a Christian whose marriage ended for reasons other than adultery may marry again, but this teaching does not answer that question.
Moral and Church Application
Mark 10:12 gives Christ's law on divorce for the individual soul in the light of primal law, not a change to any Jewish civil statute. In God's sight no one should put away a spouse and marry another except for fornication, for to do so is adultery under that divine standard. Heeding this instruction does not violate civil law, because Christ's teaching is addressed to converting and saving the heart, which civil law cannot do.
The verse is a gospel requirement relevant to receiving members into the church. It applies to people who separate and then live with someone else, that such relationships are not in harmony with God's law, and some cases are difficult to bring into harmony with the Bible. Ministers should not officiate at remarriages following unscriptural divorces, because marriage is not a temporary contract to be ended at either spouse's whim, passion, or will.
The New Testament law respecting divorce in Mark 10:2-12 sets an exalted ethical standard that forbids lax divorce and remarriage. Roman Catholic doctrine and practice respecting divorce keeps much closer to it than Protestant doctrine and practice has kept, to the shame of Protestant churches. Protestant churches ought to bring their practice nearer to that Scriptural standard rather than to a human standard, since failure to do so belittles the authority of Scripture and corrects the church by human ideas.
A woman who sends away her living husband in order to be married to another man breaks the marriage bond and is guilty of adultery, so a separated wife is to stay unmarried or be reconciled unless death has ended the union. The wrong condemned is not the separation itself but entering a new marriage, and the same rule binds husband and wife alike under one law of faithfulness. Marriage is a union God joins as one flesh that no person is to break, and permission for divorce under Moses was granted because of hardness of heart and not as the original design, a lesson reinforced by the failures and sorrows of polygamy in the patriarchs and kings. The saying states the general rule while sexual unfaithfulness is the one cause that dissolves the bond, so an innocent wife legally freed by her husband's fornication may marry again without guilt, while those who held it strictly taught it allows no excuse for taking the place of another's spouse. It condemns divorce at pleasure or for trivial disagreement, and it sets a gospel law for the heart rather than a civil statute, calling believers to honor marriage as sacred and not to enter or bless remarriages formed in defiance of it.
Meaning of the Verse
A woman who puts away her husband and is married to another commits adultery while her husband is living. A separated wife is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and remarriage is permitted if the spouse has died. This agrees with the teaching that a wife remains bound to her husband while he lives and should not depart to marry another. The adultery lies in marrying another, not in the act of divorce itself, and the same standard applies equally to women and men. Wife and husband stand equal under God's law of marriage, and the seventh commandment binds both sexes alike.
Marriage is a bond God joins as one flesh that people must not break. Divorce was permitted under Moses because of hard hearts, not because it was the original plan. Together with the surrounding teaching, remarriage after divorce is presented as adultery, while Matthew's fuller statements supply the exception for fornication. There is also the teaching that there is no exception to this law.
The experiences of the patriarchs in polygamy and unfaithfulness happened as ensamples and were written for admonition to uphold the inviolable sanctity of the one-man and one-woman marriage relation. Abraham with Hagar, Jacob with his wives, David with his divided household, and Solomon with his colossal experiment serve as living chart lessons of the law of types and precedents pointing to that sanctity. The verse is among the teachings that present Jesus as a model of justice and respect for the rights of others.
Exception for Unfaithfulness
The statement gives the general rule that a woman who divorces her husband and marries another commits adultery, while the fuller statements in Matthew supply the specific exception. Fornication or sexual immorality is the one proper cause for divorce because it dissolves the marriage bond, so the statement does not deny remarriage when that exception applies. The innocent spouse when legally freed on that just cause may remarry, and by itself the statement does not cancel that permission for remarriage after divorce for just cause. The bond rests on God joining husband and wife as one flesh, and permission for divorce under Moses came because of hard hearts and not because it was the original plan.
It is also taught as a law with no exception that must not be broken by people. Neither a man nor a woman may build happiness by taking the place of a spouse in another person's marriage, and no excuse makes such a course other than contrary to God's law. In context the condemnation falls on divorce for trivial causes and at the mere pleasure of the party, a practice common among the Jews at that time and in later times. Ordinary disagreements are not grounds for divorce, and the marriage bond remains sacred and is not ended merely because spouses cannot live together. The one just cause of fornication given in Matthew stands excluded from that condemnation of divorce at pleasure.
When divorce rests on Scriptural grounds and the person remarrying is the innocent party, remarriage is permitted. When the husband has lost his moral right by fornication and the innocent wife is legally freed from him, she may marry again without committing adultery, and a man who is otherwise free and marries her does not commit adultery. The question has been raised in connection with this teaching whether a Christian whose marriage ended for reasons other than adultery may marry again, but this teaching does not answer that question.
Moral and Church Application
Mark 10:12 gives Christ's law on divorce for the individual soul in the light of primal law, not a change to any Jewish civil statute. In God's sight no one should put away a spouse and marry another except for fornication, for to do so is adultery under that divine standard. Heeding this instruction does not violate civil law, because Christ's teaching is addressed to converting and saving the heart, which civil law cannot do.
The verse is a gospel requirement relevant to receiving members into the church. It applies to people who separate and then live with someone else, that such relationships are not in harmony with God's law, and some cases are difficult to bring into harmony with the Bible. Ministers should not officiate at remarriages following unscriptural divorces, because marriage is not a temporary contract to be ended at either spouse's whim, passion, or will.
The New Testament law respecting divorce in Mark 10:2-12 sets an exalted ethical standard that forbids lax divorce and remarriage. Roman Catholic doctrine and practice respecting divorce keeps much closer to it than Protestant doctrine and practice has kept, to the shame of Protestant churches. Protestant churches ought to bring their practice nearer to that Scriptural standard rather than to a human standard, since failure to do so belittles the authority of Scripture and corrects the church by human ideas.