It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
The verse repeats the old rule that a man who sends away his wife must give her a formal written certificate of divorce. Christ takes it up to condemn the custom then current of putting wives away for trivial and minor offenses. He hedges marriage about with strict limits, allowing no separation between husband and wife except for adultery, fornication, or unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. Apart from that cause, a husband who puts away his wife causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery, and a legal divorce by the laws of the land is not divorce in the sight of God. Obedience rests on the heart, requiring staying true as steel to the marriage vow by resisting unfaithfulness in thought, word, and deed and by cherishing one's own wife.
Context and Wording
The verse repeats the old rule that a husband who sends away his wife is to give her a formal written certificate of divorce. Its opening “it hath been said” reflects the continually repeated sayings of the rabbinical schools of that day. That method of piling up human sayings fills the mind with unstable words of men and corrupts it.
Such inherited instruction is not exalted wisdom and must not be accepted as exalted wisdom when the greater and certain wisdom of Christ is available. His teaching must therefore be learned from Scripture rather than taken uncritically from what has been said by men. The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, spoken especially to the disciples while the assembled multitude also heard it. That sermon set forth the principles of the kingdom of divine grace rather than promising earthly freedom and restored national glory.
In that sermon Christ defines God’s law and restores its far-reaching claims to their proper light, beyond cold rules and human traditions. He presents it as the enduring standard of righteousness and the pure standard of Christian conduct. He explains its full spiritual reach, showing that it requires perfect obedience and condemns every evil action, as He also exemplified in His sinless life.
Divorce Limited to Unfaithfulness
Jesus in this saying condemns the custom then existing of putting away a wife for trivial or minor offenses and rejecting divorce for such reasons. That lax holding of the marriage relation, putting away a wife for minor offenses to allow her to marry again, brought great wretchedness and misery as well as crime and sin. He strikes at its primary cause by condemning the unholy passions and lust that find the marriage institution a barrier to gratification.
He hedges the marriage relation about with judicial restrictions and strict limits, binding husband to wife by the law of God. There can be no legal separation between husband and wife save for the cause of adultery, fornication, or unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. Except for that cause, a husband who puts away his wife causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
A legal divorce by the laws of the land is not divorce in the sight of God and according to the higher law. Although a court may grant it, the man and woman are still husband and wife in Bible light. Only adultery, the one sin of unfaithfulness, can free husband or wife from the marriage vow in God's sight. A woman divorced for any other cause has no right to marry another man, but if she obtains a legal divorce on the ground of her husband's adultery she is free to marry whom she chooses.
Faithfulness in Heart and Life
Obedience to what is taught here depends on having the spirit of the law in the heart, for it belongs to the Sermon on the Mount that sets forth the far-reaching principles of the law of God. The state of the heart regulates life and character, so instructing converts in the claims of the law requires impressing these far-reaching principles upon them, and without this the labor for them is lost.
The saying about putting away a wife by a written certificate is answered by binding husband to wife by the law of God, allowing divorce only for fornication, so that other putting away causes adultery and marrying the divorced woman is adultery. Therefore faithfulness means staying true as steel to marriage vows and resisting unfaithfulness in thought, word, and deed. This requires not giving first place in affection to another woman, not entertaining sentimentalism or lust in mind or heart, and not treating impurity lightly, but respecting, cherishing, and loving one's own wife as the mother of one's children.
As one of the clear and definite expressions of Christ's will in Matthew 5, this teaching is to be often dwelt upon so that divine virtues are brought into life. So dwelling holds high the standard without spot or wrinkle and breaks up words that separate friends in the church. Its lessons, as part of the Sermon on the Mount, are to be lived out as well as taught, since embodying them gives them a deeper and more lasting influence on others.
The verse repeats the old rule that a man who sends away his wife must give her a formal written certificate of divorce. Christ takes it up to condemn the custom then current of putting wives away for trivial and minor offenses. He hedges marriage about with strict limits, allowing no separation between husband and wife except for adultery, fornication, or unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. Apart from that cause, a husband who puts away his wife causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery, and a legal divorce by the laws of the land is not divorce in the sight of God. Obedience rests on the heart, requiring staying true as steel to the marriage vow by resisting unfaithfulness in thought, word, and deed and by cherishing one's own wife.
Context and Wording
The verse repeats the old rule that a husband who sends away his wife is to give her a formal written certificate of divorce. Its opening “it hath been said” reflects the continually repeated sayings of the rabbinical schools of that day. That method of piling up human sayings fills the mind with unstable words of men and corrupts it.
Such inherited instruction is not exalted wisdom and must not be accepted as exalted wisdom when the greater and certain wisdom of Christ is available. His teaching must therefore be learned from Scripture rather than taken uncritically from what has been said by men. The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, spoken especially to the disciples while the assembled multitude also heard it. That sermon set forth the principles of the kingdom of divine grace rather than promising earthly freedom and restored national glory.
In that sermon Christ defines God’s law and restores its far-reaching claims to their proper light, beyond cold rules and human traditions. He presents it as the enduring standard of righteousness and the pure standard of Christian conduct. He explains its full spiritual reach, showing that it requires perfect obedience and condemns every evil action, as He also exemplified in His sinless life.
Divorce Limited to Unfaithfulness
Jesus in this saying condemns the custom then existing of putting away a wife for trivial or minor offenses and rejecting divorce for such reasons. That lax holding of the marriage relation, putting away a wife for minor offenses to allow her to marry again, brought great wretchedness and misery as well as crime and sin. He strikes at its primary cause by condemning the unholy passions and lust that find the marriage institution a barrier to gratification.
He hedges the marriage relation about with judicial restrictions and strict limits, binding husband to wife by the law of God. There can be no legal separation between husband and wife save for the cause of adultery, fornication, or unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. Except for that cause, a husband who puts away his wife causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
A legal divorce by the laws of the land is not divorce in the sight of God and according to the higher law. Although a court may grant it, the man and woman are still husband and wife in Bible light. Only adultery, the one sin of unfaithfulness, can free husband or wife from the marriage vow in God's sight. A woman divorced for any other cause has no right to marry another man, but if she obtains a legal divorce on the ground of her husband's adultery she is free to marry whom she chooses.
Faithfulness in Heart and Life
Obedience to what is taught here depends on having the spirit of the law in the heart, for it belongs to the Sermon on the Mount that sets forth the far-reaching principles of the law of God. The state of the heart regulates life and character, so instructing converts in the claims of the law requires impressing these far-reaching principles upon them, and without this the labor for them is lost.
The saying about putting away a wife by a written certificate is answered by binding husband to wife by the law of God, allowing divorce only for fornication, so that other putting away causes adultery and marrying the divorced woman is adultery. Therefore faithfulness means staying true as steel to marriage vows and resisting unfaithfulness in thought, word, and deed. This requires not giving first place in affection to another woman, not entertaining sentimentalism or lust in mind or heart, and not treating impurity lightly, but respecting, cherishing, and loving one's own wife as the mother of one's children.
As one of the clear and definite expressions of Christ's will in Matthew 5, this teaching is to be often dwelt upon so that divine virtues are brought into life. So dwelling holds high the standard without spot or wrinkle and breaks up words that separate friends in the church. Its lessons, as part of the Sermon on the Mount, are to be lived out as well as taught, since embodying them gives them a deeper and more lasting influence on others.