The Fallible Study Bible

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Mark10:1–12

Teachings about Divorce

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Mark 10:1–12 — Teachings about Divorce. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1

Then Jesus left that place and went into the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan. Again the crowds came to Him and He taught them, as was His custom.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai anastas ekeithen erchetai eis ta horia tēs Ioudaias kai peran tou Iordanou kai palin ochloi symporeuontai pros auton kai palin edidasken autous hōs eiōthei

Word by word25 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀναστὰςanastasJesus leftG450
√ ἀνίστημι — to stand up (literal or figurative, transitive or intransitive)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
anistēmi: to stand up, rise The aorist participle governs the whole itinerary: one motion of rising and departure. Geneva's note is philologically exact, that in Hebrew idiom sitting and dwelling are one word-field and rising and going forth another, which is why Mark can begin a journey with a verb of standing up.
ἐκεῖθενekeithenthat placeG1564
√ ἐκεῖθεν — thenceAdverb
ἔρχεταιerchetai[and] wentG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
erchomai: to come, go Historic present. Mark's habit of switching into the present at movement points is why the Greek reads as reportage rather than chronicle.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὰtatheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ὅριαhoriaregionG3725
√ ὅριον — a boundary-line, iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
horion: boundary-line, border Plural: the borders, the frontier zone, not the interior. Pulpit notes that on the better reading (καὶ rather than διὰ τοῦ) the phrase is "the borders of Judaea and beyond Jordan," two named districts rather than one route description, which fits a traveller skirting Samaria and crossing into Peraea.
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
ἸουδαίαςIoudaiasof JudeaG2449
√ Ἰουδαία — the Judæan land (iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πέρανperanbeyondG4008
√ πέραν — through (as adverb or preposition), iPreposition
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἸορδάνουIordanouJordanG2446
√ Ἰορδάνης — the Jordanes (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πάλινpalinAgainG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
ὄχλοιochloi[the] crowdsG3793
√ ὄχλος — a throng (as borne along)NounNominative Masculine Plural
συμπορεύονταιsymporeuontaicameG4848
√ συμπορεύομαι — to journey togetherVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
symporeuomai: to journey together A rare compound (4 verses). The preposition σύν is the point: the crowd is not an audience that gathers but a company that walks with him. Ellicott insists on the literal force.
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πάλινpalin. . .G3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
ἐδίδασκενedidaskenHe taughtG1321
√ διδάσκω — to teach (in the same broad application)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
didaskō: to teach Imperfect, he was teaching, durative. Set beside the pluperfect εἰώθει at the end of the verse, the two tenses together make teaching the continuous, characteristic act of Jesus rather than an episode. Henry's summary rests on exactly this: "Preaching was Christ's constant practice."
αὐτούςautousthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ὡςhōsasG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
εἰώθειeiōtheiwas His customG1486
√ ἔθω — to be used (by habit or conventionality)VerbPluperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ethō: to be accustomed, used by habit Pluperfect of a verb found in only 4 verses, used elsewhere of Jesus entering the synagogue as was his custom and of Paul's practice of reasoning from the Scriptures. It marks a settled pattern of life, not a mood.
2

Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai Pharisaioi proselthontes peirazontes auton ei exestin andri apolysai gynaika epērōtōn auton

Word by word12 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisaioi[Some] PhariseesG5330
√ Φαρισαῖος — a separatist, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
προσελθόντεςproselthontescameG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
πειράζοντεςpeirazontesto testG3985
√ πειράζω — to test (objectively), iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
peirazō: to test, put to the proof Present participle: the testing is the mode of their coming, not a later development. Gill judges the motive precisely, that they came "not to be instructed by him, but to ensnare him," and Cambridge and Pulpit both reconstruct the fork: deny divorce and he offends the lax school of Hillel and the wealthy who used it; allow it and he contradicts his own word on adultery.
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
εἰeivvvG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
ἔξεστινexestinIs it lawfulG1832
√ ἔξεστι — so also neuter present participle of the same (with or without some form of G1510 (εἰμί) expressed)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
exesti: it is permitted, lawful An impersonal form. The question is not "is it good" but "is it permitted," the language of a court and a licence. Jesus answers on a different plane, going behind what is permitted to what was made.
ἀνδρὶandrifor a manG435
√ ἀνήρ — a man (properly as an individual male)NounDative Masculine Singular
anēr: a man, a husband Dative of the person permitted. Note that the question is put only from the husband's side; v. 12 is where Mark alone records the other side of it.
ἀπολῦσαιapolysaito divorceG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
apolyō: to loose away, release, send off The governing verb of the whole unit (vv. 2, 4, 11, 12). Its plain sense is release or dismissal, and it is the verb used of releasing Barabbas to the crowd; the Verifier's candidate list registers that overlap at Matthew 27:15. The dismissal, not a decree, is what the law of Deuteronomy 24 regulated with a written instrument.
γυναῖκαgynaikahis wifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ἐπηρώτωνepērōtōnthey inquiredG1905
√ ἐπερωτάω — to ask for, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
eperōtaō: to question, interrogate Imperfect, iterative. Pulpit notes that they put the question publicly, before the people, which is what an interrogation intended to compromise a teacher requires.
αὐτὸνauton. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
3

“What did Moses command you?” He replied.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Ti Mōusēs eneteilato hymin de Ho apokritheis eipen autois

Word by word9 · parsed
ΤίTiWhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
tis: what, which Fronted interrogative. Jesus answers a question with a question, which in this unit is a method, not an evasion: he makes his examiners produce the evidence.
ΜωϋσῆςMōusēs{did} MosesG3475
√ Μωσεύς — Moseus, Moses, or Mouses (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐνετείλατοeneteilatocommandG1781
√ ἐντέλλομαι — to enjoinVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
entellomai: to enjoin, charge, command A relatively rare verb (15 verses) and the load-bearing word of the exchange. Jesus asks what Moses commanded; the reply concedes only what Moses permitted; then in v. 5 Jesus takes their own word back up as ἐντολή, a commandment, and relocates its ground in their hardness. Gill notices the tactic, that Jesus "puts them upon producing and repeating it."
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheisHe repliedG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
apokrinomai: to answer Aorist passive participle in the common Septuagintal idiom; carries no passive sense here.
εἶπενeipen. . .G2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautois. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
4

They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Hoi eipan Mōusēs Epetrepsen grapsai biblion apostasiou kai apolysai

Word by word10 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΟἱHoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
εἶπανeipanThey answeredG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ΜωϋσῆςMōusēsMosesG3475
√ Μωσεύς — Moseus, Moses, or Mouses (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἘπέτρεψενEpetrepsenpermittedG2010
√ ἐπιτρέπω — to turn over (transfer), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epitrepō: to turn over, allow Their word, not his. The substitution is an unintentional confession: they know Deuteronomy 24 is a concession and not a mandate, and Jesus builds v. 5 on the admission.
γράψαιgrapsai[a man] to write [his wife]G1125
√ γράφω — to "grave", especially to writeVerbAorist Infinitive Active
βιβλίονbibliona certificateG975
√ βιβλίον — a rollNounAccusative Neuter Singular
biblion: a roll, scroll The written instrument of Deuteronomy 24:1. Gill records the practical function, that the scroll "should certify, they were so divorced," which protected the woman's standing; Geneva goes further and calls it a stipulation made for the wives, to protect them from their husbands' hardness.
ἀποστασίουapostasiouof divorceG647
√ ἀποστάσιον — properly, something separative, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
apostasion: a standing off, separation Used in the Greek Old Testament for the same certificate. The etymology is severe: the document does not dissolve a union so much as record an abandonment.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀπολῦσαιapolysaisend [her] awayG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
apolyō: to release, send away The second infinitive: writing and sending are two acts, and the law touched only the first.
5

But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ho Iēsous eipen autois egrapsen tautēn tēn entolēn hymin Pros hymōn tēn sklērokardian

Word by word14 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipentoldG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἔγραψενegrapsen[Moses] wroteG1125
√ γράφω — to "grave", especially to writeVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
graphō: to grave, to write Aorist. Gill's reading of the motive is blunt and worth weighing: without the scroll, husbands with unwanted wives "would have used them in a very inhuman manner, if not murdered them." Pulpit adds the procedural brake, that a divorce now required legal steps and a drawn instrument.
ταύτηνtautēnthisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Feminine Singular
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ἐντολὴνentolēncommandmentG1785
√ ἐντολή — injunction, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
entolē: injunction, commandment Jesus concedes the category and denies the authority. Geneva states the distinction that governs all Reformed exegesis here: "God never allowed those divorces which the law tolerated."
ὑμῖνhyminfor youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ΠρὸςProsbecause ofG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
pros: toward, with a view to Directional, not merely causal. The precept is aimed at a condition it does not endorse.
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
σκληροκαρδίανsklērokardianhardness of heartG4641
√ σκληροκαρδία — hard-heartedness, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
sklērokardia: hard-heartedness A word of only 3 New Testament verses, and the Verifier's candidate list puts the third at Mark 16:14, where the risen Christ charges the same hardness against his own disciples rather than against the Pharisees (that verse lies inside the disputed longer ending of Mark, so the thread below is flagged). The vocabulary is Old Testament through and through: the heart that must be circumcised (Deuteronomy 10:16), the heart of stone to be replaced with flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus is therefore not blaming Moses but dating the concession, and naming the disease the prophets said only God could cure.
6

However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de apo archēs ktiseōs epoiēsen autous Arsen kai thēly

Word by word9 · parsed
δὲdeHoweverG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἀπὸapofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
ἀρχῆςarchēs[the] beginningG746
√ ἀρχή — (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concretely) chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
archē: a commencement, beginning Anarthrous and absolute. Jesus dates his authority earlier than his opponents date theirs: they argue from Moses, he argues from the first page.
κτίσεωςktiseōsof creationG2937
√ κτίσις — original formation (properly, the actNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ktisis: original formation, creation The noun can mean the act of founding or the thing founded. Here the act: the moment of formation is the precedent. Gill notes that "from the beginning of the creation of the world" is a standing rabbinic formula, so the phrase would have sounded to the Pharisees like a citation, not a flourish.
ἐποίησενepoiēsen[God] madeG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make, do Aorist, subject unexpressed in Mark's clause, supplied from Genesis 1:27. The grammar matters for honesty: the divine subject is certain from the source text, not from this line of Greek.
αὐτούςautousthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἌρσενArsenmaleG730
√ ἄῤῥην — male (as stronger for lifting)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
arrēn: male Neuter accusative, in apposition to "them." The pair is the creational datum on which the whole answer rests.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
θῆλυthēlyfemaleG2338
√ θῆλυς — femaleAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
thēlys: female Neuter. ἄρσην and θῆλυς appear together in only a handful of verses (the Verifier finds them in 7 and 5 verses respectively), and every occurrence is an argument from the order of creation: the Matthew parallel, Paul on the exchange of the natural use in Romans 1:27, Paul on the union in Christ in Galatians 3:28. Gill draws the conclusion Jesus leaves implicit, that at the beginning "there could be no polygamy or divorce."
7

‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Heneken toutou anthrōpos kataleipsei autou ton patera kai tēn mētera kai proskollēthēsetai pros autou tēn gynaika

Word by word16 · parsed
ἝνεκενHenekenFor this reasonG1752
√ ἕνεκα — on account ofPreposition
heneka: on account of Backward-pointing. The logic of the quotation is consequence, not decoration.
τούτουtoutou. . .G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounGenitive Neuter Singular
ἄνθρωποςanthrōposa manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
anthrōpos: a human being Generic, and chosen over ἀνήρ. What is said here is said of humanity as such, which is why Jesus can answer a question about Jewish divorce law with a sentence from before Israel existed.
καταλείψειkataleipseiwill leaveG2641
√ καταλείπω — to leave down, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
kataleipō: to leave down, forsake A verb of 24 verses. Its weight is the measure of the new bond: the tie a man is commanded to loosen (to his own father and mother) is the strongest natural tie there is, and the marriage tie is stronger still.
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
πατέραpaterafatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
μητέραmēteramotherG3384
√ μήτηρ — a "mother" (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
προσκολληθήσεταιproskollēthēsetaibe unitedG4347
√ προσκολλάω — to glue to, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
proskollaō: to glue to The rarest word in the unit: the Verifier finds it in only 2 verses of the whole New Testament, here and at Ephesians 5:31, where Paul quotes the same Genesis line and calls the union a great mystery concerning Christ and the church. Future passive: the gluing is done to him. Cambridge draws the conclusion that the marriage tie was designed "the closest and most indissoluble of all ties."
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
γυναῖκαgynaikawifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounAccusative Feminine Singular
8

and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai hoi dyo esontai eis mian sarka hōste eisin ouketi dyo alla mia sarx

Word by word14 · parsed
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἔσονταιesontaiwill becomeG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
eimi: to be, exist Future middle with εἰς: the Septuagintal idiom for becoming. Mark preserves the translation Greek of the source.
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
eis: into, to the point of Not "as" but "into." The preposition makes one flesh a terminus reached, not a metaphor applied.
μίανmianoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
σάρκαsarkafleshG4561
√ σάρξ — flesh (as stripped of the skin), iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
sarx: flesh The word of creaturely solidarity, the same word Adam used of the woman taken from him. Its choice (rather than a word for spirit, will or covenant) is why Augustine, quoted by the Pulpit Commentary, insists the union spoken of here is matrimonial and bodily rather than an allegory of soul and body.
ὥστεhōsteSoG5620
√ ὥστε — so too, iConjunction
hōste: so that, therefore The seam between quotation and exposition. Everything before it is Genesis; everything after it is the speaker's own conclusion, which the disciples in v. 10 will come back to ask about.
εἰσὶνeisinthey areG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οὐκέτιouketino longerG3765
√ οὐκέτι — not yet, no longerAdverb
ouketi: no longer A moderately rare adverb (46 verses). It converts a command into a description of what is already the case.
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀλλὰallabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
μίαmiaoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
σάρξsarxfleshG4561
√ σάρξ — flesh (as stripped of the skin), iNounNominative Feminine Singular
9

Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

oun ho ho Theos synezeuxen anthrōpos mē chōrizetō

Word by word8 · parsed
οὖνounThereforeG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
ὃhowhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
hos: who, which, that Neuter singular: the bond, not the pair. The grammar is the argument of v. 8 in miniature.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΘεὸςTheosGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounNominative Masculine Singular
theos: God The subject withheld since v. 6 (where ἐποίησεν had none) is finally spoken. Every clause of the quotation has been building to this nominative: the joining has an author, so the separating has a defendant.
συνέζευξενsynezeuxenhas joined togetherG4801
√ συζεύγνυμι — to yoke together, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
syzeugnymi: to yoke together A vivid and uncommon compound. The yoke image says two things at once: the union is imposed from outside the pair, and it exists for work and burden-bearing, not only for affection. Henry's summary catches the first: "The bond which God has tied, is not to be lightly untied."
ἄνθρωποςanthrōpos{let} manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
anthrōpos: a human being Generic, and pointedly so after four verses of husbands' rights.
μὴmēnotG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
χωριζέτωchōrizetōseparateG5563
√ χωρίζω — to place room between, iVerbPresent Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
chōrizō: to place room between, separate Present imperative with μή: stop doing this, and do not go on doing it. Cambridge's note on this verse is the most searching in the brief: the words are Adam's in Genesis 2:24, God's in Matthew 19, and Christ's here, and he takes all three to be true at once.
10

When they were back inside the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai palin eis tēn oikian hoi mathētai epērōtōn auton peri toutou

Word by word11 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiWhen [they were]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πάλινpalinbackG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
palin: again, anew Third occurrence of πάλιν in the unit (twice in v. 1, once here). It ties the private scene to the public one: again a crowd, again teaching, again into the house.
εἰςeisinsideG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
οἰκίανoikianhouseG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
oikia: an abode, house Cambridge observes that Mark repeatedly stages Jesus' confidential instruction of the Twelve indoors (on casting out demons, on greatness in the kingdom, and here on marriage). The house is where the hard public saying becomes household law.
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
μαθηταὶmathētaidisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
ἐπηρώτωνepērōtōnaskedG1905
√ ἐπερωτάω — to ask for, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
eperōtaō: to question, interrogate Imperfect, iterative, and identical to v. 2. The disciples did not find the saying obvious either, which is the honest thing about this verse.
αὐτόνauton[Jesus]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
περὶperiaboutG4012
√ περί — properly, through (all over), iPreposition
τούτουtoutouthis matterG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounGenitive Neuter Singular
11

So He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai legei autois Hos an apolysē autou tēn gynaika kai gamēsē allēn moichatai ep’ autēn

Word by word15 · parsed
καὶkai[So]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγειlegeiHe toldG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ὋςHosWhoeverG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ἀπολύσῃapolysēdivorcesG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
apolyō: to release, send away Aorist subjunctive in the generalising clause. The act Moses' scroll regulated is now named as the first half of an adultery.
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
γυναῖκαgynaikawifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounAccusative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
γαμήσῃgamēsēmarriesG1060
√ γαμέω — to wed (of either sex)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
gameō: to wed (of either sex) Strong's notes the verb serves both sexes, which is why the same word can govern the man in v. 11 and the woman in v. 12 without change. The remarriage, not the dismissal, is what the sentence names as adultery, and that is the hinge on which every later Christian dispute has turned: Paul reasons the same way when he says a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives and is called an adulteress if she marries another while he lives (Romans 7:2 to 7:3), which locates the release, tellingly, at death rather than at a scroll.
ἄλληνallēnanother [woman]G243
√ ἄλλος — "else," iAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
μοιχᾶταιmoichataicommits adulteryG3429
√ μοιχάω — (middle voice) to commit adulteryVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
moichaō: to commit adultery Present middle or passive: a continuing condition. On the logic of vv. 6 to 9 this is not an arbitrary severity: if the first union was never dissolved before God, then the second is intrinsically adulterous, whatever a scroll has certified. Mark records no exception here; Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 do, and Gill, Poole and the Pulpit editors all read Mark through Matthew at this point. That importation should be visible to the reader.
ἐπ’ep’againstG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
epi: upon, against The disputed preposition. Whichever woman is meant, the wrong is registered as done to a person, not merely to an institution.
αὐτήνautēnherG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
12

And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai ean autē apolysasa autēs ton andra gamēsē allon moichatai

Word by word10 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐὰνeanifG1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
αὐτὴautēa womanG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
autos: self, she herself Emphatic nominative. In a discourse that began with a question about what is permitted "for a man," the pronoun quietly ends the asymmetry.
ἀπολύσασαapolysasadivorcesG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
apolyō: to release, send away Feminine aorist participle, active. Barnes and Gill agree that Jewish law gave the wife no such power and that the actual cases were Herodian and Gentile: Salome's bill of divorce to Costobarus, then Herodias. Gill also records a Christian woman doing it in Justin Martyr. Jesus legislates for the world his apostles were being sent into, which is Barnes' own explanation of why the saying is here.
αὐτῆςautēsherG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄνδραandrahusbandG435
√ ἀνήρ — a man (properly as an individual male)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
γαμήσῃgamēsē[and] marriesG1060
√ γαμέω — to wed (of either sex)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
gameō: to wed Active subjunctive on the better reading. The textual point carries the moral point.
ἄλλονallonanother [man]G243
√ ἄλλος — "else," iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
μοιχᾶταιmoichataishe commits adulteryG3429
√ μοιχάω — (middle voice) to commit adulteryVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
moichaō: to commit adultery The same present middle as v. 11. Two sentences, one verdict, one tense: the unit closes by making the one flesh of v. 8 cut in both directions.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The road, the crowd, the trap — 10:1 to 10:2

Mark opens with three tenses stacked on one another: an aorist participle (ἀναστὰς, having risen up), a historic present (ἔρχεται, he comes), an imperfect and then a pluperfect of teaching (ἐδίδασκεν ... εἰώθει). Geneva's marginal note explains the first: in Hebrew idiom rising and going forth are one act. Ellicott insists on the literal force of συμπορεύονται, "come together, or journey together," so the crowds are a travelling company rather than an audience. Henry reduces the whole picture to one line, that preaching was Christ's constant practice, which is exactly what the pluperfect says. Then the Pharisees come, πειράζοντες, testing. Cambridge names the fault line they are standing on: Hillel's school held that any dislike justified dismissal, Shammai's that only notorious unchastity did. The Pulpit Commentary sets the trap out fully and adds the political edge, that a strict answer would offend the wealthy who used the lax rule, and a lax answer would expose him as a carnal teacher; Cambridge adds the sharper possibility, that the object was to involve him with the adulterous tetrarch in whose territory he was standing. Gill's verdict on the motive is flat: they came not to be instructed but to ensnare.

ii. Commanded, or merely permitted — 10:3 to 10:5

The exchange turns on two verbs. Jesus asks what Moses ἐνετείλατο, enjoined, commanded (G1781, a word of only 15 verses). They answer that Moses ἐπέτρεψεν, turned it over, allowed (G2010). Gill states the concession their own word makes: "Moses did not command them to divorce their wives, only suffered them to do so." What Moses allowed was a βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, a scroll of standing-off, and Geneva's second note on v. 5 reverses the usual reading of it: Moses gave no commandment to put wives away but "rather made a good stipulation for the wives to protect them from the stubborn hardness of their husbands." The Pulpit Commentary reasons the same way from procedure, that the requirement of a drawn instrument delayed what had been done in a moment of passion, and that the legislation was fitted to people "quite unprepared for a higher moral code." Gill's version of the same argument is harsher and more concrete, that without it some men would have used unwanted wives inhumanly, if not murdered them. Jesus grants the precept the name they gave it (ἐντολήν) and dates it: Πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν, written with your hard-heartedness in view. Geneva's first note is the whole Reformed reading in one line: "God never allowed those divorces which the law tolerated."

iii. From beginning of creation — 10:6 to 10:9

Jesus goes behind Moses to Genesis. Gill notes that "from the beginning of the creation of the world" is a standing rabbinic formula, so the phrase would have registered as citation; he also records the textual fact that "of the creation" is missing from the Syriac and Persic and from Beza's oldest copy. Two rare words carry the argument. ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ, neuter, the male thing and the female thing, appear together in only a handful of New Testament verses, and always in an argument about the created order. προσκολληθήσεται, future passive of the verb meaning to glue to, occurs in only two verses in the New Testament, here and where Paul quotes the same line and calls it a great mystery. Cambridge draws the design conclusion, that God meant the marriage tie to be "the closest and most indissoluble of all ties." With ὥστε in v. 8 Jesus stops quoting and starts deducing: no longer two. The Pulpit Commentary brings in Augustine (City of God 14.22) to keep this bodily and matrimonial rather than allegorical. Then v. 9 names at last the subject that was unexpressed in v. 6: ὁ Θεὸς συνέζευξεν, God yoked them, an agricultural image of two beasts under one beam. Henry: "The bond which God has tied, is not to be lightly untied." Cambridge, most daringly, hears the words of v. 9 as Adam's prophetically, God's eternally, and Christ's as re-established rule.

iv. In the house, and both ways — 10:10 to 10:12

Ellicott notes that the detail of the question being put indoors is Mark's alone, and Cambridge sets it beside Mark's other household instructions of the Twelve, on casting out demons and on greatness in the kingdom. The verb is telling: ἐπηρώτων, the same iterative imperfect used of the Pharisees in v. 2. The disciples did not find it obvious either. What Jesus then says is stated twice with one verb in one tense, μοιχᾶται, present, a state and not an act. Verse 12 is the part only Mark has. Ellicott calls it the only passage in our Lord's teaching that distinctly states and sentences the case of a wife who divorces and remarries. Barnes concedes at once that Mosaic law gave her no such right, and explains its presence by mission: the apostles were going out to teach pagan nations. Gill supplies the history, Salome's bill of divorce to Costobarus and then Herodias, followed by a Christian woman in Justin Martyr. The Pulpit Commentary adds the text-critical point that the better reading is the active γαμήσῃ, she shall marry, not the passive, so that "wives and husbands have equal rights in reference to divorce," while granting from Josephus that in his time they plainly did not. Poole, alone among these, presses the equity and then stops: an equal right on both sides, and on remarriage "I shall not determine it."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Our own fallible reading, offered to be tested. The Pharisees ask a permissions question and Jesus answers with an ontology. They want to know the outer limit of what a man may do; he tells them what a marriage is. That is why the decisive word of the unit is not an imperative but an indicative: οὐκέτι δύο, no longer two (v. 8). The command in v. 9 is derivative, and it is addressed to ἄνθρωπος, any human being, not only to the husband: the court that drafts the scroll and the teacher who authorises it are in the dock with him. Note also what Jesus does not do. He does not say Moses was wrong, and he does not abolish the concession by denying it happened. He dates it. Πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν reads the law of Deuteronomy 24 as triage: real legislation, really from Moses, aimed at a condition that the prophets said only a new heart could cure. And here is the part we think is most often missed: the third and last New Testament use of that rare word σκληροκαρδία is not aimed at Pharisees at all but at the disciples themselves. If that is right, then the hardness that made the scroll necessary is not a first-century Jewish trait but the human default, ours included, and the reason this teaching lands as hard as it does in v. 10 is that it is addressed to people who still have the disease. We hold the exception clause loosely on purpose: Mark records none, Matthew records one, and the commentators quoted above supply Matthew's to Mark almost without noticing. That importation may well be right, and the whole tradition from Poole to Gill to the Pulpit editors makes it, but it should be visible as an importation rather than read off Mark's page. What Mark leaves standing, unqualified, is the yoke and the person injured: adultery here is committed against her.

Not a verse, a reading offered for testing: Moses regulated the wreckage, Christ named the thing that cannot be wrecked, and the scroll was always a diagnosis written in the patient's own hand.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same discourse in Matthew: commanded, permitted, put away verbal / quotation: confirmed

Mark 10:2 to 10:12 and Matthew 19:3 to 19:9 report one exchange. The shared vocabulary is dense and includes the hinge verb of this unit: ἐντέλλομαι (G1781, enjoin, only 15 verses) at Mark 10:3 and Matthew 19:7, with ἀπολύω (G630) and Μωσεύς (G3475) across Matthew 19:7 to 19:9, and γυνή with ἀπολύω twice over at Matthew 19:9 and Matthew 5:32. Barnes, JFB and Poole all simply refer the reader to Matthew 19 for this material, which is itself a fact about the sources here. Note carefully what the parallel does and does not settle: Matthew carries an exception clause ("except for sexual immorality") and Mark does not, and the commentators quoted above supply it to Mark from Matthew.

Matthew 19:7 · Matthew 19:8 · Matthew 19:9 · Matthew 5:32

basis: Verifier: Matthew 19:7 shares G1781 ἐντέλλομαι (in 15 vv), G3475 Μωσεύς (in 79 vv) and G630 ἀπολύω (in 61 vv); Matthew 19:8 shares G1135 γυνή (in 195 vv), G630, G3475; Matthew 19:9 and Matthew 5:32 share G630 ἀπολύω twice with G1135 γυνή. Greek to Greek within the New Testament, one discourse reported twice; the tier records the shared-lexeme cluster and the relatively rare ἐντέλλομαι, not a claim that one Evangelist quotes the other.

Glued: the two-verse word that Paul calls a mystery verbal / quotation: confirmed

προσκολλάω (G4347, to glue to) is the rarest lexeme in this unit: the Verifier finds it in two verses of the whole New Testament, Mark 10:7 and Ephesians 5:31. Both are quoting Genesis 2:24, and both pair it with καταλείπω (G2641, leave behind, 24 verses) and γυνή. Where Mark's Jesus uses the line to close off divorce, Paul uses the identical line to speak of Christ and the church. Gill reads Mark 10:8 through Paul already, inferring that the wife is to be loved as the husband's own body.

Ephesians 5:31

basis: Verifier: shared G4347 προσκολλάω (in 2 vv, the rarest available lexeme), G2641 καταλείπω (in 24 vv) and G1135 γυνή (in 195 vv). Greek to Greek within the New Testament; both verses quote the same Genesis line, so the verbal link is real in both directions.

Male and female: the creation pair as an argument verbal / quotation: confirmed

ἄρσην (G730) and θῆλυς (G2338) are rare (7 and 5 verses) and travel together. They stand in Mark 10:6 and its Matthew parallel as the datum of creation, in Romans 1:27 where Paul argues from the natural use of the female by the male, and in Galatians 3:28 where Paul says there is no male and female in Christ Jesus. Held together the three uses stop two opposite mistakes: Galatians 3:28 is not an erasure of the creational pair that Mark 10:6 invokes, and Mark 10:6 is not a charter of standing before God, which Galatians denies to any such distinction.

Matthew 19:4 · Galatians 3:28 · Romans 1:27

basis: Verifier: shared G730 ἄῤῥην (in 7 vv) and G2338 θῆλυς (in 5 vv) with Matthew 19:4, Galatians 3:28 and Romans 1:27; Galatians 3:28 also shares G1520 εἷς (in 288 vv). A rare shared pair, Greek to Greek within the New Testament. The theological comparison drawn in the body is ⚙ synthesis, not part of the computed basis.

Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 quoted as the higher court structural / thematic: confirmed

Verses 6 to 8 are two Old Testament quotations laid end to end: "male and female he made them" from Genesis 1:27, and "for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" from Genesis 2:24. The Hebraic ἔσονται εἰς ("shall be into one flesh") is the fingerprint of the Greek Old Testament wording in Mark's text. Cambridge's note on v. 9 registers the shift in speaker across the three places: Adam's words in Genesis, God's in Matthew, Christ's in Mark. Note that Mark's clause in v. 6 does not contain the noun God at all; the divine subject is supplied from Genesis and is not stated until v. 9.

Genesis 1:27 · Genesis 2:24

basis: An explicit quotation, but Greek to Hebrew: no shared Strong's number can exist across the Testaments, so the Verifier can compute no verbal basis and the link may not be tiered verbal. Recorded basis: the wording of Mark 10:6 to 10:8 reproduces Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 (including the Septuagintal ἔσονται εἰς construction), and Gill names Genesis 2:24 as the source text at Mark 10:7 and 10:8.

The scroll of standing-off: Deuteronomy 24 as the law in view structural / thematic: confirmed

The certificate the Pharisees appeal to is the provision of Deuteronomy 24:1 to 24:4. Poole names the chapter directly and shows how the argument was conducted, that the Pharisees leaned on "she find no favour in his eyes" and stretched the word for uncleanness to cover any deformity or cause of dislike. Gill names the same passage as the law behind v. 4. Jesus does not contest that Moses wrote it; he contests its standing, calling it a concession written with hardness of heart in view.

Deuteronomy 24:1

basis: Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and the verbal tier is excluded. Recorded basis: Poole cites Deu 24:1 explicitly as the law the Pharisees are interpreting, and Gill identifies Deuteronomy 24:1 as the source of the bill of divorcement in Mark 10:4; Mark 10:4 reproduces its two elements, the written scroll and the sending away.

Hardness of heart: the prophets' diagnosis and cure structural / thematic: confirmed

σκληροκαρδία (G4641) is not a Greek philosophical term but a translation of an Old Testament complaint. Israel is told to circumcise the foreskin of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16), Jeremiah repeats the demand (Jeremiah 4:4), and Ezekiel promises what no command can produce, the removal of the heart of stone and the gift of a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Read against that background, Jesus' explanation of the Mosaic concession is not an attack on Moses but a dating of the whole legal era: the concession belongs to the time before the new heart. This is ⚙ synthesis built on the lexicon, not a claim any commentator in the brief makes.

Deuteronomy 10:16 · Jeremiah 4:4 · Ezekiel 36:26

basis: Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is available and the verbal tier is excluded. Recorded basis: shared motif and idiom of the hardened, uncircumcised heart requiring divine replacement; the connection of Mark 10:5 to these three verses is our reading of the word-field, offered as motif only.

What God joined, and what God hates typological

Malachi's rebuke of Judah stands behind the logic of v. 9 more closely than any commentator in this brief notices: the prophet appeals to the wife of a man's covenant and to the one who made them, and declares God's hatred of the putting away (Malachi 2:14 to 2:16). Jesus' argument takes the same two steps, from the Creator's act to the prohibition of dismissal. We flag the limit of the claim: the wording connection cannot be computed across the Testaments, and the Hebrew of Malachi 2:16 is famously difficult, so we make no claim about its exact rendering.

Malachi 2:14 · Malachi 2:16

basis: Greek to Hebrew, so the verbal tier is excluded and no shared Strong's lexeme can be recorded. A figural and structural reading: Malachi grounds the prohibition of divorce in the Creator's making of the pair, as Mark 10:6 to 10:9 does. Attestation of the pairing is widespread in later Christian exposition, but no voice in this brief cites Malachi, and the Hebrew of Malachi 2:16 is textually contested; treat as our reading.

The same hardness, charged against the disciples flagged: verify source

σκληροκαρδία occurs in only three verses of the New Testament. One is Mark 10:5, where Jesus lays it on the Pharisees. Another, on the Verifier's count, is Mark 16:14, where the risen Christ reproaches the Eleven for their unbelief and hardness of heart. If the count holds, Mark uses the word once of Jesus' opponents and once of his own apostles, which turns the diagnosis of v. 5 back on the men who ask the private question in v. 10.

Mark 16:14

basis: Verifier: shared G4641 σκληροκαρδία (in 3 vv), a genuinely rare lexeme, Greek to Greek. Flagged not for the lexeme but for the verse: Mark 16:14 lies inside the longer ending of Mark (16:9 to 16:20), whose textual provenance is disputed in the manuscript tradition. The inference drawn in the body therefore rests on a contested passage and should be checked before it is leaned on.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

One flesh, and the mystery it was always figuring ancient/widely-held

The rarest word in this unit, προσκολληθήσεται (G4347, only two New Testament verses), reappears in Paul's citation of the same Genesis line, where the one flesh of husband and wife is declared to be a great mystery spoken concerning Christ and the church. That is not a private reading: it is the apostolic reading, and Cambridge gestures at it from the other end when he says the words of Mark 10:9 are Christ's "as rules for Christian life re-established by Him, Who 'adorned and beautified' the holy estate of matrimony with His presence and first miracle at Cana of Galilee." ⚙ If the marriage bond is a figure of that union, then the reason a scroll cannot dissolve it is christological before it is ethical: the indissolubility of the sign follows the indissolubility of the thing signified. And the direction of the analogy protects the weaker party, which is exactly where Mark 10:11 puts the injury, ἐπ’ αὐτήν, against her.

Ephesians 5:31 · John 2:11

The Husband who wrote the certificate, and came back anyway ancient/widely-held

⚙ Israel's Scriptures put God himself in the position the Pharisees are asking about. He is called Israel's husband and maker (Isaiah 54:5), he betroths her to himself for ever in righteousness and faithfulness (Hosea 2:19), and in the most startling line of all he says he gave faithless Israel a certificate of divorce and sent her away (Jeremiah 3:8), and then in the same breath calls her to return. The Greek verb the Pharisees use, ἀπολῦσαι, means simply to let go. The redemptive-historical shape of Mark 10 is therefore not that God never lets go, but that having every ground to let go he does not finally do it. The one who says in v. 9 "let no human being separate" is the one who, on the road he is walking in v. 1, is going up to Jerusalem to make the reunion possible at his own cost. This reading of God as the faithful Husband is ancient and widely held among Christian and Jewish expositors alike; the specific pairing with Mark 10:9 is ours, and we offer it as such.

Isaiah 54:5 · Hosea 2:19 · Jeremiah 3:8

Authority earlier than Moses novel

⚙ The form of Jesus' argument is a claim about himself. Asked what Moses commanded, he answers from ἀρχῆς κτίσεως, beginning of creation, and then does something no rabbi could do: in v. 8 he leaves the quotation behind with ὥστε and states the consequence on his own authority, and in v. 11 he issues a ruling in his own voice that revises the accepted reading of Deuteronomy 24. The New Testament elsewhere says all things were made through the Son and that nothing was made without him (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16). If that is so, then the "he made them male and female" of v. 6, whose subject Mark's Greek leaves unexpressed, was not spoken by a stranger to the act. We mark this as our own inference: the identification of the Son as agent of creation is ancient and widely held, but no voice in this brief applies it to Mark 10:6, and none should be credited with it.

John 1:3 · Colossians 1:16

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbers; every parse, gloss and lexeme frequency above comes from that apparatus, and every quotation is a contiguous verbatim substring of the public-domain commentary named. Three textual matters in this unit are reported by the sources rather than settled by us. (1) Mark 10:1: the Pulpit Commentary prefers a reading with καὶ in place of διὰ τοῦ, giving "the borders of Judaea and beyond Jordan," and the whole geographical reconstruction of the route depends on that choice. (2) Mark 10:6: Gill records that "of the creation" is absent from the Syriac and Persic versions and from Beza's oldest copy; the interlinear before us has it. Mark's clause here does not contain the noun God, which BSB supplies in brackets from Genesis 1:27, and our literal rendering keeps the subject unexpressed. (3) Mark 10:11 and 10:12: Gill reports that the Syriac and Persic omit "against her," and the Pulpit Commentary argues that the best authorities read the active γαμήσῃ (she shall marry) rather than the passive γαμηθῆ. Source coverage is uneven here in a way readers should know: Barnes, JFB and Poole largely refer the reader to their notes on Matthew 19, so the substantive comment on Mark's own wording comes mainly from Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Cambridge, Geneva and Ellicott, and Henry's entry is one paragraph covering all twelve verses. Interpretive uncertainty that we have deliberately left open: the antecedent of ἐπ’ αὐτήν in v. 11 (the Pulpit Commentary and Geneva both take it of the wife put away, and the phrase is absent from some versions); whether Matthew's exception clause may be read into Mark, which Gill, Poole and the Pulpit editors do and Mark's text does not state; and the question of remarriage, on which Poole reasons at length and then says "I shall not determine it." Our cross-Testament threads (Genesis, Deuteronomy, the hardness-of-heart prophets, Malachi) carry no computed verbal basis and cannot: shared Strong's numbers do not exist between Greek and Hebrew, so those links are tiered structural or typological by rule, whatever the strength of the quotation behind them. The σκληροκαρδία link to Mark 16:14 is flagged because that verse belongs to the disputed longer ending of Mark. Everything marked ⚙ is fallible machine synthesis and is offered to be tested against the Word and against better readers.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)