The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Matthew19:1–12

Teachings about Divorce

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Matthew 19:1–12 — 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

When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai egeneto hote ho Iēsous etelesen toutous tous logous metēren apo tēs Galilaias kai ēlthen eis ta horia tēs Ioudaias peran tou Iordanou

Word by word23 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegenetoG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ὅτεhoteWhenG3753
√ ὅτε — at which (thing) too, iAdverb
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐτέλεσενetelesenhad finishedG5055
√ τελέω — to end, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
teleō: to end, complete, discharge Matthew stamps this verb on the seam after each great block of teaching. Pulpit: “This is the beginning of a new section of the history, commencing, as usual, with the formulary, And it came to pass.” The word does not mean Jesus stopped talking; it means the discourse of chapter 18 was carried to its appointed end, so that the journey which follows is itself the next thing said.
τούτουςtoutoussaying these thingsG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Masculine Plural
τοὺςtous. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
λόγουςlogous. . .G3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
μετῆρενmetērenHe leftG3332
√ μεταίρω — to betake oneself, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
metairō: to betake oneself away A rare verb (2 verses), reserved by Matthew for departures that close something. Ellicott, Barnes, Cambridge and Pulpit all note the enormous silence inside this single word: Luke 9:51 to 18:30 and much of John 7 to 11 fall inside it, including two visits to Jerusalem and the raising of Lazarus. Gill adds the finality: he departed “no more to return thither till after his resurrection.”
ἀπὸapo. . .G575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
ΓαλιλαίαςGalilaiasGalileeG1056
√ Γαλιλαία — Galilæa (iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἦλθενēlthenwentG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
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: a boundary-line, frontier The plural of a border-marker, hence “the frontiers of Judea.” Barnes notes the old tribal ground here (Reuben, Gad, Manasseh); Pulpit names the territory Peraea under Herod Antipas, which matters for verse 3: the divorce question is raised in the jurisdiction of the tetrarch whose own marriage cost John the Baptist his head.
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
πέρανperanbeyondG4008
√ πέραν — through (as adverb or preposition), iPreposition
peran: across, on the further side The crux of the verse. Poole, Gill, Benson, Cambridge and Pulpit divide over whether the words attach to “came” (the route) or to “Judea” (the province), and the commentators concede that Judea had no territory east of the river. Our synthesis takes no side: the grammar permits both, and the harmonists' reading through Mark 10:1 is the least strained.
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἸορδάνουIordanouJordanG2446
√ Ἰορδάνης — the Jordanes (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
2

Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai polloi ochloi ēkolouthēsan autō kai etherapeusen autous ekei

Word by word9 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πολλοίpolloiLargeG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ὄχλοιochloicrowdsG3793
√ ὄχλος — a throng (as borne along)NounNominative Masculine Plural
ἠκολούθησανēkolouthēsanfollowedG190
√ ἀκολουθέω — properly, to be in the same way with, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
akoloutheō: to follow, be in the same way with The verb is not weighed down here with faith; it describes physical company on a road. Benson (quoting Macknight) itemises who made up such a train: the sick, their friends, the curious, the well disposed, enemies watching every word, and those expecting the kingdom immediately. That whole spectrum is standing there when the Pharisees ask their question.
αὐτῷautōHimG846
√ 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 Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐθεράπευσενetherapeusenHe healedG2323
√ θεραπεύω — to wait upon menially, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
therapeuō: to serve, then to cure Aorist, summary: this is what the Peraean ministry consisted of. Henry reads the sequence pastorally, that when Christ departs it is best to follow him, since he is found as able to help in one country as another.
αὐτοὺςautousthemG846
√ 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
ἐκεῖekeithereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
3

Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai Pharisaioi prosēlthon autō peirazontes auton kai legontes Ei exestin anthrōpō apolysai autou tēn gynaika kata pasan aitian

Word by word18 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisaioi[some] PhariseesG5330
√ Φαρισαῖος — a separatist, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
προσῆλθονprosēlthoncameG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
αὐτῷautōG846
√ 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 Singular
πειράζοντεςpeirazontes[and] testedG3985
√ πειράζω — to test (objectively), iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
peirazō: to test, prove, try The same verb Matthew used of the devil in the wilderness. Gill reconstructs the trap from both sides: answer with Shammai and the popular school is offended, answer with Hillel and he contradicts his own Sermon on the Mount; forbid divorce outright and he seems to contradict Moses. Ellicott adds the political edge, that in Peraea an answer might “provoke the tetrarch's wrath, as the Baptist had done.”
αὐτὸνautonHimG846
√ 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
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγοντεςlegontesby askingG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
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 The question of a casuist, not a husband. Everything in the Pharisees' vocabulary assumes divorce is a right whose boundaries are being surveyed; Pulpit observes that “It was quite a new idea to find the propriety of divorce questioned.”
ἀνθρώπῳanthrōpōfor a manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Singular
ἀπολῦσαιapolysaito divorceG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
apolyō: to loose fully, release, dismiss The governing verb of the whole passage (it recurs at verses 7, 8 and 9). Its plainness is the point: what the law permitted was not the dissolution of a mystery but the sending away of a person. The Verifier records the same lexeme across Matthew 5:31, 5:32, Mark 10:4, 10:11 and 10:12, the whole divorce tradition of the Gospels.
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
κατὰkataforG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
πᾶσανpasananyG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
αἰτίανaitianreasonG156
√ αἰτία — a cause (as if asked for), iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
aitia: cause, ground, also charge or crime The pivot word of the question and, in verse 10, of the disciples' recoil. Cambridge locates the force of the phrase exactly: “for every cause” is omitted in Mark, and in Matthew it carries “the pith of the question.” Benson, citing Whitby, documents the Hillelite practice and Josephus's own admission that he dismissed a wife because he was not pleased with her behaviour.
4

Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ho apokritheis eipen Ouk anegnōte hoti ap’ archēs ho ktisas epoiēsen autous Arsen kai thēly

Word by word16 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheis[Jesus] answeredG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipenG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ΟὐκOukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἀνέγνωτεanegnōteHave you not readG314
√ ἀναγινώσκω — to know again, iVerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
anaginōskō: to read, to know again The verb makes Scripture the court of appeal, over against both rabbinic schools. Barnes sees the strategy: “He answered the question, not from Hillel or Shammai, their teachers, but from Moses, and thus defeated their malice.” The appeal is not to a later ruling but to a text they already granted.
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἀπ’ap’fromG575
√ 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: beginning, first principle Twice in this unit (here and verse 8) and it carries the argument both times. Cambridge names what is happening: “An appeal from the law of Moses to a higher and absolute law, which has outlived the law of Moses.” Creation, not legislation, is the standard; the concession of Deuteronomy is dated by it.
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
κτίσαςktisasCreatorG2936
√ κτίζω — to fabricate, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ktizō: to found, fabricate, create The participle identifies the speaker of Genesis with the maker of the pair, which is why the quotation of Genesis 2:24 in the next verse (words Adam spoke) can be introduced simply with “and said.” Ellicott's summary of the method: “The answer to the question is found not in the words of a code of laws, but in the original facts of creation.”
ἐποίησενepoiēsenmadeG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοὺςautousthemG846
√ 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
arrhēn: male Quoted verbatim from the Greek of Genesis 1:27, with Genesis 5:2 behind it. Two persons, one of each sex, are the created form of marriage, and Pulpit draws the inference the Pharisees would not: “There was in this original institution no room for polygamy, no room for divorce.”
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
θῆλυthēlyfemaleG2338
√ θῆλυς — femaleAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
5

and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai eipen Heneka toutou anthrōpos kataleipsei ton patera kai tēn mētera kai kollēthēsetai autou tē gynaiki kai hoi dyo esontai eis mian sarka

Word by word23 · parsed
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἶπενeipensaidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἝνεκαHenekaFor this reasonG1752
√ ἕνεκα — on account ofPreposition
τούτουtoutou. . .G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounGenitive Neuter Singular
ἄνθρωποςanthrōposa manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
καταλείψειkataleipseiwill leaveG2641
√ καταλείπω — to leave down, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
kataleipō: to leave behind, forsake The verb of exodus and abandonment used of the most ordinary human act. Its force is comparative, not absolute: Gill denies that the older relation ceases, while Barnes insists the new bond is “more tender than even that bond which unites us to a parent.” Marriage is here defined by what it costs.
τὸνton[his]G3588
√ 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
κολληθήσεταιkollēthēsetaibe united toG2853
√ κολλάω — to glue, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
κολληθήσεται kollaō: to glue, cement The decisive word of the quotation, and it is passive. What the Pharisees treat as a contract the text treats as a bonding done to the man. Geneva and Barnes both reach for the glue-pot image, Barnes adding that it “means so firmly to adhere together that nothing can separate them.” Paul will quote this same verse of Christ and the church in Ephesians 5:31.
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
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
γυναικὶgynaikiwifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounDative Feminine Singular
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
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
μίανmianoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
σάρκαsarkafleshG4561
√ σάρξ — flesh (as stripped of the skin), iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
sarx: flesh Not merely the body: Geneva notes that “this word flesh is figuratively taken for the whole man, or the body, after the manner of the Hebrews.” “One flesh” is therefore one living whole, which is why verse 9 can call remarriage adultery and Poole can say that the man who dismisses his wife “doth as it were divide and tear his own flesh piece from piece.”
6

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

hōste eisin ouketi dyo alla mia sarx oun ho ho Theos synezeuxen anthrōpos mē chōrizetō

Word by word15 · parsed
ὥστεhōsteSoG5620
√ ὥστε — so too, iConjunction
εἰσὶνeisinthey areG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οὐκέτιouketino longerG3765
√ οὐκέτι — not yet, no longerAdverb
ouketi: no longer, not any more A small adverb carrying the verdict. The Pharisees asked about permission; Jesus answers with an ontology. Because a change has already occurred, divorce is not a right exercised but a fact denied.
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀλλὰallabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
μίαmiaoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
σὰρξsarxfleshG4561
√ σάρξ — flesh (as stripped of the skin), iNounNominative Feminine Singular
οὖνounThereforeG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
ὃhowhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΘεὸςTheosGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounNominative Masculine Singular
συνέζευξενsynezeuxenhas joined togetherG4801
√ συζεύγνυμι — to yoke together, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
syzeugnymi: to yoke together One of the rarest lexemes in the unit (2 verses: Matthew 19:6 and Mark 10:9, which the Verifier confirms as the shared basis of that pair). God, not the couple and not the court, is the subject of the verb. Gill draws the whole polemical edge from it: the bond may not be dissolved “by any state or government, by any prince or potentate, by any legislator whatever; no, not by Moses himself.”
ἄνθρωποςanthrōpos[let] manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
μὴmēnotG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
χωριζέτωchōrizetōseparateG5563
√ χωρίζω — to place room between, iVerbPresent Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
chōrizō: to put space between, separate The counter-verb to the yoking, and the hinge of the passage. Ellicott reads the saying carefully as “rather the expression of the principle that should underlie laws, than the formulated law itself,” which is honest about how far this verse can be pressed as statute; Pulpit reads it as a decree, noting that “His hearers plainly understood him so to speak, as we see from the objection which they urged.” The commentators differ, and we record the difference rather than resolve it.
7

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Ti oun Legousin autō Mōusēs eneteilato dounai biblion apostasiou kai apolysai autēn

Word by word12 · parsed
ΤίTiWhyG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
οὖνounthenG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
ΛέγουσινLegousinthey askedG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
αὐτῷautōG846
√ 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 Singular
ΜωϋσῆςMōusēs{did} MosesG3475
√ Μωσεύς — Moseus, Moses, or Mouses (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐνετείλατοeneteilatoorder [a man]G1781
√ ἐντέλλομαι — to enjoinVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
entellomai: to enjoin, charge, command The load-bearing word of the objection. Geneva answers it at the level of principle: “Because political laws are adjusted to allow some things, it does not follow that God therefore approves of them.” Pulpit answers it at the level of fact: Moses regulated a practice already universal, and there were cases in which he forbade divorce outright (Deuteronomy 22:13-19, 28-29).
δοῦναιdounaito give [his wife]G1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbAorist Infinitive Active
βιβλίονbibliona certificateG975
√ βιβλίον — a rollNounAccusative Neuter Singular
biblion: a roll, scroll, written document The requirement of writing was itself a restraint. Barnes reconstructs the mechanism: the husband had “to sit down deliberately to look at the matter,” probably before a scribe, so that delay might allow reconciliation.
ἀποστασίουapostasiouof divorceG647
√ ἀποστάσιον — properly, something separative, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
apostasion: a writing of separation Rare (3 verses), and shared with Mark 10:4, which the Verifier records as the basis of that pair. The word concedes what the Pharisees will not: a bill of divorce is a document of standing-apart, and the thing it documents is a rupture, not an ordinance of creation.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀπολῦσαιapolysaisend [her] awayG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
αὐτήνautēn. . .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 Feminine 3rd Person Singular
8

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart. But it was not this way from the beginning.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Legei autois Hoti Mōusēs epetrepsen hymin apolysai hymōn tas gynaikas pros hymōn tēn sklērokardian de gegonen ou houtōs ap’ archēs

Word by word20 · parsed
ΛέγειLegeiJesus repliedG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisG846
√ 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
ὍτιHotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ΜωϋσῆςMōusēsMosesG3475
√ Μωσεύς — Moseus, Moses, or Mouses (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐπέτρεψενepetrepsenpermittedG2010
√ ἐπιτρέπω — to turn over (transfer), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epitrepō: to turn over, permit, allow The verb that defeats the trap. Jesus does not deny Deuteronomy 24; he re-classifies it. Gill notes that the sufferance is bounded by peoplehood and time, “you Jews, and you only, and not the Gentiles,” a branch of the judicial law rather than the moral; JFB says the same, that Moses speaks here “as a civil lawgiver.”
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ἀπολῦσαιapolysaito divorceG630
√ ἀπολύω — to free fully, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
τὰςtasG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
γυναῖκαςgynaikaswivesG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounAccusative Feminine Plural
πρὸςprosbecause ofG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
pros: toward, with a view to A function word doing theological work. Cambridge and JFB both insist on the concessive sense, and Cambridge draws from it a principle wider than the case: “So the law was relatively good, not absolutely.”
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: hardness of heart A rare compound (3 verses), and the Verifier records it as the whole basis of the link to Mark 10:5 and Mark 16:14, where it is the disciples' own unbelief that is so named. The diagnosis is thus not reserved for Pharisees. Ellicott generalises the principle honestly and uncomfortably, extending it to the Law's tolerance of polygamy and slavery, and then to any nation calling itself Christian that sinks to the same hardness. Behind the Greek stands the Hebrew demand to circumcise the foreskin of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16, Jeremiah 4:4) and the promise of a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
γέγονενgegonen[it] wasG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPerfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to be, become Perfect tense, and the same verb that opened verse 1 (“it came to pass”). The narrative formula and the theological claim share a root: what has come to pass in Israel's law is measured against what has come to be from the beginning, and Pulpit notes the first recorded polygamy (Genesis 4:19) is bound up with murder and revenge.
οὐounotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οὕτωςhoutōsthis wayG3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
ἀπ’ap’fromG575
√ 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
9

Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de legō hymin hoti hos an apolysē autou tēn gynaika mē epi porneia kai gamēsē allēn moichatai

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeNowG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
legō: to lay forth, say One unaccompanied first person verb against the whole apparatus of the schools. Barnes reads it as legislation for the kingdom: “Indulgence had been given by the laws of Moses; but that indulgence was to cease.”
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
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, dismiss Fourth occurrence in the unit, now under a general condition. The Verifier records this lexeme shared with Matthew 5:31, 5:32, Mark 10:4, 10:11 and 10:12, which is the entire Gospel divorce tradition standing on one verb.
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
μὴmēexceptG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ἐπὶepiforG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
πορνείᾳporneiasexual immoralityG4202
√ πορνεία — harlotry (including adultery and incest)NounDative Feminine Singular
porneia: harlotry, illicit intercourse The single most contested word in the unit. Pulpit's long note works through the narrow reading (ante-nuptial unchastity, which would void the marriage from the first) and rejects it on three grounds: the final clause still calls marrying the divorced woman adultery, the noun is used of a married woman's sin, and Deuteronomy 22:13-21 prescribes stoning rather than divorce. Ellicott, Barnes, Geneva and Poole then divide over whether remarriage follows for the innocent party. We do not decide it.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
γαμήσῃgamēsēmarriesG1060
√ γαμέω — to wed (of either sex)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
ἄλληνallēnanother womanG243
√ 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: the condition persists as long as the second union does, because on this reading the first bond persists. Mark adds “against her,” which Gill takes two ways, of the woman newly married or of the first wife “who is still his wife.” Geneva makes the historically sharp observation that divorce would be needless if the capital laws against adultery were being enforced.
10

His disciples said to Him, “If this is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

autou hoi mathētai Legousin autō Ei houtōs estin hē aitia tou anthrōpou meta tēs gynaikos sympherei ou gamēsai

Word by word18 · parsed
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
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
μαθηταίmathētaidisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
ΛέγουσινLegousinsaidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
αὐτῷautōto HimG846
√ 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 Singular
ΕἰEiIfG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
οὕτωςhoutōsthisG3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
ἐστὶνestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἡhētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
αἰτίαaitiacaseG156
√ αἰτία — a cause (as if asked for), iNounNominative Feminine Singular
aitia: cause, case, ground The same noun in the Pharisees' trap and the disciples' recoil, which is the quiet irony of the passage: having heard that no cause suffices, they conclude that no marriage is worth the risk. Cambridge measures the shock, that nothing “could prove more clearly the revolution in thought brought to pass by Christ than this.”
τοῦtoubetweenG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀνθρώπουanthrōpoua manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Singular
μετὰmeta[and]G3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
τῆςtēs[his]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
γυναικόςgynaikoswifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounGenitive Feminine Singular
συμφέρειsymphereiit is betterG4851
√ συμφέρω — to bear together (contribute), iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
sympherō: to bear together, be profitable A calculating verb. Ellicott hears in it the popularity of the laxer Hillelite view even among those “roused to some efforts after a righteousness higher than that of the scribes,” and remarks that Milton's divorce tracts are an elaborate expansion of this same sentence. Poole is severer, calling the saying an infirmity of good men, since “All that the saints say is not gospel.”
οὐounotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
γαμῆσαιgamēsaito marryG1060
√ γαμέω — to wed (of either sex)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
gameō: to wed The disciples are the first in the passage to propose celibacy, and they propose it for the worst reason, as an escape from obligation. Jesus will keep their words and change the reason.
11

“Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Ou pantes chōrousin touton ton logon de Ho eipen autois all’ hois dedotai

Word by word13 · parsed
ΟὐOuNotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
πάντεςpanteseveryoneG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
χωροῦσινchōrousincan acceptG5562
√ χωρέω — to be in (give) space, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
chōreō: to give or have room, contain A spatial verb used of the soul, and it will be repeated three times in verse 12. The picture is a vessel with a given capacity, not a will with a choice. Pulpit notes that Christ “passes over these ignoble scruples, and enunciates the only principle which should lead a man to abstain from marriage.”
τοῦτονtoutonthisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Masculine Singular
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λόγονlogonwordG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipenHe repliedG2036
√ 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
ἀλλ’all’but only [those]G235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
οἷςhoisto whomG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounDative Masculine Plural
δέδοταιdedotaiit has been givenG1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbPerfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
didōmi: to give Perfect passive, the quiet centre of the unit's second half. Geneva draws the anti-monastic inference directly: “The gift of celibacy is peculiar, and therefore no man can set a law to himself of perpetual celibacy.” Barnes and Ellicott both point to 1 Corinthians 7, where Paul reasons from the same premise of differing gifts.
12

For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar eisin eunouchoi hoitines ek mētros koilias egennēthēsan houtōs kai eisin eunouchoi hoitines eunouchisthēsan hypo tōn anthrōpōn kai eisin eunouchoi hoitines heautous eunouchisan dia tēn basileian tōn ouranōn ho dynamenos chōrein chōreitō

Word by word32 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
εἰσὶνeisinthere areG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
εὐνοῦχοιeunouchoieunuchsG2135
√ εὐνοῦχος — a castrated person (such being employed in Oriental bed-chambers)NounNominative Masculine Plural
eunouchos: a castrated man, bed-keeper The Lord's chosen word for the vocation, and it is a word of reproach and exclusion in the Law (Deuteronomy 23:1). Barnes wonders whether the Essenes are meant, who “had no children of their own, but perpetuated their sect by adopting the poor children of others”; Pulpit doubts it, since Christ would hardly endorse that sect. Isaiah 56:3-5, which Pulpit cross-references here, had already promised the eunuch a name better than sons.
οἵτινεςhoitineswhoG3748
√ ὅστις — which some, iPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
ἐκekvvvG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
μητρὸςmētrosvvvG3384
√ μήτηρ — a "mother" (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
κοιλίαςkoiliasvvvG2836
√ κοιλία — a cavity, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἐγεννήθησανegennēthēsanwere bornG1080
√ γεννάω — to procreate (properly, of the father, but by extension of the mother)VerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
οὕτωςhoutōsthat wayG3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἰσὶνeisinG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
εὐνοῦχοιeunouchoi[others]G2135
√ εὐνοῦχος — a castrated person (such being employed in Oriental bed-chambers)NounNominative Masculine Plural
οἵτινεςhoitinesG3748
√ ὅστις — which some, iPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
εὐνουχίσθησανeunouchisthēsanwere made [that way]G2134
√ εὐνουχίζω — to castrate (figuratively, live unmarried)VerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
eunouchizō: to make a eunuch Passive in the second class, active and reflexive in the third, which is the whole distinction of the verse. Benson sorts the three: “To some by natural constitution, without their choice. 2d, To some by the violence of men, against their choice: and, 3d, To others by grace, with their choice.” Benson also warns that “let him receive it” cannot attach to the second class, since mutilation by violence “is absolutely unlawful.”
ὑπὸhypobyG5259
√ ὑπό — under, iPreposition
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
ἀνθρώπωνanthrōpōnmenG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἰσὶνeisinG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
εὐνοῦχοιeunouchoi[still others]G2135
√ εὐνοῦχος — a castrated person (such being employed in Oriental bed-chambers)NounNominative Masculine Plural
οἵτινεςhoitinesG3748
√ ὅστις — which some, iPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
ἑαυτοὺςheautousvvvG1438
√ ἑαυτοῦ — him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etcReflexive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
εὐνούχισανeunouchisanlive like eunuchsG2134
√ εὐνουχίζω — to castrate (figuratively, live unmarried)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
eunouchizō (active, reflexive): to make oneself a eunuch The single most abused sentence in the passage. Gill names its literalist history: Origen, and the Valesian sect after Valens the Arabian, and Philo's commendation of the practice. Both Gill and Pulpit read it figuratively of continence by grace. Ellicott presses the figurative reading into a test: if the impulses remain and “life is made miserable by the struggle with them,” the man “is, ipso facto, disqualified for the loftier ideal.”
διὰdiafor the sake ofG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
βασιλείανbasileiankingdomG932
√ βασιλεία — properly, royalty, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
basileia: royalty, kingdom The motive clause, διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, and it is purposive, not meritorious. Gill is careful: “not in order, by their chaste and single life, to merit and obtain the kingdom of glory,” but to be free to serve it. Ellicott says the same in his own idiom, that the aim is not to win heaven for oneself but to “enlarge its range.”
τῶνtōnofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
οὐρανῶνouranōnheavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounGenitive Masculine Plural
ὁhoThe [one]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
δυνάμενοςdynamenoswho canG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
χωρεῖνchōreinaccept [this]G5562
√ χωρέω — to be in (give) space, iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
χωρείτωchōreitōshould accept [it]G5562
√ χωρέω — to be in (give) space, iVerbPresent Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
chōreō (imperative): let him make room Third person imperative, and the last word of the unit. It is permissive, not universal. JFB paraphrases it as vocation, “He who feels this to be his proper vocation, let him embrace it,” adding that this amounts to saying “he only.” Thus the discourse that began by refusing the Pharisees any licence ends by refusing to make celibacy a law.

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 formula that closes Galilee — 1-2

⚙ Matthew's seam is two rare words wide. ἐτέλεσεν (G5055) is his standing discourse-closing verb, and μετῆρεν (G3332) occurs in only two verses in the New Testament, the other being Matthew 13:53. JFB hears the weight of it: this “marks a very solemn period in our Lord's public ministry,” the Redeemer's farewell to Galilee. Ellicott, Barnes, Cambridge and Pulpit all point out how much is folded inside the one clause, since Luke 9:51 to 18:30 and much of John 7 to 11 fall in the gap. The geography is genuinely disputed: Poole would translate πέραν as “on the border of Jordan,” Gill as “on this side Jordan,” while Cambridge and Benson read the phrase with Mark 10:1 as naming the trans-Jordan route that avoided Samaria. Pulpit adds the political fact that decides how verse 3 should be heard: this is Peraea, the territory of Herod Antipas. Henry reads the crowds devotionally; Poole refuses to over-read them, noting that the text says he healed them, “but it saith not, they believed in him.”

ii. Behind the Law to the beginning — 3-6

⚙ The trap is built out of one word, αἰτίαν (G156). Cambridge locates the pith of the question in “for every cause,” which Mark omits; Gill and Pulpit set out the rival schools, Hillel allowing dismissal for a spoiled dinner, Shammai only for unchastity; Ellicott adds that they may have wished “to test His consistency.” Jesus does not choose a school. He answers with two quotations, Genesis 1:27 (with Genesis 5:2) and Genesis 2:24, and Barnes notes the tactic exactly: “He answered the question, not from Hillel or Shammai, their teachers, but from Moses, and thus defeated their malice.” Cambridge calls it “An appeal from the law of Moses to a higher and absolute law.” The Greek then does the theology. κολληθήσεται (G2853) is a future passive, “shall be glued,” which Geneva traces to the glue-pot and Barnes to a bond that nothing can separate; συνέζευξεν (G4801) is a farm word for yoking, found in only two verses, and Geneva reads the metaphor plainly, that God “Has made them yokefellows.” Pulpit presses the neuter relative ὃ to show that the ruling is abstract and universal, not a comment on Adam and Eve. How far the saying legislates is where the voices divide: Gill says the bond may not be dissolved by any prince or legislator, “no, not by Moses himself”; Pulpit says Christ “here decrees the indissolubility of the marriage tie”; Ellicott, more cautious, calls the words “rather the expression of the principle that should underlie laws, than the formulated law itself.” We record the division rather than flatten it.

iii. Permitted, not commanded — 7-9

⚙ The Pharisees' rejoinder turns on ἐνετείλατο (G1781), “commanded,” and Jesus answers by swapping in ἐπέτρεψεν (G2010), “permitted.” Ellicott puts the whole force of the reply in that “emphasized substitution.” The preposition matters as much: Cambridge and JFB both render πρὸς “having respect to,” so that hardness of heart is the condition the legislation was drafted to contain, not the reason it was good. Geneva draws the distinction sharply, that Moses acted “By a political law, not by the moral law: for the moral law is a perpetual law of God's justice; the other bows and bends as the carpenter's bevel,” and JFB agrees that Moses speaks here “as a civil lawgiver.” Gill adds that the concession fell on Israel alone, and reads it as mercy to wives rather than licence to husbands. σκληροκαρδίαν (G4641) is a rare compound (3 verses), and the other two are in Mark, one of them Mark 16:14, where the risen Lord names the same hardness in his own disciples. Cambridge notes the commentators cannot agree whether the hardness is toward God or toward wives. On verse 9 the sources are genuinely unsettled, and the honest thing is to say so: Cambridge records that “and shall marry another” is omitted in the Sinaitic manuscript and that “causeth her to commit adultery” has high manuscript authority, while Pulpit's long note wrestles with whether πορνείᾳ (G4202) means ante-nuptial unchastity or post-nuptial adultery, and concludes that the narrower reading “cannot be maintained.” Barnes reads the exception as the single ground that makes divorce lawful; Poole distinguishes the innocent from the offending party; Ellicott holds that what Christ allows is a separation from bed and board, not from the bond.

iv. Given, not achieved — 10-12

⚙ The disciples reach for the same word the Pharisees used, αἰτία (G156), and conclude that the terms are not worth the marriage. Cambridge measures the shock: “Nothing could prove more clearly the revolution in thought brought to pass by Christ than this.” Poole is harder on them, saying they should rather have concluded that husbands and wives “had need to learn to deny themselves,” and reminds us that the best of men have their infirmities. Ellicott observes that Milton's Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce is little more than an elaborate expansion of their protest. Jesus neither endorses nor scolds: χωροῦσιν (G5562) is “make room for,” a spatial verb, which Geneva explains by translation, that “a straight and narrow place is not able to receive many things,” and δέδοται (G1325) is a perfect passive, a completed gift. Gill: chastity in singleness “is not of nature, but of grace: it is the gift of God.” Then the hardest sentence in the unit. Three classes of εὐνοῦχοι (G2135), the third self-made by εὐνούχισαν (G2134) for the kingdom's sake. Gill and Pulpit both record that Origen took it literally and mutilated himself, and both reject that reading; Benson sorts the three classes by nature, by violence, and by grace; Ellicott, who is the boldest here, says the Church of Rome and the monastic founders “were not wrong in their ideal of the highest form of life,” their mistake being to impose it on those without the power to bear it. Pulpit closes with the restraint we think the text deserves: “Christ institutes no comparison between the single and married states.”

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

⚙ Offered to be tested, not believed on our word. The unit is one argument run backwards through time. The Pharisees stand on a statute (Deuteronomy 24:1); Jesus goes behind the statute to the creation, and dates the statute by it with a perfect tense: γέγονεν, it has not come to be so from the beginning. That move has a consequence the commentators mostly flinch at, and which we state plainly because it is in the grammar and not in us: the concession was written toward a hardness (πρὸς ... σκληροκαρδίαν) that Mark 16:14 will name in the apostles themselves after the resurrection. Nobody in this chapter is standing outside the diagnosis. Then notice the passives. The man is glued to his wife; God yoked; the word is given. Every verb that makes marriage or celibacy possible has someone other than the husband as its subject, and every verb of rupture (release, separate, put away) has the man as subject. That is the shape of the whole passage: what is done to us holds, what we do tears. So when the disciples conclude that marriage on these terms is not worth entering, Jesus does not lighten the terms and does not praise their escape; he tells them that the escape is itself a gift, and gives it a name (eunuch) that the Law had used to exclude people from the assembly (Deuteronomy 23:1) and that Isaiah had used to promise a name better than sons (Isaiah 56:4-5). We read that as deliberate: the Lord takes the Law's word of exclusion and makes it a vocation in the kingdom. Where we under-claim: this unit will not settle the modern divorce and remarriage question by itself, because the manuscripts of verse 9 vary, the sense of πορνείᾳ is contested among sound men, and the ancient commentators who agree that divorce is permitted for adultery mostly deny that remarriage follows. Anyone who tells you the case is closed here is claiming more than the text hands over.

Every verb that holds a marriage together is passive; every verb that tears it has a man as its subject. (This line is machine synthesis, not Scripture.)

⚙

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 verb that closes a discourse verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ Matthew 19:1 and Matthew 13:53 share the same seam: “when Jesus had finished these words, he removed.” μεταίρω (G3332) appears in only two verses in the whole New Testament, and these are they, paired with τελέω (G5055), Matthew's discourse-closing verb. Pulpit notes the formulary character of the opening, “commencing, as usual, with the formulary, And it came to pass.” The link is structural in effect (Matthew is building a book of five discourses) but verbal in its evidence.

Matthew 13:53

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3332 μεταίρω (in 2 vv, so these two verses are its entire New Testament range) and G5055 τελέω (in 28 vv), with G3753 ὅτε (in 102 vv); both verses Greek, same author

What God yoked together verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ Matthew 19:6 and Mark 10:9 are the same saying in the same words, and συζεύγνυμι (G4801) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Geneva glosses the yoke image at Matthew 19:6: God “Has made them yokefellows, as the marriage itself is called a yoke, by a borrowed kind of speech.” Mark is the control text for this whole unit, and Cambridge, Poole and Pulpit all read Matthew through it.

Mark 10:9

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4801 συζεύγνυμι (in 2 vv, its complete range) and G5563 χωρίζω (in 12 vv); both verses Greek

The scroll of standing-away verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ The Pharisees' quotation of Moses in Matthew 19:7 is reported in Mark 10:4 with the same rare noun, ἀποστάσιον (G647), “something separative,” a scroll of standing-apart. Pulpit notes what the document accomplished procedurally: it required a writing “formally prepared and witnessed, necessitating certain delay and publicity,” and Barnes adds that the delay itself was a brake on a husband's anger.

Mark 10:4

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G647 ἀποστάσιον (in 3 vv, rare), G975 βιβλίον (in 29 vv), G630 ἀπολύω (in 61 vv); both verses Greek

Hardness of heart, and whose verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ σκληροκαρδία (G4641) occurs in only three verses. One is Matthew 19:8, one is Mark 10:5 (the same conversation), and one is Mark 16:14, where the risen Christ upbraids the eleven for exactly this. Cambridge notes at Matthew 19:8 that interpreters divide over whether the hardness is toward God or toward wives, and Ellicott extends the principle to every concessive law. We take the Mark 16:14 occurrence as the sting: the word the Lord uses of the Pharisees' fathers is the word he uses of his own apostles.

Mark 10:5 · Mark 16:14

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G4641 σκληροκαρδία (in 3 vv, so Matthew 19:8, Mark 10:5 and Mark 16:14 exhaust it); all Greek

Male and female, and one in Christ verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ ἄρσην (G730) and θῆλυς (G2338) are both rare in the New Testament, and the cluster that carries them is small: Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6, Romans 1:27 and Galatians 3:28. The same created pairing that Jesus cites to make marriage indissoluble is the pairing Paul says is transcended in Christ (“there is neither male nor female”) and the pairing Romans 1:27 says is inverted in sin. ⚙ We claim only the lexical cluster and the shared reference to the creation of the sexes; Paul in Galatians is speaking of standing in Christ, not of marriage, and to read him as dissolving Matthew 19:4 would be to overrun both texts.

Mark 10:6 · Galatians 3:28 · Romans 1:27

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G730 ἄῤῥην (in 7 vv) and G2338 θῆλυς (in 5 vv), both rare, plus G1520 εἷς (in 288 vv) with Galatians 3:28 and G746 ἀρχή (in 55 vv) with Mark 10:6; all verses Greek, so a real verbal cluster, though the theological uses differ

“Made them male and female” and “one flesh”: the two quotations structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Verses 4 and 5 are not allusions but citations: Genesis 1:27 (with Genesis 5:2) and Genesis 2:24, quoted in Greek. Barnes gives the references and the argument; Poole says Jesus “refers them to the first institution of marriage, and for that to the book of Genesis”; Pulpit records the textual detail that οἱ δύο, “the two,” stands in the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch but not in the present Hebrew of Genesis 2:24, and that “Our Lord adopts the addition as conveying the correct sense.” Ellicott adds that words spoken by Adam, “prompted by the Holy Spirit,” may be heard as “an oracle from God.”

Genesis 1:27 · Genesis 5:2 · Genesis 2:24

basis: Explicit quotation, named in the BSB text itself and in Barnes, Poole and Pulpit at these verses. A Greek to Hebrew pair shares no computable Strong's lexeme, so the Verifier can record no verbal basis and no verbal tier is claimed, even though this is a quotation in fact

Moses' certificate: the statute behind the question structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Verse 7 cites Deuteronomy 24:1-4 by content. Barnes, Gill, Poole and Pulpit all name it. Poole shows how the Pharisees had stretched it, reading “some uncleanness” as “any kind of deformity, or natural infirmity, not merely of moral uncleanness”; Pulpit notes that Moses elsewhere forbade divorce outright (Deuteronomy 22:13-19, 28-29), which is decisive against calling the Deuteronomy provision a command to divorce.

Deuteronomy 24:1 · Deuteronomy 22:19

basis: Explicit citation of Moses on the certificate of divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) in the Pharisees' question, with Deuteronomy 22:13-19 adduced by Pulpit as the counter-case. Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is computable and no verbal tier is claimed

Circumcise the heart: the diagnosis Israel already had structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The hardness Jesus names in verse 8 is not a new charge. The Law itself demanded a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 10:16), Jeremiah repeated the demand (Jeremiah 4:4), Ezekiel promised the replacement of the stone heart with flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), and Malachi tied divorce directly to covenant faithlessness. Ellicott draws exactly this conclusion, that “hardness of heart” explains whatever else in the Law “strikes us as deviating from the standard of eternal righteousness embodied in the law of Christ.” ⚙ Our own addition is only the chain of texts; the diagnosis is the Lord's.

Deuteronomy 10:16 · Jeremiah 4:4 · Ezekiel 36:26 · Malachi 2:16

basis: Shared motif of the hard and uncircumcised heart, with Malachi 2:14-16 as the prophetic word against divorce. Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme exists to compute and the link is tiered thematic, not verbal; the Ezekiel and Jeremiah contacts are ours by motif, not cited by the Gospel text

The eunuch: from the excluded to the named typological

⚙ Deuteronomy 23:1 shut the eunuch out of the assembly of the LORD. Isaiah 56:3-5 answers it directly: let not the eunuch say “I am a dry tree,” for God will give him “a name better than sons and daughters.” In Matthew 19:12 the Lord takes that very word, εὐνοῦχος (G2135), and makes it a vocation “for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens.” Pulpit points the reader to Isaiah 56:3-4 at this verse, and Cambridge notes that men had abstained from marriage “in order to devote themselves to the study of the law.” ⚙ We read the reversal as figural, not as a quotation: Matthew does not cite Isaiah here, and the connection is ours and Pulpit's by motif.

Deuteronomy 23:1 · Isaiah 56:4

basis: Figural reading of the Law's exclusion of the eunuch overturned by Isaiah's promise and taken up as a kingdom vocation. Widely held in substance (Pulpit cross-references Isaiah 56:3-4 at Matthew 19:12) but not a quotation; Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is computable and no verbal tier is possible

The same saying, twice before, in Matthew's own book structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Matthew has already recorded this ruling twice, at Matthew 5:31-32, and Luke has it at Luke 16:18. Ellicott, Barnes, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit all send the reader back to Matthew 5:32 rather than re-argue the case, and Benson (citing Macknight) makes the repetition the point: the Pharisees probably knew his opinion already and hoped a third statement would either incense the people or catch him contradicting himself, but “Jesus, always consistent with himself, boldly declared the third time against arbitrary divorces.”

Matthew 5:31 · Matthew 5:32

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G630 ἀπολύω (in 61 vv), G1135 γυνή (in 195 vv), G3056 λόγος (in 318 vv). The lexemes are common rather than rare, so we decline a verbal tier and record this as the same author restating the same ruling

The exception clause: worded differently in every witness flagged: verify source

⚙ This is the one link in the unit we will not certify. Matthew 19:9 carries an exception (“not upon sexual immorality”) that Mark 10:11 and Luke 16:18 do not carry at all, and Matthew's own wording here is contested: Cambridge records that “and shall marry another” is omitted in the Sinaitic manuscript and that “causeth her to commit adultery” has high manuscript authority, while Pulpit reports that Tregelles, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort omit the εἰ, and that Lachmann imports the clause from Matthew 5:32. Pulpit also notes from Mark that this part of the conversation was spoken “in the house,” to the disciples, and that Matthew 19:10-12 has no parallel anywhere. ⚙ We therefore flag the harmonisation itself: the saying is certainly shared, but any claim about its exact wording, and so about what it exempts, rests on witnesses that disagree.

Mark 10:11 · Luke 16:18

basis: Verifier gives only common shared lexemes for Mark 10:11 (G630 ἀπολύω in 61 vv, G1135 γυνή in 195 vv), so no verbal tier is available; and the substance of the link, the exception clause, is textually contested in Matthew 19:9 (Cambridge on the Sinaitic omissions; Pulpit on Tregelles, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and on Lachmann's importation from Matthew 5:32) and absent from Mark and Luke. Luke 16:18 is our reference from the commentators, not a Verifier candidate

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The husband who does not put away ancient/widely-held

⚙ The passive at the centre of verse 5, κολληθήσεται (G2853), “he shall be glued to his wife,” is the verse Paul quotes in Ephesians 5:31 and then calls a great mystery concerning Christ and the church. That reading is not ours: Pulpit records at Matthew 19:5 that “St. Paul quotes this text in Ephesians 5:31,” and Gill points to 1 Corinthians 6:16 for the same words. Take the two together and the argument of this unit gains a second floor. The reason a man may not release his wife is that the leaving and the being glued are the shape of what God has done in Christ, who left the Father's house, was joined to a people who had earned a certificate of divorce (Isaiah 50:1, which Benson cites here on God being “reluctant to put us away”), and did not send her away. Barnes and Geneva keep the argument on the plane of law and creation; Paul, Pulpit and Benson let it reach to the gospel.

Ephesians 5:31 · 1 Corinthians 6:16 · Isaiah 50:1

The Creator who quotes himself ancient/widely-held

⚙ Jesus introduces Genesis 2:24, which Genesis records as Adam's speech, with a bare “and said,” having just named the subject as ὁ κτίσας (G2936), “the One who created.” Ellicott feels the weight of it: words spoken by Adam but “prompted by the Holy Spirit, and stamped with the divine sanction, might well be looked on as an oracle from God.” Gill reaches the same conclusion by a different route, that the words are “the effect of a pure revelation from God,” and cites Jarchi's gloss, “the holy Spirit says thus.” ⚙ Our reading adds only this: the speaker who can settle what Genesis meant by going behind Moses to “the beginning,” and who says “but I say unto you” in verse 9 with an authority Barnes marks by emphasis, is speaking as the One whose act is under discussion. Cambridge's “higher and absolute law, which has outlived the law of Moses” has to have a lawgiver, and in this passage he is standing in Peraea taking questions.

Genesis 2:24 · John 1:3 · Colossians 1:16

The dry tree given a name novel

⚙ The third class of verse 12 is the only one that is chosen, and it is chosen “for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens.” Ellicott says the hearers “could hardly fail, as they thought over them, to look on their Master's life as having been the great perfect example of what He thus taught,” and Pulpit and Gill both read the kingdom clause as freedom for service rather than merit earned. ⚙ Our addition is the Isaiah reversal: the Law called the eunuch unfit for the assembly (Deuteronomy 23:1) and Isaiah promised him an everlasting name better than sons (Isaiah 56:4-5). Christ, who had no wife and no children, is himself the dry tree who is given a name above every name and a seed he did not beget (Isaiah 53:10). We mark this as a figural reading rather than an ancient consensus: the commentators in this brief connect verse 12 to Isaiah 56 and to Paul's celibacy (1 Corinthians 7:7), but the identification of Christ as the eunuch of Isaiah 56 is our own and should be tested.

Isaiah 56:4 · Isaiah 53:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:7

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)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Verse 9 is textually unsettled. Cambridge records that “and shall marry another” is omitted in the Sinaitic manuscript, that the reading “causeth her to commit adultery” (as at Matthew 5:32) “has high MS. authority,” and that the Sinaitic manuscript also omits the final clause about marrying a divorced woman. Pulpit adds that Tregelles, Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort omit the εἰ of εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ, that Mark omits the exception clause altogether, and that Lachmann imports παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας from Matthew 5:32. Any doctrine of divorce built on the precise wording of this verse is built on contested ground, and we have not pretended otherwise.

(2) The sense of πορνείᾳ (G4202) is disputed among sound interpreters. Pulpit sets out at length the case that it means ante-nuptial unchastity and then rejects it (“The interpretation, therefore, given above cannot be maintained”), while noting that the majority of the Fathers from Hermas and Justin Martyr onward held the bond indissoluble, and that those who allow divorce for adultery are “unanimous in asserting that, by Christ's ordinance, remarriage is prohibited to the husband during the culprit's life.” Ellicott, Barnes, Poole and Geneva do not agree among themselves on remarriage. We have recorded the disagreement instead of arbitrating it.

(3) Verses 10-12 are peculiar to Matthew. Cambridge notes at verse 3 that “Matthew 19:10-12 are peculiar to Matthew” and that Mark places the part of the conversation answering to verse 9 “in the house,” privately with the disciples. Gill and Pulpit agree that the Lord repeated privately what he had said to the Pharisees. So the eunuch saying, the hardest in the unit, is singly attested, and we have not leaned on it beyond what one witness will bear.

(4) Geography of verse 1. Poole, Gill, Benson, Cambridge and Pulpit divide over whether πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου qualifies “came” or “Judea,” and all concede Judea had no territory east of the river. We took no side.

(5) Capped sources. The Benson entry at verse 4, the Gill entry at verse 12, and the Pulpit entry at verse 9 are truncated in the brief (Pulpit by some 3,764 characters). Our treatment of the remarriage question therefore rests on the visible portion of Pulpit's note plus Ellicott, Barnes and Poole, and could be revised if the full note were consulted.

(6) Cross-Testament links. Verses 4, 5, 7, 8 and 12 all touch the Hebrew Scriptures, and verses 4 and 5 are outright quotations. Because a Greek to Hebrew pair shares no computable Strong's lexeme, none of those threads is tiered verbal, however explicit the quotation is in fact; the basis line on each badge says so. The verbal tiers in this unit are all Greek to Greek and all rest on rare lexemes named by the Verifier (G3332, G4801, G647, G4641, G730 with G2338).

(7) What is machine synthesis. Every literal rendering, divergence, word note, movement, thread body, christ reading and the sola reading and pullquote are ⚙ fallible synthesis. The interlinear, parses, Strong's numbers, lexeme frequencies and all quoted commentary are sourced. The Ezekiel 36:26 and Jeremiah 4:4 contacts in the hardness-of-heart thread, and the identification of Christ with Isaiah's eunuch, are ours and are marked as such.

✦ = 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)