It
was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
Matthew 5:31-32
Matthew 5 [27.] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.
Matthew 5 [31.] “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
Matthew 5 [33.] “Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’ but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
Meaning:
After speaking about lust in the heart, Jesus turns to a closely related subject: divorce. In his day, many treated divorce lightly. Jesus restores God’s original purpose for marriage and shows that the law of Moses was never meant to make breaking a marriage easy.
- “It was also said”
Jesus refers to the law in Deuteronomy, where a husband who found “some unseemly thing” in his wife could “write her a bill of divorce, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house” (Deuteronomy 24:1). This law did not command divorce. It regulated a practice that already existed and gave the dismissed wife a written document that protected her and allowed her to remarry.
By Jesus’ time, rabbis debated what “some unseemly thing” meant. The school of Shammai limited it to serious sexual sin. The school of Hillel allowed a man to divorce his wife for almost any reason, even for spoiling a meal. In practice, the words “let him give her a writing of divorce” had become a convenient formula for ending a marriage, while the wife, who usually could not divorce her husband, was left without support.
- “But I tell you”
Jesus speaks with his own authority. He does not deny that Moses permitted divorce, but he explains why: “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so” (Matthew 19:8). God’s plan from creation (Genesis 2:24) was, in Jesus’ words, that “a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.” He adds, “What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart” (Matthew 19:5-6).
The prophet Malachi had rebuked men who abandoned their wives, “Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant” (Malachi 2:14). Marriage is a covenant made before God, not a contract that one partner can cancel at will.
- “Except for the cause of sexual immorality”
Jesus names one exception: sexual immorality, which itself breaks the one-flesh union. Even then divorce is permitted, not required; forgiveness and reconciliation remain possible. Outside this cause, a man who sends his wife away exposes her to adultery, because in that society she would most likely need to remarry to survive, and the new union would be adultery in God’s eyes, since the first marriage had not truly been dissolved. Mark records the same teaching more briefly: “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her” (Mark 10:11).
The Significance of Matthew 5:31-32
- Honoring marriage as a covenant
These verses call couples to see marriage as a lifelong covenant before God, to be protected through patience, forgiveness and humility. Paul repeats the Lord’s command “that the wife not leave her husband” and “that the husband not leave his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).
- Grace for the broken
Jesus’ teaching is demanding, yet he also showed deep compassion to people whose marriages had failed. Those who have experienced divorce can find forgiveness, healing and a new beginning in him. The church is called to uphold the standard and to care for the hurting with the same grace.
Cross-References:
Deuteronomy 24:1: "that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house." The law Jesus explains.
Matthew 19:8: "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so." The reason for the concession.
Malachi 2:14: "though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant." Marriage as a covenant.
Conclusion: In Matthew 5:31-32 Jesus corrects the casual use of Moses’ divorce law. The certificate of divorce was a concession to hardness of heart, not God’s plan. From the beginning God joined husband and wife as one flesh in a lifelong covenant. Apart from sexual immorality, divorce leads to adultery. Jesus calls his followers to faithfulness in marriage, while offering grace and healing to those who have been hurt by its breakdown.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible