Matthew 5:31

Matthew 5:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
• New International Version (NIV)“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
• New Living Translation (NLT)“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’

Context of Matthew 5:31

29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.'

Matthew 5:31 word by word

Ἐρρέθη δέ ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• It hath been saidἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
• ·δέde · thenG1161
• ·ὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• Whosoeverὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ·ἄνan · ifG302
• shall put awayἀπολύωapoluō · to release: divorceG630
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• wifeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• wifeγυνήgunē · woman: wifeG1135
• let him giveδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
• a writing of divorcementἀποστάσιονapostasion · divorceG647

Cross-references for Matthew 5:31

• Matthew 19:3And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"
• Deuteronomy 24:1"When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,
• Jeremiah 3:1"If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.
• Mark 10:2And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

Commentaries on Matthew 5:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Whosoever shall put away his wife - The Jewish doctors gave great license in the matter of divorce. Among them, a man might divorce his wife if she displeased him even in the dressing of his victuals! Rabbi Akiba said, "If any man saw a woman handsomer than his own wife, he might put his wife away; because it is said in the law, If she find not favor in his eyes." Deuteronomy 24:1. Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, in his Life, tells us, with the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31It hath been said … - That is, by Moses, Deuteronomy 24:1-2. The husband was directed, if he put his wife away, to give her a bill of divorce, that is a certificate of the fact she had been his wife, and that he had dissolved the marriage. There was considerable difference of opinion among the Jews for what causes the husband was permitted to do this. One of their famous schools maintained that it might be done for any cause, however trivial. The other…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 27-32Verses 27-32 Victory over the desires of the heart, must be attended with painful exertions. But it must be done. Every thing is bestowed to save us from our sins, not in them. All our senses and powers must be kept from those things which lead to transgression. Those who lead others into temptation to sin, by dress or in other ways, or leave them in it, or expose them to it, make themselves guilty of their sin, and will be accountable for it. If painful…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31A certificate of divorce is a document that makes a divorce legal. Evidence shows this document allowed remarriage. “The essential formula in the notice of divorce is, ‘Lo, you are free to marry any man.’ … The essential formula in a writ of emancipation is, ‘Lo, you are a freedwoman: lo, you belong to yourself’” (Mishnah Gittin 9:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. It hath been said--This shortened form was perhaps intentional, to mark a transition from the commandments of the Decalogue to a civil enactment on the subject of divorce, quoted from De 24:1. The law of divorce--according to its strictness or laxity--has so intimate a bearing upon purity in the married life, that nothing could be more natural than to pass from the seventh commandment to the loose views on that subject then current. Whosoever shall…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 5:31

• Commandments
• Divorce
• Instruction
• Judaism
• Law
• Marriage
• Quotations and Allusions
• Religion

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Communication
• Despitefully
• Divorce
• Enemy
• Fornication
• Forswear
• Gift
• Hunger
• Inherit

Commentaries on Matthew 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings