He saysλέγειto them,αὐτοῖς“Moses,Μωϋσῆςbecause ofπρὸςyour hardness of heart,τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶνpermittedἐπέτρεψενyouὑμῖνto divorceἀπολῦσαιyour wives,τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶνbutδὲfromἀπ’the beginningἀρχῆςit has notοὐbeenγέγονενso.οὕτως
Matthew 19:8
Study it in the app“He says to them, “Moses, because of your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.”
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 19:8, word by word
- He saysλέγειlegei
say
To express something in words to others.
Where else “legei” appears- “MosesΜωϋσῆςMōysēs
Moses
Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt and received God's law.
Where else “Mōysēs” appears- your hardness of heartσκληροκαρδίανsklērokardian
hardness of heart
Hardness of heart: refusing to listen to God.
Where else “sklērokardian” appears- permittedἐπέτρεψενepetrepsen
permit
Permit, allow.
Where else “epetrepsen” appears- to divorceἀπολῦσαιapolysai
divorce
To end a marriage by sending the wife away.
Where else “apolysai” appears- your wivesγυναῖκαςgynaikas
wife
A married woman, joined to her husband.
Where else “gynaikas” appears- the beginningἀρχῆςarchēs
beginning
The point where something starts: its first moment.
Where else “archēs” appears- beenγέγονενgegonen
become
To turn into something new, different from before.
Where else “gegonen” appears
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
The question about divorce
See them side by side
Matthew 19:1-12
1And it happened when Jesus had finished these words that he departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2And many crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3And Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” 4But he answered and said, “Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 7They say to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to divorce her?” 8He says to them, “Moses, because of your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” 10The disciples say to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
1And getting up from there, he goes into the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; and crowds gather around him again, and as was his custom, he was again teaching them. 2And they were asking him whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him. 3But he answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4And they said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.” 5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6But from the beginning of creation, ‘male and female he made them.’ 7‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the two will become one flesh’; so they are no longer two but one flesh. 9So what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 10And in the house the disciples were asking him again about this. 11And he says to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
The context
7They say to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to divorce her?”
8 · This verse (above)
9And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
To study Matthew 19 in a group
1. What it says
What did Jesus answer the young man who asked what good to do to have eternal life, and how did he react (vv. 16–22)?
2. What it means
Why did Jesus welcome the children and say the kingdom belongs to those like them (vv. 13–14)?
3. How I live it
The young man left sad because of his possessions (v. 22). What is hard for you to let go of, and what might Jesus say about it?