They call this position the nullity view of the exception clause and draw from it the conclusion that fornication nullified the marriagea legitimate marriage has never occurred. Fornication does not justify a real divorce, but only an annulment, and remarriage for the innocent husband would not be justified either. The word Matthew uses is porneia (G4202) from which we get our word pornography. I dont think men should shoot someone else in the head. Proverbs 15:32 is one such example: He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. On the Feinbergs logic, the NASB publishers would be guilty of substantive distraction by their marginal reference to Proverbs 15:5 (He who regards reproof is prudent.). Yet here, in the first instance of Jesus speaking directly to the subject of the meaning of Deuteronomy 24, Jesus seeks to correct an interpretation which doesnt even mention the remarriage. The man makes her to be an adulteress. The man is not said in this case to commit adulteryhis sin is rather that he becomes implicated in the wrong of adultery on the part of his dismissed wife.273. . It was said, Whoever sends his wife away (Apolyo, to send away), let him give her a certificate of divorce (Apostasion, to sever). Moses taught that when a man sends his wife out of his house he must give her a certificate of divorce verifying that she is no longer married to her husband. 290 Deponent is what we call a verb which had lost its active form during is linguistic evolution, but which clearly retains an active sense though only a passive form is to be found in the language. Matthew 5:31-32 contains Jesus' comments about divorce, delivered during the Sermon on the Mount. Third, porneia as incest fits the Jewish context. Matthew 5:31-32 contains Jesus' comments about divorce, delivered during the Sermon on the Mount. Sin is always the reason for divorce. If modern day culture applied this principle of no divorce, how would culture look different? There is only one possible exception. Spend money on her. The Feinbergs, find fault with such references to Malachi.222 They suggest that to do so detracts from the antithetical response of Jesus. Why should we suppose this? Jesus references the teachings of Moses concerning divorce. 1 Cor. There definitely passive form of the verb commit adultery may possibly have an active force. Does Matthew 5:32 really give a reason for divorce? 105, 112. This is Jesus kingdom platform. Second, the passages that include both terms retain a sense of the distinctiveness of each when you presume the concentric nature of their definitions. Note that, in this series, no less than four times a more limited concept precedes a broader concept that (linguistically) encompasses it: 1. If she go not as thou wouldest have her, cut her off from thy flesh. Murray: The wife does not become an adulteress simply by being divorced It is necessary, therefore, to envisage some subsequent action in which the woman is involved as drawn within the scope of this expression Makes her to suffer adultery275, Murray was aware, however, that R. C. H. Lenski had previously challenged this traditional interpretive framework as poorly analyzed by it proponents. Understanding Matthew 5:31-32: Divorce. 31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Both schools were concerned for the rights of the man and had little concern for the woman, thus reversing the concern of the Bible. As I noted earlier, stigmatization could be involved in the adulterization as a secondary concept, which determined the choice of the passive voice by Matthew. Q. Quesnell supports this view, as do G. J. Wenham and J. Dupont.235 D. A. Carsons critique is telling: the key verb (apoleo) is used twice in the Matthew 19 parallel. Observe that they do not merely wish to direct their readers attention to the self-righteousness of men who feel that they have fulfilled the letter of the law by providing a writing of divorcement. Why was this considered a test and not a sincere question? Actually, the verb form moikeusatai appears twice in that verse. Matthew 5:27-30 continues to expand on a theme Jesus introduced in Matthew 5:20. Since they were legal according to prevailing laws, it would not do to simply ask the men to stop acting like husbands to the women of the land. And they cannot bear it. Murray then considers evidence from the Septuagint and finds but one possible instance of the passive of moikeuo in the canonical books: Leviticus 20:10. 2. But these legal marriages of the apostates were unacceptable to the Mosaic legislation. HENRY ALFORD The Greek New Testament Matthew Commentary. We shall critique each species of this view in turn. All are blessed because of their part in the kingdom of heaven. Structure. See also Appendix. The Greeks seem to have loved participles, and a good number of that verb form are found in key divorce passages. If, as Lenski insists (and concerning which Murray has nothing grammatically to say), it is improper to bring the subsequent clause (and the man who marries the divorced woman) into the interpretation of the questioned clause, then Murray has not proven his point, but may in fact have proven what he intended to deny, that is, that the woman is the recipient of the stigmatization as an adulteress in the event of the divorce. Here Laney ties the context of the Herod-Herodias affair to the exception clause in Matthew 19, arguing that restricting porneia to incest in that passage is all that is needed to give sufficient meaning in light of the historical context. Carson does not tell us. An example of such a use is in Matthew 26:45, where Christ comments about His pending betrayal using the present tense, even though the exact act was yet a bit in the future. Though it is true that each of the first three sayings in the Sermon implies the disciple is a sinner, a careful reading of verses 31 and 32 shows that the sinner is only a sinner when he divorces, not prior to the divorce. To send a wife away without a certificate of divorce was cruel. 220 The reader is invited to consider the lexicon definitions/uses of kai found in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. A leading proponent (in America) of the incest interpretation of porneia is Carl Laney. Say please and thank you. Dont talk with your mouth full or chew with your mouth open. Accepting the Feinbergs statement of that tradition to the degree that they are correct in saying that men believed themselves to have fulfilled the letter of the law by merely granting a bill of divorcement to their wives, one wonders why it is not sufficiently antithetical to say that such a man is guilty of breaking the Law by doing so without the grounds of porneia? However, two points militate against the acceptance of such a theory. The mind of the reader would have included more in the meaning of porneia than the betrothal view allows, given the common usage of the word, so the burden of proof rests upon the betrothal school. Why is this adultery? This is not who I am. Learn to be a good cook. We shall discuss the matter in greater detail in chapter 7. It is improper grammatically to find the responsible agent for her adultery in a second, hypothetical husband, for the causal agent of an infinitive must precede it. It is quite another to tell Jewish believers to refrain from marrying Gentile unbelievers so as not to offend Jews. I hope to deal with the structuring of the Sermon in more detail in a later work on Biblical ethics. The Erasmian (Erasmus) View: Porneia means adultery or some other sexual offense. The two became one flesh. Instead, Jesus words (v. 32) are antithetical to the common understanding (mentioned in v. 31) of Deut 24, and Deut. ( Matt 5:31-32 WEB) Divorce over dinner? 68-69. Their position included an interpretation of the difference between the Masoretic and Septuagintal (LXX) texts of Genesis 2:24. But in this instance, the marriage he destroys is not his own, but that of another man and his wife. A stir-fried dinner MorgueFile free photo Stir-fried food is not to everyone's taste. 237 Cf. But on the point of the womans grounds for putting away her husband for abuse, the Law was still clear and relevant (though often ignored by the rabbis). Upon searching, I found Deut. Moreover, the presumption by Talmudic scholars is that Shammai meant by unchastity behavior characteristic of an adulteress, such as immodest dress, going without the veil, and spinning in the streets (not as in turning around, but as in working on a spindle while waiting for a john) (jSot 1.1). The Betrothal (engagement) View: Porneia means a preconsummational breach of chastity. They stay together. The grammar of the key verb form (he who is divorcing) is a present active participle, masculine singular. Along the say, I considered Malachi 2, which performs a similar service for the concept of a wife being the object of treachery (adultery) by her divorcing husband. Make time to spend with them doing fun things. As to voice, its force may be presumed to be not as strong as that of the main verb, but it cannot be ignored. Insofar as virgin births were unheard of, betrothal unfaithfulness must have been his best guess! Finally, they do not think that the overall conclusions drawn above (apparently driven by the passive translation), do justice to the antithetical context, i.e., Jesus powerful indictment of the man who thinks he is righteous because he has met the letter of the law by giving his wife a bill of divorcement., Their first objection betrays a grave misunderstanding of who bears the burden of proof in this discussion. First, I believe that the Old Testament (Jer. Yet there is a very good reason for not interpreting a husbands porneia as being grounds for his wife divorcing him. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Find time while you are at work or out doing ministry to call and text your wife. Jesus set high standards for anger and moral purity. It shows her that you prize and value her. 21:10-11). I cannot find in the Feinbergs arguments a reason to change my interpretation that, in the first saying, Jesus is countering Pharasaical teaching that a man is guiltless in a divorce simply by providing his wife with an official writ. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 28:20). Matt. Rather, the thrust of my argument is that Matthew did not chose to do so, and therefore we are justified in asking what the difference is between a simple use of the wording of Mark 10:11 and the more complex verb chosen by Matthew. Lenski, as a secondary consideration, might have determined not selecting the words Mark did.295 The words Matthew did choose allow enough ambiguity to include both the idea of committing adultery against the first wife. This tense implies punctiliar action, action which is conceptually complete, not a continuing activity. As such, marriage is a holy and sacred relationship that is to depict Gods relationship with us. porneia, vol. Dont just say, I am not good at cooking. In short, I find this variation ethically sub-biblical.269. Nonetheless, the Pharisees were clearly unconcerned with the impact of such a divorce could reflect upon the womans character. This in effect puts the sin of the husband upon the head of the woman! But we, His latter-day disciples, have taken those few words and produced from them our own Pharasaical controversies and traditions. And, while they do bring up the context in their third argument,291 which I will address below, at no point do the Feinbergs appeal to similar contexts in support of their own translation, and their defense of the active translation rests solely upon an appeal to usual interpretation and to their own intuition.292 Needless to say, neither of these defenses is very impressive.293, The second objection presented by the Feinbergs involves a serious misrepresentation (and perhaps misunderstanding) regarding the importance of Deuteronomy 22 and Malachi 2 to my understanding of the passive. There he argues that it has the sense of active, even if passive, but could be middle. Such an interpretation would be more defensible had the main verb been in the future tense: He will cause her to commit adultery when she remarries. Rather, the grammar directs our attention toward the sole event of her divorce, which alone in the saying identifies an action in which the making occurs. Remarriage is only the subject of Deuteronomy 24 in the material that is not cited as Pharasaically misconstrued. Actually the word in the Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21 texts is moicheia, a variant of moichos. Taken alone, thats impressive, but lexicon goes on to add the sense of this definition: and so, that is, namely. But the traditional interpretation, which interconnects the clauses is not doing that either. If that could be done, then surely He would have lowered His standard for the cost of salvation, rather than require the death of His Son on the Cross. First, Jesus stresses things that were not the surface emphasis of the Old Testament Law. Then you get the kingdom of heaven within you, and others around you also experience it! 5:31, by allusion, teaches that if she were innocent of allegations of adultery, her husband should bear the guilt; Deut. Pull out the chair for your wife. Read full chapter. 2. We want to help you study the Bible, obey the Bible, and teach the Bible to others. For now, however, we will satisfy ourselves to state that no use of kai seems arguable from the grammar which supports the traditional understanding that the meaning of the first clause awaits the speaking of the second. This will develop your relationship with them and make them realize that your home is a fun place. 165-66. In other words, the divorce was a scandalon to herthe trigger to the trap that sprang shut upon her at the time of her remarriage. 3. They argued that the inclusion of two in the Septuagint (or a text similar to it) properly conveyed the sense of the original. First Corinthians 6:9 yields the same analysis: is theft separable from coveting? This would prohibit both polygyny and remarriage, practices which made sense and were occasionally required by a full application of the Law and the Prophets in a fallen world. The infinitive in question seems to be the direct object of the main verb, in our case, to make or cause It identifies what the divorcing man makes her to experience. It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce., It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'. It is mentioned in Matthew 5:31-32 (which is our passage today) and is if one side is unfaithful. Jesus is the second Moses prophesied by Moses, giving a new word from God from a different mountain. The conservative school of Shammai thought the mans right to divorce was limited to the case of a wife who had committed something nearly equal to adultery. Jesus informs them that divorce, unless it qualifies by being based on porneia, is an abuse of the wife, an abuse which is the sin of adultery. The causing the man does, occurs when the divorcing takes place, not at some subsequent time, such as her speculated remarriage. 234 Heth and Wenham, Jesus, pp. 3:1; Isa. Matthew 5:31-37 Jesus' Sermon On The Mount: About Divorce, . Be a gentlemen. Though it is not necessary (and indeed is improper according to Matt. The practice of polygyny and the definition of the fornication laws in the Bible preclude any interpretation of such activity as adultery against her. 240 Ibid, p. 15. Be supportive of his work and his career and his ministry. But I am now unconvinced by the kind of argument I used. The people were already doing this kind of thing. Read more here: 20 examples of what it means to be poor in spirit Blessed are those who mourn Regarding Deuteronomy 24:1-4, the verse protects the woman by permitting a path of freedom, so that the treacherous abuser is not tempted to abuse the woman in the marriage. Simply, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her to suffer adultery. This is exactly what the Old Testament Law says in Malachi 2. Jesus is referring to the ceremonious way in which Jews, particularly the Pharisaic types, took oaths. It is difficult to think of Joseph imagining anything other than that Mary had been unfaithful. Condensing ten pages of my text, a good portion of which involves Murrays attempt to respond to Lenski, the Feinbergs represent me as saying that the difficult verb form might better have been replaced by the wording of Mark 10:11. No one argues for interdependence for the sayings of Mark or Luke, neither should it be assumed that the sayings in Matthew 5 should be interpreted interdependently as is commonly done, i.e., the first clause is seen as making sense only when the second is a fact.220. July 5 (7/5/2023) - Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening - Bible As for the Pharisees, if Jesus was right, the teaching of the Old Testament had been eclipsed among them during the inter-testamental period, such that divorce was no longer understood as either an act of sinful treachery or a discipline painfully applied with the appeal for restoration always in view. Would we not hold such a man responsible to stand against his culture and uphold the ideal of God? Its introduction includes the Beatitudes, which inform the listening disciples of the inter- and intra-personal nature of the words that follow. It condemned her to a life of desperate instability. Proverbs 18:22, 19:14, 21:9, 21:19 Wisdom on marriage. I agree, but the conclusions they draw are hasty. Kilgallen, Exception, pp. 241 Steele and Ryrie, Meant, pp. His answer takes people back to creation when God made one man and one woman and put them together. Moses, however, limits this practice by declaring that a spouse twice divorced could not go back to their first spouse. Mind your appearance. Heth and Wenham, however, controvert this use of Ezra by casting doubt over the validity of interfaith marriages. Be romantic. The betrothal view is one that holds that Jesus employs porneia in a technical sense, restricting its use from its usual broad meaning to betrothal unfaithfulness. Play freeze tag. This means that the spouse is now the most important person and responsibility rather than the parent. Be clean. The passive infinitive, he replies, does not say the remarriage causes her to be an adulteress but to commit adultery. Matthew | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4:1-11 | 4:12-25 | 5:1-12 | 5:13-16 | 5:17-26 | 5:27-30 | 5:31-32 | 5:33-42 | 5:43-48 | 6:1-15 | 6:16-23 | 6:24-34 | 7-17 | 18-28 |. 251 Putting all this in the context of the day in which Jesus addressed the disciples, it would not have sufficed for Herod simply to have sent Herodias away. Matthew 5. Carson adds that Kilgallens interpretation will not work in Matthew 19:9, the parallel construction, because there it is the man, not the woman, who will commit adultery.238. Turn off the electronics and TALK with your wife. Learn how to massage and give your wife one. Some versions translate this verb causes, and that raises an interesting contrast between this word and another, similar concept of causation in Matthew 5:29. Finally, it is indeed interesting to compare Matthew 5:31 and Deuteronomy 24:4 on this matter of difficult verb forms. Is that the point Jesus is making in that statement? His main argument centers upon Lenskis self-admittedly tentative translation of the passive as, brings about that she is stigmatized as adulterous. Murray insists that such an interpretation of the force of the aorist passive is wholly unwarranted. Many of their challenges were centered on common controversies of that time. Interestingly, by closing this loophole it would make divorce a lot less attractive for people who thought they could always go back to their first spouse later on with no problem. Surprise him from time to time with a delicious meal. My edition notes numerous uses of and. Several responses are in order. She need not beg on the streets or become a prostitute.. Second, porneia as incest is a first-century Jewish usage. 23:4). 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Some might suggest that Jew-Gentile intermarriage might have been proscribed as a concession to the Jewish community. Offer to watch the children while he goes out to play a sport. The Law, being a standard to be used by the judges in settling communal disputes, emphasized the sorts of actions that the civil authorities could resolve by evidence and expedite with civil action. Nothing could be further from the truth. And, as mentioned, He also would most certainly have known Greek, the common language of the Ancient world. Matthew 5:31-32 KJV - It hath been said, Whosoever shall put - Bible Moikeuthanai is not one of those verbs, therefore, the presumption remains in favor of the passive interpretation and anyone suggesting otherwise has the burden of proof if he suggests another voice/force, namely active. Matthew 5 - Clarke's Commentary - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org It was indeed the blessing that he had got from that Babe which enabled him to bless both God and His parents; but he blesses not the Babe even when he blesses the parents. Confusion enters this discussion, however, when later in his commentary Carson rejects makes her an adulteress in favor of the traditional makes her to commit adultery (Matthew, p. 417). Why does Jesus make a point of using the difficult passive form? This certificate made the divorce official. On this view, the definition of porneia remains as the broad Erasmian position asserts, but effectively ends up in the place of the preteritive view, which denies that the exception clause has anything to do with the prohibition of divorce. (Isaksson), 2. The Herods were egalitarian about divorce. 1. This standard is unchastity. The first is offered by John Kilgallen. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. Remember Herod. The Pharisees answer that Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and send his wife away. For the listening group of disciples, Jesus made it clear that He expected the men to treat their wives properly. Matthew 5:31 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org That is with a stress more on the state of the action as being complete, rather than durative or continuing actions. In a world in which a woman could be divorced for reasons relating to matters from soup to sex, the woman is clearly prejudiced by the action and as the case usually is with prejudice, inquiring minds will not likely assume that only the soup was burned. And into this morass of ethical confusion Jesus stepped, spoke a few words on the subject, and, we may presume, in the minds of His disciples eventually cleared up the issues. First, it is true that porneia is not the normal word for adultery; however, no one really argues that it is. Study the Word and Christian books to learn as much as possible about having a strong marriage. Understanding Matthew 5:31-32: Divorce | D. L. Webster 19? It is likely that his adoptive father Joseph would have had work as a tradesman in the nearby Roman city of Sepphoris, which would have required knowing some Greek. 50:1; and Hosea 1 and 2) and the New (Matt. He then states that it should be translated in the sense of an active verb form (to commit adultery). 280 This natural appears to me to be grammatically unnatural.. To call the literal translation tortuous is to prejudice the discussion. The Pharisees are reported as saying, This woman has been caught in the act herself committing adultery (emphasis added). 1 Its OK to shoot people in the head, if theyre already dead. If you want further to pin the time down for the infinitive, you have to refer to the time sense of the main verb. I believe that the teaching of Jesus analyzed below disagrees with all Pharasaical views that accepted these points. 6:9; Gal. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. Jesuss sermon has the same purpose as the word from God on Mount Sinaiit shows humans how to live constructively in fellowship with God and one another. Stating His own divine authority, I say to you, Jesus gives His disciples a higher standard for grounds for divorce. Some argued that Jewish divorce legislation, as set out in the Talmud, allows a man to divorce his wife should any aspect of her dissatisfy him, and that included how she cooked his food. Jesus summarized his relationship to the Old Testament with this surprising statement in the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" ( Matt. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Matthew Chapter 5 Matthew 5 NLT - The Sermon on the Mount - One day as he - Bible Gateway God had intended that only two should be married. Here is a list of some practical ideas for guys of things to do to strengthen your marriage: Here is a list of practical things a wife can do to strengthen your marriage: There are many ideas here. The divorced woman will not then be made to be an adulteress237 by subsequent remarriage, because the fornication has already rendered her an adulteress. Therefore, it seems better to interpret this verse as condemning the womans husband for stigmatizing her as an adulteress. 161-62, and New Testament Problems (New York: Macmillan, 1929), pp. See Deuteronomy 24:1-14. The divorcing occurs at the time of the causing, not previously to it. 19:9, there is only one saying.) This allows Him to see their level of understanding and the position they were coming from. The commenting passage in Matthew 5:32 offers to us another unusual form. Further, it is hard to see how such a protective law could have been made stronger. Even better, offer to go with him to watch him play. Focus on being the kind of person that God wants you to be. 22 or Mal. Heth/Wenham also report several journal articles that criticize this view.231 The criticism is that this translation is ill advised. Divorce is sin However, believers need to aim much higher than just not getting a divorce. Many couples go through life in a practical cold war state. Lenskis alternative translation (to be stigmatized as an adulteress) should arise from a different verb, also not chosen by Matthew. It is not, therefore, in disregard for the antithesis between Jesus saying and the Pharasaical interpretation of Deut. Build up your husband. Matthew, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW | USCCB What does Matthew 5:31 mean? | BibleRef.com What Kind of Place Is Jesus Preparing for Us? Just because you are married doesnt mean you can neglect your appearance. I would suggest, however, that there are two moot issues in the definition of porneia held by these two schools: First, should porneia be limited to the realm of sexuality? We must be especially careful to interrogate views that intentionally delimit or expand the term beyond the lexicon. The Feinbergs were best able to interpret Deuteronomy 24 as condemning remarriage as adulterous (when it is based only upon erwat dabar), by reading the Gospel passages back into that ordinance. Should we use the fact that only when the second marriage occurs does Deuteronomy declare the woman defiled (thus perhaps implying that the union remains) to suggest (after all we have said) that, in Matthew, the clause following the questioned infinitive does give the cause to the infinitive? 24:1-4 does not cover the issue of Deut 22:19.