Matthew 19:4 kjv
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Matthew 19:4 nkjv
And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'
Matthew 19:4 niv
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'
Matthew 19:4 esv
He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
Matthew 19:4 nlt
"Haven't you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning 'God made them male and female.' "
Matthew 19 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 1:27 | "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." | Divine origin of male and female. |
| Gen 2:24 | "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." | Genesis quote on "one flesh" union. |
| Mk 10:6 | "But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’" | Parallel account, reinforcing creation. |
| Matt 19:5-6 | "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'?...'Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.'" | Jesus directly quotes and expounds Gen 2:24. |
| Mal 2:15 | "Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring." | Marriage's divine purpose & offspring. |
| Eph 5:31 | "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." | Paul quoting Gen 2:24 on marriage. |
| 1 Cor 6:16 | "Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two will become one flesh.'" | "One flesh" principle applied to immorality. |
| 1 Cor 7:2 | "But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband." | Purpose of marriage for sexual relations. |
| Heb 13:4 | "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." | Sanctity of marriage. |
| Deut 24:1-4 | "If a man marries a woman...and he writes her a certificate of divorce..." | Mosaic divorce law, contrasted by Jesus. |
| Gen 5:2 | "He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them 'Mankind' when they were created." | Reiteration of male and female creation. |
| Rom 1:26-27 | "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature...male with male practicing indecent acts..." | Homosexuality contrasted with natural order. |
| Jude 1:7 | "Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah...gave themselves up to sexual immorality and followed unnatural desire—serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." | Unnatural desire condemnation. |
| 1 Thess 4:3-5 | "For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion..." | Sexual purity within God's will. |
| Isa 45:12 | "I made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts." | God as the ultimate Creator. |
| Job 10:8 | "Your hands fashioned and made me..." | God's intimate act of creation. |
| Jer 1:5 | "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..." | God's knowledge pre-birth and formation. |
| Matt 5:31-32 | "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife..." | Jesus' previous teaching on divorce. |
| 2 Cor 11:3 | "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." | Reference to Adam and Eve narrative. |
| Prov 18:22 | "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." | Divine blessing in finding a wife. |
| Ecc 7:29 | "See, this only have I found: God made mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.” | Humanity's original uprightness from God. |
| Col 1:16 | "For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things have been created through him and for him." | Christ's role in creation. |
| 1 Pet 3:7 | "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." | Respect within marital relationships. |
Matthew 19 verses
Matthew 19 4 Meaning
Jesus asserts that the foundation of marriage and humanity lies in God's original act of creation. By reminding His questioners that God "made them male and female from the beginning," He grounds the marital union in the divine design, emphasizing its essential, unchanging nature as intended by the Creator, preceding any later Mosaic concessions or human traditions regarding divorce.
Matthew 19 4 Context
Matthew 19:4 is part of Jesus' teaching on marriage and divorce, triggered by a test from the Pharisees. In Matthew 19:3, they ask Him if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife "for any reason." This question reflects a contemporary rabbinic debate between the schools of Shammai (strict interpretation, allowing divorce only for grave immorality) and Hillel (liberal interpretation, allowing divorce for almost any reason, even trivial). Instead of engaging directly with their legalistic quibble over the Deuteronomic concession (Deut 24:1-4), Jesus immediately bypasses human interpretation and refers them back to the very beginning—God's original design for humanity and marriage as recorded in Genesis. By appealing to creation, Jesus establishes a higher, immutable standard for marriage, laying the theological groundwork for His subsequent statements about the permanence of the union and the sanctity of what God has joined.
Matthew 19 4 Word analysis
- "And He answered": Signifies Jesus' authoritative response to the Pharisees' provocative question. It emphasizes His direct engagement with their challenge.
- "and said to them": Direct address to the testing Pharisees, underscoring that His words are a pointed teaching for them, exposing their misguided understanding.
- "Have you not read": (Greek: Ouk anegnōte). This is a rhetorical question that implies the answer should be an obvious "yes." Jesus challenges the Pharisees' knowledge of the very Scriptures they claim to uphold. It suggests that the truth regarding marriage is not obscure but plainly stated in the foundational texts (Genesis).
- "that He who created them": Refers explicitly to God as the Divine Agent. The Greek word
poiēsas(ποιήσας), an aorist active participle ofpoiéō, means "the one who made" or "the creator," highlighting God's decisive, foundational, and complete act of bringing humanity into existence. - "from the beginning": (Greek: ap' archēs). This crucial phrase points to the absolute origin, prior to sin, the Fall, or the Mosaic Law given on Mount Sinai. It indicates God's initial, perfect design and standard, asserting its eternal validity and normative nature for marriage. It moves beyond human history to divine intentionality.
- "made them male and female": This is a direct quote from Gen 1:27.
arsen(ἄρσεν) means 'male,' andthēly(θῆλυ) means 'female.' This establishes gender as binary and fundamental to God's creational act and purpose. It underscores the distinctiveness and complementarity of two sexes, foundational for procreation and the "one flesh" union in marriage.
Words-group analysis
- "And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read...'": This opening sequence highlights Jesus' teaching method. He doesn't directly answer the "lawful" question based on Deuteronomy, but instead calls the Pharisees to account for their ignorance of a more foundational truth from Genesis. This approach elevates scriptural understanding beyond mere legalism to comprehending God's original will.
- "He who created them from the beginning made them male and female": This profound statement anchors the discussion of marriage in God's eternal, immutable creational design. It declares that the institution of marriage, with its specific participants (male and female), is a divine ordinance woven into the fabric of creation itself. It sets the immutable framework for human sexuality and family structure, pre-dating and therefore superseding any subsequent laws or customs that deviated from this original ideal.
Matthew 19 4 Bonus section
- Jesus' appeal to "the beginning" (
ap' archēs) aligns with a prophetic hermeneutic, valuing God's original perfect will over concessions made necessary by the Fall (as with divorce, due to human "hardness of heart"). - This verse strongly refutes any idea of multiple genders beyond male and female as divinely designed at creation. Jesus presents gender as a clear, distinct binary as the foundation for humanity.
- By grounding marriage in creation, Jesus presents it as a universal ordinance, not merely a Jewish or Mosaic one. It applies to all humanity because all are created by God.
Matthew 19 4 Commentary
Matthew 19:4 showcases Jesus' authority and interpretative brilliance. When tested by the Pharisees on the legality of divorce, He intentionally bypasses their legalistic arguments rooted in Mosaic concessions (Deut 24) and instead appeals to the foundational act of creation recorded in Genesis 1:27. By asking, "Have you not read," Jesus subtly rebukes their limited understanding of Scripture, suggesting that the most fundamental truths regarding marriage are plainly available and predated their man-made interpretations. He declares that God, the ultimate Creator, "from the beginning made them male and female." This emphasis on "the beginning" (God's original intent) over later provisions (Moses' concession for sin) reveals His view of marriage as a permanent, divinely ordained institution. It establishes the heteronormative nature of marriage—between distinct male and female—as integral to God's initial, perfect design for humanity, serving as the immutable standard against which all subsequent practices are to be measured. Jesus grounds the sanctity of marriage in the very act of creation, elevating it far beyond a mere social contract or human convenience.