Matthew 5:32 kjv
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.
Matthew 5:32 nkjv
But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Matthew 5:32 niv
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Matthew 5:32 esv
But 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.
Matthew 5:32 nlt
But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.
Matthew 5 32 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel Accounts | ||
| Mt 19:3-9 | ...Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever? ...Moses permitted you...for your hardness of heart. But from the beginning it was not so. Whoever divorces...except for sexual immorality...commits adultery... | Jesus’ similar teaching on divorce and marriage, highlighting its original divine design and challenging pharisaic views. |
| Mk 10:2-12 | ...Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? ...Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery...and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. | Mark's parallel account, also including the woman initiating divorce, emphasizing mutual obligation. |
| Lk 16:18 | Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. | Luke's concise version, often seen as an absolute prohibition with no exception stated. |
| Old Testament Foundation & Principle | ||
| Gen 2:24 | Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. | The foundational divine purpose for marriage as a lifelong, unifying bond. |
| Dt 24:1-4 | When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor...and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand...he may not take her again to be his wife...for that is an abomination. | Mosaic law on divorce, misinterpreted by Jesus' contemporaries. God did not endorse divorce but permitted it to regulate unjust practices due to hardness of hearts. |
| Mal 2:13-16 | ...the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth...She is your companion and your wife by covenant...For I hate divorce, says the LORD. | God's strong disdain for divorce, rooted in His covenantal nature and His relationship with His people. |
| Pr 5:15-20 | Drink water from your own cistern...Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth... | Emphasizes fidelity within marriage and the joy found in a singular lifelong commitment. |
| New Testament Clarification & Application | ||
| 1 Cor 7:10-16 | To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband...But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. | Pauline guidance on marital separation, allowing for departure in cases of abandonment by an unbeliever, which is not treated as a new "exception" for remarriage but practical counsel. |
| 1 Cor 7:27-28 | Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned... | Encourages remaining in one's state unless abandoned, affirming marriage is not inherently sinful. |
| Rom 7:2-3 | For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released...So then, if while her husband lives she marries another man, she would be called an adulteress... | Emphasizes the bond of marriage lasts until death, a primary reason for the permanence of marriage. |
| Heb 13:4 | Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. | Highlights the sanctity of marriage and God's judgment against sexual sin. |
| Eph 5:31-32 | "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. | Marriage as a metaphor for the relationship between Christ and the Church, underscoring its sacred and unbreakable nature. |
| 1 Pet 3:7 | Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. | Calls husbands to loving and honoring marital relationships, promoting harmony over separation. |
| Col 3:19 | Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. | Commands husbands to demonstrate love and avoid harsh treatment, discouraging behavior that could lead to divorce. |
| Wisdom & Prophecy | ||
| Prov 2:16-17 | So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. | Warns against sexual immorality and neglecting the marital covenant made before God. |
| Pr 6:32 | He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. | Emphasizes the destructive nature and foolishness of adultery. |
| Hos 3:1-3 | And the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the children of Israel..." | God's enduring covenant love for Israel despite their unfaithfulness, providing a model for marital perseverance. |
| Is 54:5-6 | For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD has called you like a wife forsaken... | God’s covenantal faithfulness as a husband to His people, even when they stray, suggesting His enduring commitment. |
| Rev 19:7 | Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; | The ultimate consummation of God's covenant with His people envisioned as a marriage, highlighting the sacredness and permanence of the union. |
| 1 Tim 3:2, 12 | Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife...Deacons...must be husbands of one wife... | Standards for church leadership underscore commitment to a single marital union. |
| Tit 1:6 | If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife... | Reinforces the importance of monogamy and faithfulness for eldership. |
Matthew 5 verses
Matthew 5 32 Meaning
This verse presents a foundational teaching from Jesus Christ concerning divorce, particularly in the context of His sermon on the mount where He expands upon and deepens the interpretation of the Old Testament law. Jesus states that a man who divorces his wife, unless the cause is sexual immorality, compels her into a state of adultery if she remarries. Furthermore, any man who then marries a woman who has been divorced for reasons other than sexual immorality also commits adultery. The teaching emphasizes the sanctity and permanence of the marriage covenant in God's eyes, seeing most divorces and subsequent remarriages as a violation of that covenant and an act of unfaithfulness.
Matthew 5 32 Context
Matthew 5:32 is part of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7), a discourse foundational to Christian ethics and kingdom principles. Within this sermon, Jesus explicitly reinterprets or clarifies the Mosaic Law, emphasizing not just external adherence but internal heart motivations. Specifically, this verse belongs to a section (5:27-32) where Jesus addresses sexual purity and marriage, countering prevailing interpretations of His day. His contemporaries, particularly the Pharisees, were divided on the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 regarding the permissible grounds for divorce. The School of Hillel allowed divorce for virtually any reason ("a matter of indecency," interpreted very broadly, even for burning a meal), while the School of Shammai took a much stricter view, limiting it to severe sexual immorality. Jesus's teaching here sides with the stricter interpretation and even goes beyond it, declaring that most divorces result in adultery, asserting God's original, higher standard for marriage established at creation. He calls His followers to a higher righteousness than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, extending beyond mere legalism to the intent of the heart.
Matthew 5 32 Word analysis
- Everyone/Whoever (Pas / πᾶς): Denotes universality, indicating that this principle applies to all people, not just a specific group or legal class. It signifies a universal divine standard for marriage.
- Divorces (apolyo / ἀπολύω): Literally "to send away," "to release." This was the common legal and social term for a man divorcing his wife. In Roman and Jewish law, only the man could initiate divorce proceedings. It does not refer to simple separation but to the legal dissolution of marriage.
- His wife (tēn gynaika autou / τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ): Highlights the exclusive and personal nature of the marital bond.
- Except for (parektos / παρεκτὸς): A key Greek preposition meaning "outside of," "apart from," "other than." It sets apart the single legitimate ground for divorce according to Jesus.
- Sexual immorality (porneia / πορνεία): This is the most crucial and debated term in the verse.
- Meaning: Broadly refers to any sexual sin, including prostitution, fornication (sex outside marriage), adultery, incest, homosexuality, and bestiality. It's distinct from moicheia (adultery), though porneia can encompass it.
- Contextual Interpretations:
- Premarital unfaithfulness/unchastity: Some scholars argue it refers to unchastity discovered after engagement but before the final marriage ceremony (when the marriage could be annulled). This aligns with Joseph's dilemma in Mt 1:19 when Mary was found to be with child.
- Adultery during marriage: This is a common interpretation, where porneia is used comprehensively to mean all forms of sexual unfaithfulness in the marriage.
- Incestuous unions: This view suggests porneia refers to marriage prohibited by Mosaic law (e.g., Leviticus 18), implying that such "marriages" were never valid from the start.
- Persistent or habitual sexual sin: This broader interpretation acknowledges a pattern of serious sexual deviation that fundamentally violates the marital covenant.
- Significance: Regardless of the specific nuance, porneia signifies a profound breach of the marriage covenant, an act so severe it can legitimately break the one-flesh union in God's eyes, allowing for divorce without causing subsequent adultery in remarriage. It's not a mere "grounds" but rather the nature of the marital covenant that has already been broken by one party through illicit sexual union.
- Causes her to become an adulteress (poiei autēn moichēthēnai / ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχευθῆναι): Literally, "makes her to be made an adulteress." This indicates the man's responsibility in the woman's subsequent status. If a woman was divorced without the porneia exception and remarried, Jewish law would recognize her as married, but God’s law would view her second union as adulterous because her first marriage, in His eyes, remained intact.
- And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (kai hos ean gamēsasin apolelymenēn moichatai / καὶ ὃς ἐὰν γαμήσας ἀπολελυμένην μοιχᾶται): This extends the guilt of adultery to the person who marries the wrongfully divorced woman. This highlights that remarriage after an invalid divorce perpetuates the violation of the original covenant and constitutes a new act of adultery in the eyes of God. It further emphasizes the sanctity of the original marriage.
Matthew 5 32 Bonus section
- Polemics against contemporary beliefs: Jesus directly confronts the widespread Hillelite interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which permitted divorce for trivial reasons, making divorce easily accessible. By stating the only exception as porneia, He severely restricts the grounds, aligning more closely with the stricter Shammaite view, but even going further to condemn remarriage for wrongfully divorced parties as adultery. His teaching implies that only severe sexual unfaithfulness genuinely severs the one-flesh bond in a way that would allow for subsequent marriage without constituting adultery.
- The Woman's Vulnerability: In Jewish society of that time, a divorced woman was extremely vulnerable without a male protector. If her divorce was for trivial reasons, Jesus's words reveal that her future would be significantly impacted, as remarriage would trap her in a cycle of perceived adultery, especially for those who believed Jesus's teaching.
- Kingdom Righteousness: This teaching exemplifies "kingdom righteousness"—a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees because it flows from a transformed heart that desires to honor God's intentions for marriage, not just external compliance with minimal legal requirements. It emphasizes commitment and covenant faithfulness as core to the divine order of human relationships.
Matthew 5 32 Commentary
Matthew 5:32 serves as Jesus's direct challenge to the lenient divorce practices common among Jewish people in the First Century, re-establishing God's original, high standard for marriage as intended at creation (Gen 2:24). The Mosaic Law, in Deut 24:1-4, was a concession due to the "hardness of heart" (Mt 19:8), not God's ideal. Jesus shifts the focus from legalistic loophole-seeking to the sanctity of the covenant.
The "exception clause" concerning porneia (sexual immorality) acknowledges that some actions profoundly violate the "one-flesh" union, rendering the marriage fundamentally broken from one partner's side. This is not a permission to divorce lightly but an acknowledgement of the devastating reality of profound sexual unfaithfulness. When a divorce occurs for any other reason, Jesus declares that the man who divorces his wife causes her to commit adultery if she remarries, because in God's eyes, her original marriage is still valid. Similarly, anyone who marries a wrongfully divorced woman also enters an adulterous union, disrespecting the sanctity of the original, still-valid marriage covenant. The emphasis is on the permanence of marriage and the serious nature of dissolving it, safeguarding marital fidelity and challenging individuals to uphold God's covenantal standard rather than seek an easy exit. It's a call to fidelity and the pursuit of holiness within the marriage union.