Matthew 19:9

9 I'm holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery."

Matthew 19:9 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 19:9

And I say unto you
To his disciples, when they were with him alone in the house, and asked him more particularly about the subject, concerning which he had been discoursing with the Pharisees, as Mark observes, ( Mark 10:10 Mark 10:11 ) when he said to them much the same things, he had delivered before in ( Matthew 5:32 )

whosoever shall put away in his wife;
separate her from his person, house and bed, and dismiss her as his wife, no more to be considered in that relation to him,

except it be for fornication;
or whoredom, for defiling his bed: for this is not to be understood of fornication committed before, but of uncleanness after marriage, which destroys their being one flesh:

and shall marry another woman, committeth adultery;
Marks adds, "against her"; which may be understood either of the woman he marries, which not being lawfully done, she lives in adultery with the husband of another woman; or of his former wife, and who is still his wife, and to whose injury he has married another; and he not only commits adultery himself, but, as in ( Matthew 5:32 ) "causeth her to commit adultery also", by being the occasion of marrying another man, when she is still his lawful wife:

and whoso marrieth her which is put away,
for any other cause than adultery,

doth commit adultery
also; since he cohabits with the wife of another man; (See Gill on Matthew 5:32)

Matthew 19:9 In-Context

7 They shot back in rebuttal, "If that's so, why did Moses give instructions for divorce papers and divorce procedures?"
8 Jesus said, "Moses provided for divorce as a concession to your hardheartedness, but it is not part of God's original plan.
9 I'm holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery."
10 Jesus' disciples objected, "If those are the terms of marriage, we're stuck. Why get married?"
11 But Jesus said, "Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.