Mark 10:2

2 et accedentes Pharisaei interrogabant eum si licet viro uxorem dimittere temptantes eum

Mark 10:2 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 10:2

And the: Pharisees came unto him
As they every where did; not to be instructed by him, but to ensnare him;

and asked him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?
that is, as Matthew adds, "for every cause", (See Gill on Matthew 19:3): for, a divorce might be lawfully made for a cause, or reason, namely, adultery, but not for any, or every cause; which is the sense of this question of the Pharisees; and, which they put, not for information, but

tempting him;
trying to entangle him by opposing the authority of Moses, should he deny the lawfulness of divorces, or by objecting his former doctrine, ( Matthew 5:32 ) , and so expose him as an inconsistent preacher, should he allow them to be lawful for every reason. This clause is placed in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions before the question.

Mark 10:2 In-Context

1 et inde exsurgens venit in fines Iudaeae ultra Iordanen et conveniunt iterum turbae ad eum et sicut consueverat iterum docebat illos

2 et accedentes Pharisaei interrogabant eum si licet viro uxorem dimittere temptantes eum

3 at ille respondens dixit eis quid vobis praecepit Moses

4 qui dixerunt Moses permisit libellum repudii scribere et dimittere

5 quibus respondens Iesus ait ad duritiam cordis vestri scripsit vobis praeceptum istud