Matthew 19:5

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3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who¹ made them at the beginning ^a‘made them male and female,’

5 and said, ^a‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^bthe two shall become one flesh’?

6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

7 They said to Him, ^a“Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the ^ahardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your ^bwives, but from the beginning it was not so.

9 ^aAnd I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for¹ sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

10 His disciples said to Him, ^a“If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Matthew 19:5

For this cause - Being created for this very purpose; that they might glorify their Maker in a matrimonial connection. A man shall leave ( , wholly give up) both father and mother - the matrimonial union being more intimate and binding than even paternal or filial affection; - and shall be closely united, , shall be firmly cemented to his wife. A beautiful metaphor, which most forcibly intimates that nothing but death can separate them: as a well-glued board will break sooner in the whole wood, than in the glued joint. So also the Hebrew word debak implies.

And they twain shall be one flesh? - Not only meaning, that they should be considered as one body, but also as two souls in one body, with a complete union of interests, and an indissoluble partnership of life and fortune, comfort and support, desires and inclinations, joys and sorrows. Farther, it appears to me, that the words in Genesis 2:24, lebasar achad , for one flesh, which our Lord literally translates, mean also, that children, compounded as it were of both, should be the product of the matrimonial connection. Thus, they two (man and woman) shall be for the producing of one flesh, the very same kind of human creature with themselves. See the note on Genesis 2:24.

Other Adam Clarke entries containing Matthew 19:5:

Genesis 2:24
Genesis 2:24
Matthew 19:9
Mark 10:2

<< Matthew 19:4

Matthew 19:6 >>

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