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MATTHEW 5:31 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 5:30Matt 5:32
“It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:”
It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. The third antithesis addresses the divorce tradition rooted in Deuteronomy 24:1. The certificate of divorce was a Mosaic provision that regulated what was already happening — providing legal protection for divorced women by formally terminating the marriage and freeing the woman to remarry. The Pharisaic tradition had developed extensive debates about what constituted legitimate grounds for divorce; Jesus will address this more fully in Matthew 19:3–9. The tradition being addressed here understood Deuteronomy 24 as a permission for divorce.

Church Fathers on Matthew 5:31

The Lord had taught us above that our neighbour’s wife was not to be coveted, He now proceeds to teach that our own wife is not to be put away.

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · non occ.

For touching Moses' allowance of divorce, the Lord and Saviour more fully explains in conclusion, that it was because of the hardness of the hearts of the husbands, not so much sanctioning discord, as checking bloodshed.

Jerome · 4th century

For when Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they were indeed Hebrews in race, but Egyptians in manners. And it was caused by the Gentile manners that the husband hated the wife; and if he was not permitted to put her away, he was ready either to kill her or ill-treat her. Moses therefore suffered a bill of divorcement, not because it was a good practice in itself, but was the prevention of a worse evil.

Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 5:31 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy