According to the Christian Jewish Rabbi's (see Part 1) understanding of marriage, divorce and re-marriage, it is believed that Jesus was addressing an important issue of "putting away" in Matthew 19.
Matthew 19:3-9 - 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 who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the 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, “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 hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
Our English translation of the Bible is indeed not the best translation. Most of the time, NASB and ESV have better literal translation than many other versions. However, KJV at times, gives a close translation to the Greek language.
For the case of Matthew 19, KJV gives a closer translation of the Greek word "apolyos", which means "put away, send away, dismiss, etc."
Matthew 19:3 (KJV) - The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away (apolyos) his wife for every cause? (Greek word added for clarity)
In those days (and today), it was prevalent for the Jewish men to put away their wives without having a legal divorce. In the Jewish law known as a "get", if the wife is put away without a legal divorce, she is NOT allowed to re-marry. She has to remain single. She is known as an agunah. She will be regarded as a second-class citizen and her kids, if any, will be regarded as bastards. She will be cast aside for the rest of her life. Yet, for the husband, he can continue to find a new wife. This is brutally unjust for the women. And even till today (this day and age), they are helpless.
With this context, let's re-look at the passages in Matthew 19 according to what is being taught worldwide now. Men and women of God from the pulpit are trying to reveal the love of God to protect the women, the divorced and women who wanted to re-marry or have re-married. The heart intent is honorable and I honour their heart to love.
Matthew 19:3 - The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away (apolyos) his wife for every cause?
There were two schools of the Jews: the Hillel and the Shammai. The former believed that you can put away your wife for any reason - for example, she didn't cook your dinner properly. The latter school believed that you can only put away your wife if she commits adultery.
It is believed that the Pharisees wanted to test Jesus whether they could put away (apolyos) their wives for any reason, without giving them a certificate of divorce.
This interpretation is based on the Torah in Deut 24:1 - When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, AND send her out of his house. (emphasis added)
The word "send" in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) is the same word "apolyos".
Hence, it is believed that in order to prove a legal divorce, you need two things.
1. apolyos (put away)
2. a certificate/bill of divorcement ("apostasion" in Greek)
If the husband only apolyos his wife without giving her apostasion, it is NOT a legal divorce.
In Matthew 19:3, the Pharisees asked Jesus, "Can a man apolyos his wife for any reason?"
Jesus answered in v4-6 - And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
It is believed that there are marriages where God has joined together and there are marriages that God did not join together. These marriages were joined by men because of their own desires. If God were to join the marriage together, there won't be the issue of divorce. However, to legally separate the married couple in God's eyes, it has to be done according to God's law - you need apolyos and apostasion. With both of these, the couple is now separated into two from one flesh.
This explains the next verse 7 - They say unto him, "Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement (apostasion), AND to put her away (apolyos)?" (Greek words and emphasis added)
The Jews knew they needed BOTH apolyos and apostasion for a legal divorce in God's eyes. It must be these TWO things.
Jesus responded in verse 8-9 - He saith unto them, "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to PUT AWAY your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall PUT AWAY his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is PUT AWAY doth commit adultery." (emphasis added)
Notice, in both verses 8 and 9, Jesus only addressed the issue of putting away (apolyos) and not apostasion (certificate of divorce). This is the reason why it is believed that the wife commits adultery if she marries someone else. She does not have apostasion to be considered legally divorced in God's eyes.
"The hardness of your hearts" is not that you stop loving your wife, but a refusal to obey God's law (Rom 2:5; Heb 3:7). It is thus, believed that the Jews, because of the hardness of hearts and because of the refusal to obey God's law, chose to apolyos their wives WITHOUT granting them apostasion. In other words, they intentionally refused to divorce their wives legally but cause the wives to suffer for the rest of their lives being agunahs.
With this in mind, it seems reasonable and valid why under such a case, re-marrying is adultery, because the woman is not legally divorced in the first place.
Does this warrant a biblical divorce in God's eyes? I will explain more in Part 3.
P.S: To understand the context of Jewish culture and the issue of putting away, check out the two video links I put out in Part 1.
Disclaimer: This sharing is not targeted at anyone who is divorced, re-married or is going through marital issues. It serves as a desire to preserve the Word for what it is. As mentioned in Part 1, you are free to have healthy discussions. I am open to be corrected so that the Word can be further clarified. It is too serious a topic to stay ignorant.
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