Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 19:8

"He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so." — Matthew 19:8 (ASV)

Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts... — The force of Jesus's answer lies in two key points.

1. First, in the emphasized substitution of suffered for commanded. The scribes from the school of Hillel had nearly turned divorce into a duty, even when the only grounds were incompatibility or other minor faults, as if Deuteronomy 24:1 had required the writing of a certificate of divorce in such cases.
2. Second, in the reason given for this permission. Jesus's position in the controversy between the two schools was similar to the one in which those who are faithful to both principles and facts often find themselves.

He agreed with the ideal of marriage maintained by the followers of Shammai, yet He also accepted the interpretation of the Law from the followers of Hillel as legitimate. However, with an authority greater than that of Moses, Jesus proclaimed that the Mosaic legislation on this point was a step backward from the primary law of creation, which existed "from the beginning." It was a step forward only in the sense that the people had fallen into an even lower state, where observing the higher law was practically impossible.

Without the possibility of divorce, a wife would have been the victim of her husband’s tyranny. The law, which must deal with reality, was therefore compelled to choose the lesser of two evils.

Two important consequences flow from this reasoning:

1. The "hardness of heart" that made this concession necessary can be seen as a partial explanation for other parts of the Law of Moses that seem to deviate from the standard of eternal righteousness found in the law of Christ—such as the tolerance of polygamy and slavery, and the severe punishment for seemingly trivial faults.
2. The principle has a broader application beyond this specific instance. When a nation calling itself Christian sinks so low that it exhibits the "hardness of heart" of unbelievers, a similar concessive legislation may be forced upon the state, even while the churches continue to bear witness to the higher truth.