Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 19:7

"They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put [her] away?" — Matthew 19:7 (ASV)

Every reader of the passage in the books of Moses referred to here will be struck by the Pharisees’ unfair interpretation of it. In Deuteronomy 24:1-2, we read, When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor 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. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. Moses commanded nothing in this instance, but merely tolerated and greatly limited a custom then prevalent. To set Moses against Moses is not a new device, but the Pharisees would hardly venture to set Moses against God and make Him command an alteration of a divine law ordained from the beginning.

Yet our Lord made them see that they would have to do this to maintain the theory of easy divorce. The fact is that Moses found divorce existing to an almost unlimited extent, and he wisely began its overthrow by restricting the custom rather than by absolutely forbidding it immediately. They were not allowed to send away a wife with a hasty word, but had to undertake a deliberate, solemn ceremonial of it by preparing and giving a bill of divorce, and this was only allowed in a special case, because he hath found some uncleanness in her. Although many of the Pharisees explained away this last limitation and considered that the provision in Deuteronomy sanctioned almost unlimited divorce, they were not unanimous in the matter and were continually disputing over it. Therefore, there were many ways in which our Lord’s decision could be turned against Him, whatever it might be.