Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 5:31-32

"It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery." — Matthew 5:31-32 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: The Lord previously taught us that our neighbor's wife is not to be coveted; He now proceeds to teach that our own wife is not to be divorced.¹

St. Jerome: Concerning Moses' allowance of divorce, the Lord and Savior more fully explains that it was permitted because of the hardness of the husbands' hearts—not so much to sanction discord as to prevent bloodshed.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For when Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they were Hebrews in race but Egyptians in their customs. It was because of these Gentile customs that a husband would hate his wife; and if he was not permitted to divorce her, he was ready to either kill or mistreat her. Moses therefore allowed a bill of divorce, not because it was a good practice in itself, but because it prevented a worse evil.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: But the Lord, who brought peace and goodwill to earth, wished for it to reign especially in the matrimonial bond.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Lord's command here that a wife is not to be divorced is not contrary to the command in the Law, as Manichaeus affirmed. If the Law had allowed anyone who wished to divorce his wife, then to allow no one to do so would indeed be its very opposite. But the difficulty Moses was careful to introduce shows that he was no friend to the practice at all. For he required a bill of divorce, and the delay and difficulty of writing it would often cool a headlong rage and disagreement, especially since, by Hebrew custom, only the Scribes—who professed a unique skill in them—were permitted to use the Hebrew letters.²

The law would send the man it commanded to give a bill of divorce to these Scribes when he wanted to divorce his wife. By mediating between the husband and wife, the Scribes might reconcile them, unless their minds were too stubborn to be moved by counsels of peace.

Thus, the Lord neither completed the law of the ancients by adding to it, nor did He destroy the Law given by Moses by enacting things contrary to it, as Manichaeus affirmed. Instead, He repeated and approved all that the Hebrew Law contained, so that whatever He spoke in His own person beyond what the Law contained was intended either for explanation—which was greatly needed in various obscure places of the Law—or for the more diligent observance of its commands.

By imposing this delay in the process of divorce, the lawgiver showed as clearly as he could to hard hearts that he hated strife and disagreement. The Lord then confirms this reluctance in the Law by making only one exception: the cause of fornication. He commands us to bear every other difficulty that may arise with patience, out of respect for the marriage vow.³

Pseudo-Chrysostom: If we ought to bear the burdens of strangers, in obedience to the Apostle's command, Bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2), how much more should we bear those of our wives and husbands? The Christian husband ought not only to keep himself from any defilement, but also to be careful not to give others an occasion for defilement, for their sin is imputed to him who gave the occasion. Whoever, then, by divorcing his wife gives another man an occasion to commit adultery, is himself condemned for that crime.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Indeed, He declares that the man who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer.

St. John Chrysostom: Do not say, "It is enough that her husband has divorced her," for even after she is divorced, she remains the wife of the man who divorced her.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Apostle has fixed the limit here, requiring her to abstain from a new marriage as long as her husband lives. After his death, he allows her to marry. But if the woman may not marry while her former husband is alive, much less may she yield herself to unlawful pleasures. This command of the Lord, forbidding the divorce of a wife, is not broken by a man who lives with her not carnally but spiritually, in that more blessed union of those who keep themselves chaste.

A question also arises here: what is the "fornication" that the Lord allows as a cause for divorce? Is it carnal sin, or, according to the scriptural use of the word, does it mean any unlawful passion, such as idolatry or avarice—in short, any transgression of the Law through forbidden desires?

For if the Apostle permits the divorce of a wife if she is an unbeliever (though it is indeed better not to divorce her), and the Lord forbids any divorce except for the cause of fornication, then even unbelief must be considered fornication. And if unbelief is fornication, and idolatry is unbelief, and covetousness is idolatry, then it cannot be doubted that covetousness is also fornication. And if covetousness is fornication, who can say that any kind of unlawful desire is not also a kind of fornication?

Yet I would not have the reader think this discussion of ours is sufficient in such a difficult matter. For not every sin is spiritual fornication, nor does God destroy every sinner, since He hears His saints daily crying to Him, Forgive us our debts. But He destroys every person who commits spiritual adultery and forsakes Him.⁴

Whether this is the "fornication" for which divorce is allowed is a most difficult question, for there is no question at all that it is allowed for the fornication of carnal sin.

If anyone affirms that the only fornication for which the Lord allows divorce is that of carnal sin, he may see that the Lord was speaking of believing husbands and wives, forbidding either to leave the other except for fornication.⁵

Not only does He permit a man to divorce a wife who commits fornication, but whoever divorces a wife by whom he is driven to commit fornication, divorces her for the cause of fornication, for both his own sake and hers.⁶

A man also rightly divorces his wife if she should say to him, "I will not be your wife unless you get me money by robbery," or if she should require him to commit any other crime. If the husband in this case is truly penitent, he will cut off the limb that causes him to sin.⁷

Nothing can be more unjust than to divorce a wife for fornication while you yourself are guilty of that sin, for then what was written has happened: Wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself (Romans 2:1).

When He says, And he who marries her who is put away, commits adultery, a question arises: does the woman also commit adultery in this case? For the Apostle directs that she either remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. The difference in the separation depends on which of them was the cause of it. If the wife divorces her husband and marries another, she appears to have left her first husband with the desire for a change, which is an adulterous thought. But if she has been divorced by her husband, and yet the man who marries her commits adultery, how can she be free from the same guilt? Furthermore, if the man who marries her commits adultery, she is the cause of his committing adultery, which is what the Lord is forbidding here.⁸

1. non occ.
2. cont. Faust., xix, 26
3. Serm. in Mont., i, 14
4. Retract., i, 19, 6
5. lib. 83, Quaest. q. ult.
6. Serm. in Mont., i, 16
7. de Fid. et Op. 16
8. Serm. in Mont., i, 16