Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 19:10

"The disciples say unto him, If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry." — Matthew 19:10 (ASV)

The disciples were puzzled by Jesus’ response (v.10) though they were not astonished (cf. v.25). Jesus, though not forbidding all divorce and remarriage, has come close to the school of Shammai on the grounds for exceptions, while taking a far more conservative stance than Shammai on who may remarry (Shammai permitted remarriage when the divorce was not in accordance with its own rules of conduct). In the light of the position, tacitly adopted by most Jews, that marriage was a duty, the disciples rather cynically conclude that such strictures surely make marriage unattractive. This makes the appeal of marriage contingent on liberal divorce and remarriage rights—a stance that fails miserably to understand what Jesus has said about the creation ordinance.