Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 19:3

"And there came unto him Pharisees, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful [for a man] to put away his wife for every cause?" — Matthew 19:3 (ASV)

This first section on divorce, always a burning issue in church and society, has produced much discussion among commentators.

Pharisees are often found in Matthew’s gospel testing or opposing Jesus in some way (12:2, 14, 24; 15:1; 16:1; et al.). They hoped Jesus would say something to damage his reputation with the people or even seem to contradict Moses. Perhaps, too, they hoped that Jesus would say something that would entangle him in the Herod-Herodias affair so that he might meet the Baptist’s fate .

The question whether it is right for a man to divorce his wife “for any and every reason” hides an enormous diversity of Jewish opinion. In Qumran community, divorce was judged illicit in all circumstances. Regarding mainstream Judaism, on any understanding of what Jesus says in the following verses, he did not agree completely with either the rabbinical school of Shammai or that of Hillel (see comments on v.10; Mark 10:2).

The setting of the divorce question in this section is different from 5:31–32.

There divorce is set in a discourse that gives the norms of the kingdom and the sanctity of marriage; here it is set in a theological disputation that raises the question of what divorces are allowed.