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1
A Concession, Not a Command
Commentators stress that the Old Testament law requiring a "writing of divorcement" was not God's ideal for marriage. It was a practical concession to the "hardness of their hearts" (Barnes, Spurgeon). Its purpose was to regulate and slow down an already existing, harmful practice of hasty divorce, providing a measure of legal protection for the wife, rather than to endorse divorce itself (Calvin, Aquinas).
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Matthew
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Commentaries
10
Albert Barnes
On Matthew 5:31–32
18th Century
Theologian
It has been said, etc. That is, by Moses, in Deuteronomy 24:1-2. The husband was directed, if he put his wife away, to give her a bill of …
AT Robertson
On Matthew 5:31
A writing of divorcement (αποστασιον), "a divorce certificate" (Moffatt), "a written notice of divorce" (Weymouth). The Greek is a…
Charles Spurgeon
On Matthew 5:31–32
19th Century
Preacher
It has been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say to you, That whosoever shall put away…
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Expositor's Bible Commentary
On Matthew 5:31
This two-verse unit carries further the argument of the preceding section. The OT not only points toward insisting that lust is the moral equivalen…
John Calvin
On Matthew 5:31
16th Century
Theologian
Whosoever shall put away his wife. As a more suitable occasion for discussing and explaining this doctrine at greater length will occur la…
John Gill
On Matthew 5:31
17th Century
Pastor
It has been said
It is not added here, as in the former instances, "by them of old time"; nor prefaced with these wo…
Matthew Henry
On Matthew 5:27–32
17th Century
Minister
Victory over the desires of the heart must be accompanied by painful exertions. But it must be done.
Everything is bestowed to save us from …
Thomas Aquinas
On Matthew 5:31–32
13th Century
Philosopher
And it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce. After having fulfilled the …