Mark 10 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Mark 10:1-12 – Pharisees Debate About Divorce

CHAPTER TEN:
DIVORCE, CHILDREN, MATERIALISM, BAPTISM,
AND A RANSOM

[“Child-like Service”]
Key word: Minister

Mark 10:1-12 – Pharisees Debate About Divorce

|| Matthew 19:1-9[1]

MK10:1 Now Jesus left from there and arrived along the border of Judaea on the other side of the Jordan. And the crowds gathered again, and as was his custom he began to teach them. MK10:2 Pharisees were also there and trying to test Jesus they asked him: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” MK10:3 So Jesus began to answer them, asking: “What did Moses command you?” MK10:4 So they answered: “Moses permitted a divorce certificate so a man could dismiss his wife” [Deuteronomy 24:1] MK10:5 Now Jesus responded and said: “Because of the hard-heartedness[2] of you [men] Moses wrote such a commandment. MK10:6 However, from the beginning of [human] creation ‘the God made [humankind] male and female. … MK10:7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and [[and stick to his wife]].[3] MK10:8 And the two will be one flesh, and so they are not longer two, but one flesh.’[4] [Genesis 1:27; 2:24] MK10:9 Therefore, whatever the God yoked together, let no one separate.” MK10:10 Now later in the house the disciples asked him the same question again. MK10:11 So Jesus told them: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.[5] MK10:12 Also, if a woman ever divorces her husband[6] and marries another – she commits adultery.”

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[1] Matthew 19:1-9: For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on Matthew.

[2] Hard-heartedness: Or, perversity. Jesus means the hearts of Jewish husbands. Matthew states that this was a concession by Moses, and not something that came from God. Tradition had evolved the original divorce statement into virtually anything in the wife that displeased her husband. This was true of many cultures where a man only had to raise two fingers to dismiss a wife he was displeased with. Jewish law did not permit a woman to divorce her husband.

[3] Bracketed words are recognized as not adequately supported.

[4] One flesh: Jesus creates a conflate, that is, a combination of two verses into a single paraphrase or quote. He combines Genesis 1:27 with Genesis 2:24.

[5] Commits adultery against her: It is the innocent victim who is ‘adulterated.’ On the occasion of this discussion Jesus does not state the only grounds for divorce as he does elsewhere.

[6] A woman ever divorces her husband: This had to shock all those listening as under Jewish law a woman could not divorce her husband. Roman law did permit this and it is to Romans he writes. The saying in the ancient world was ‘the further one goes west the more liberated the woman becomes.’

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Preceding

Matthew 5:31-32 – 3. The Nazarene’s Commentary on Deuteronomy 24:1

Matthew 19:3-9 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Grounds for Divorce

Matthew 19:3-9 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Grounds for Divorce – additional verses

Matthew 19:10-12 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Celibacy

Mark 9 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Mark 9:49-50 – Have Salt and Keep Peace

Mark 9 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Review Questions on Chapter Nine

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Additional reading

1. Today’s exhortation on Mark 10 With God all things are possible
2. Today’s thought “Is it lawful to divorce … for any cause” (July 18)
3. Today’s thought “The times of ignorance” (November 5)
4. Need to Embrace People Where They Are
5. Cohabitating Seniors and the Meaning of Marriage
6. Parenting in changing times
7. Youngsters, parents and the search to root in life
8. About marriages and divorces
9. What Does The Bible Say About….Fornication?
10. Two synods and life in the church community

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Related

1. Mark 10 on their way to Jerusalem
2. Mark 10 Jesus teaches on divorce and marriage
3. Jesus Teaches About Divorce (Mark 10:1-12)
4. Abuse, Divorce, and Remarriage
5. 7th week of ordinary time-cycle-2 Friday gospel-reading – Mark 10:1-12
6. I Thee Wed: Jesus’ Teaching on Marriage and Divorce – Mark 10:1-12
7. More Stubborn than Righteous
8. Permission to Be Hard?
9. God’s Family Plan
10. Oct 3, 2021: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
11. With This Ring!
12. Forming Institutions – Marriage
13. A Mark 10 Study