Matthew 5:29

Hell] i.e. Gehenna, the place of final punishment.

31, 32. Revision of the Law of Divorce. Christ restrained the excessive licence of divorce which existed at the time, and declared marriage to be (with possibly a single exception) absolutely indissoluble. Since St. Matthew alone mentions the exception, and all other NT. passages speak of Christian marriage as absolutely indissoluble (Mark 10:2; Luke 16:18; Romans 7:3; Cor Romans 7:10), it is maintained by very many, probably the majority, of recent critics, that the words 'except for fornication' both here and in Matthew 19:9 are an interpolation, introduced by Jewish Christians to modify the excessive strictness of the original utterance, and that Christ Himself forbade divorce altogether. On the principles of criticism now generally accepted, this view is highly probable.

If we accept the words 'except for fornication' as authentic, it is best to understand them as meaning 'except for adultery,' and thus to bring our Lord's teaching into line with that of Shammai, who, in opposition to the laxer view of Hillel, who allowed divorce for any, even the most trivial cause, permitted it only for adultery. The other view that 'fornication' here means prénuptial sin, for which, when discovered, a Jewish husband was allowed to repudiate his newly-married bride (see Deuteronomy 22:13.), is not so probable, though it is, of course, possible. The question of remarriage after divorce presents considerable difficulty. The remarriage of the guilty party is condemned by our Lord in strong terms: 'Whosoever shall marry her when she is put away' (or, 'whosoever shall marry a divorced woman') 'committeth adultery.' Whether the innocent party is permitted after a divorce to marry again is a disputed point among Christians. The Eastern Church permits it; the Western Church, upon the whole, forbids it. The stricter rule, though it sometimes inflicts hardships upon individuals, seems the more desirable from the point of view of public policy, seeing that it best maintains the stability of the family, the sanctity and indissolubility of marriage, and the possibility of repentance and reconciliation after sin.

31. See Deuteronomy 24:1, and on Matthew 19:3.