Matthew 19:5

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? AND SAID, FOR THIS CAUSE (TO FOLLOW OUT THIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT), SHALL A MAN LEAVE FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE: AND THEY TWAIN SHALL BE ONE FLESH?...

5._Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother. _It is uncertain whether Moses represents Adam or God as speaking these words; but it is of little consequence to the present passage which of these meanings you choose, for it was enough to quote the decision which God had pronounced, though it might have been uttered by the mouth of Adam. Now he who marries a wife is not commanded absolutely to _leave his father_; for God would contradict himself, if by marriage He set aside those duties which He enjoins on children towards their parents; but when a comparison is made between the claims, the _wife _is preferred to the _father and mother _But if any man abandon his father, and shake off the yoke by which he is bound, no man will own such a monster; (595) much less will he be at liberty to dissolve a marriage. _And the two shall be one flesh. _This expression condemns polygamy not

3-12 The Pharisees were desirous of drawing something from Jesus which they might represent as contrary to the law of Moses. Cases about marriage have been numerous, and sometimes perplexed; made so, not by the law of God, but by the lusts and follies of men; and often people fix what they will do, before they ask for advice. Jesus replied by asking whether they had not read the account of the creation, and the first example of marriage; thus pointing out that every departure therefrom was wrong. That condition is best for us, and to be chosen and kept to accordingly, which is best for our souls, and tends most to prepare us for, and preserve us to, the kingdom of heaven. When the gospel is really embraced, it makes men kind relatives and faithful friends; it teaches them to bear the burdens, and to bear with the infirmities of those with whom they are connected, to consider their peace...

Verse Matthew 19:5. _FOR THIS CAUSE_] Being created for this very purpose; that they might glorify their Maker in a matrimonial connection. _A man shall leave_ (καταλειψαι, _wholly give up_) both _father and_ _mother _- the matrimonial union being more _intimate_ and binding than even paternal or filial affection;-and shall be _closely united_, προσκολληθησεται, _shall be firmly cemented_ to his wife. A beautiful metaphor, which most forcibly intimates that nothing but _death_ can separate them: as a _well-glued board_ will break sooner in the _whole_ wood, than in the _glued_ joint. So also the Hebrew word דבק _debak_ implies. _AND THEY TWAIN SHALL BE ONE FLESH?_] Not only meaning, that they should be considered as _one_ body, but also as two souls in one body, with a complete union of int

AND HE ANSWERED AND SAID ... - Instead of referring to the opinions of either party, Jesus called their attention to the original design of marriage, to the authority of Moses an authority acknowledged by them both. HAVE YE NOT READ? - Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:21. “And said, For this cause,” etc., Genesis 2:24. That is, God, at the beginning, made but one man and one woman: their posterity should learn that the original intention of marriage was that a man should have but one wife. SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER - This means, shall bind himself more strongly to his wife than he was to his father or mother. T

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 19:1 _The beginning of the last journey to Jerusalem_._ The question concerning divorce_._ _(Mark 10:1.) MATTHEW 19:1 WHEN JESUS HAD FINISHED THESE SAYINGS. This is the beginning of a new section of the history, commencing, as usual, with the formulary, AND IT CAME TO PASS. "These sayings" must refer to what was recorded in Matthew 18:1. But St. Matthew's narrative omits many events that happened in the interval between the account of the Galilaean ministry and the history of these last days, that i

AND SAID,.... Genesis 2:24 where they seem to be the words of Adam, though here they are ascribed to God, who made Adam and Eve; and as if they were spoken by him, when he brought them together; and which is easily reconciled by observing, that these words were spoken by Adam, under the direction of a divine revelation; showing, that there would be fathers, and mothers, and children; and that the latter, when grown up, would enter into a marriage state, and leave their parents, and cleave to their proper yoke fellows, which relations then were not in being: this therefore being the effect of a pure revelation from God, may be truly affirmed to be said by him. Some think they are the words of Moses the historian; and if they were, as they were delivered by divine inspiration, they may be rightly called the word of God. A note by Jarchi on this text exactly agrees herewith, which is הקדש א...

7. DEPARTURE FROM GALILEE. Concerning Divorce. Little Children Blessed and the Rich Young Man. CHAPTER 19 _ 1. The Departure from Galilee. (Matthew 19:1 .) 2. Concerning Divorce. (Matthew 19:3 .) 3. The Blessing of Little Children. (Matthew 19:13 .) 4. The Rich Young Man. (Matthew 19:16 .) 5. The Rewards in the Kingdom. (Matthew 19:27 .)_ In the first part of the nineteenth chapter we find a continuation of teachings concerning the kingdom. This, we repeat, is not the same kingdom promised to Israel, as it w

THE QUESTION OF DIVORCE (Mark 10:1 *). In Matthew 19:2 healed replaces Mk.'s taught. Mt. makes Jesus give His own opinion, based on Gen., at once, and it is the Pharisees who bring the Deuteronomic modification into the debate. MATTHEW 19:3. FOR EVERY CAUSE: peculiar to Mt. Mk. makes the questions as to divorce absolute; Mt. gives it a Jewish and more likely form, having in mind the difference between the view of Shammai that a man could put his wife away for serious misconduct _only,_ and that of Hillel that he could do so for any reason, _e.g._ a spoiled dinner or a physical defect. Jesus lifts the subject out of these quibbles to an ideal plane. Note how ...

When Jesus had finished these words, he left Galilee, and came into the districts of Judaea which are on the far side of the Jordan. Many crowds followed him, and he healed them there. Pharisees came to him, trying to test him. "It is lawful," they said, "for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and he said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? They are therefore no longer two, but one flesh. What, then, God has joined together, let no man separate." They said to him, "Why, then, did Moses lay it down to give her a big of divorcement, and to divorce her?" He said to them, "It was to meet the hardness of your heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives; but in the beginning that was not the sta...