Mark 10:5

10:5-9 God permitted divorce as a concession to the hard hearts of the people. But God’s will is more aptly expressed in the passages that Jesus quotes from the law of Moses (Gen 1:27; 2:23-24; see also Mal 2:16). Jesus shows that God delights in marriage, which is the creation of a new union in which two become one. No one should rebel against God’s will by seeking to split apart what God has united.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 10:5. Ἔγραψεν, wrote) viz. Moses, the writer of the Pentateuch: ch. Mar 12:19.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 10:5 Both evangelists, while varying considerably in their reports, carefully preserve this important logion as to legislation conditioned by the sklerokardia . ταύτην : at the end, with emphasis; this particular command in contradiction to the great original one.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God did never allow those divorces, which the Law did tolerate.

See also Matt. 19. For Moses gave them no commandment to put away their wives, but rather made a good provision for the wives against the stubborn hardness of their husbands.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And Jesus answered and said unto them,.... With respect to this command, or sufferance of Moses, which they urged:

for the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept; it was, not because it was right in its own nature, or according to the original will of God; but, because the Jews were such cruel, and hard hearted men, that if this had not been permitted, some of them, that had wives not so agreeable to them, would have used them in a very inhuman manner, if not murdered them; and therefore to prevent further, and greater mischief, Moses indulged them with such a precept; See Gill on Mat 19:8.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Because of the hardness of their hearts, and to prevent the excesses they would otherwise have committed with regard to their wives. (Bible de Vence)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

St. Matthew appears to give the more full account, of which St. Mark"s is an abbreviation. If we suppose the scribes here to interpose their question, "Why then did Moses permit a bill of divorcement?" t he two narratives fit exactly. Our Lord here answers their question, For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. He permitted (not commanded) them to put away their wives, lest dislike might turn to hatred. From the beginning God joined them in one indissoluble bend; but man"s nature having become corrupt through sin, that sin changed and corrupted the institution, and so was the occasion of bills of divorcement, and polygamy. The Law of Moses put some restraint upon the freedom with which men had till then put away their wives; for thenceforth, a divorce could not take place until some legal steps had been taken, and a regular instrument had been drawn up; and this delay might often be the means of preventing a divorce which might otherwise have been effected in a moment of passion. Thus this legislation was adapted to the imperfect moral condition of the people, who were as yet quite unprepared for a higher moral code.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The answer of Jesus:

v. 5. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

v. 6. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

v. 7. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;

v. 8. and they twain shall be one flesh; so, then, they are no more twain, but one flesh.

v. 9. What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder.

Jesus was well acquainted with this bit of Mosaic legislation, and He also knew the reasons for the adoption of this precept in the Jewish law. The form of government in the Jewish nation during the first centuries of its national existence was that of a theocracy, of a direct legislating by God. The order to which they referred was given by Moses in his capacity as Jewish lawgiver, in order to prevent worse injury and injustice. The government will sometimes find it a wise policy to leave some wrong go unpunished, lest a great many innocent people suffer with the guilty. But this dispensation of Moses, which was given on account of the hardness of their hearts, did not in any way invalidate the institution of marriage and the holiness of the tie of wedlock. That institution and the words of institution are a part of the Moral Law of the universe; there, in the beginning, God plainly stated His will and intention with regard to the obligations of man and woman in the state of wedlock. He did not create a single sex, but He made two sexes, male and female, Gen 1:28. And these two sexes, represented in one man and one woman, were to be united in marriage. Therefore the second passage from Gen 2:14, indicates the normal, the usual state of affairs. A man, having reached marriageable age, and having observed the other preliminary steps enjoined by God, will leave his father and his mother, will sever the relationship of childhood and youth, and will be joined to his wife, will enter into a new relationship which will make him and his wife one flesh. It is, then, no longer a question of their own whim and choice, but of God’s ordinance, so that they are no longer two, but only one body and one flesh. It is the most intimate union which is possible in the external, temporal world. This fact should be stated and reiterated in our own midst without ceasing, lest the sanctity of the marriage-bond be disregarded more and more. Young people in many cases do not seek the institution of Christ in the sense in which Christ made the ordinance; they have other motives: the pursuit of voluptuousness and luxury. The inviolability of the marriage contract before God has become a blasphemous jest and mockery. But Christ here says: What God hath joined together, where two people have agreed to become yoke-fellows, to bow their necks under the same yoke, to draw the wagon of life together, to share, under God’s rule and blessing, all joys and sorrows alike, there this yoke shall not be broken; no man, not the young people or their parents, not relatives or so-called good friends, no court in the world, shall and can separate them. Even if the courts declare the marriage bond dissolved, it still holds in the sight of God.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"It was because ... this law," Jesus said to them. "But

In some languages speakers do not interrupt a quote to say who is speaking. Rather they say who is speaking at the beginning or end of the complete quote. AT: "Jesus said to them, 'It was because ... this law. But" (See: Quotations and Quote Margins)

because of your hard hearts that he wrote you this law

Long before this time, Moses wrote this law for the Jews and their descendants because they had hard hearts. The Jews of Jesus' time also had hard hearts, so Jesus included them by using the words "your" and "you." AT: "because your ancestors and you had hard hearts that he wrote this law"

your hard hearts

Here "hearts" is a metonym for a person's inner being or mind. The phrase "hard hearts" is a metaphor for "stubbornness." AT: "your stubbornness" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)

God made them male and female

Jesus quoted this from what God said in the book of Genesis.

God made them

"God made people"

translationWords

hard

heart

law, laws

Jesus

create

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

5. [2134][2135][2136][2137][2138] omit ἀποκριθείς. Cf. Mar 10:20; Mar 10:29, Mar 5:9, Mar 7:6, Mar 11:29; Mar 11:33, Mar 12:17.

[2134] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2135] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2136] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[2137] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[2138] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

5. εἶπεν αὐτοῖς. See crit. note.

Πρὸς τ. σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν. First with emphasis; For your hardness of heart (R.V.), “with a view to it,” or “in reference to it.” See Gould on the importance of this concession, and Christ does not condemn Moses for having made it. To be σκληροκάρδιοι (Deu 10:16; Jer 4:4; Eze 3:7; Sir 16:10) and σκληροτράχηλοι (Exo 33:3; Deu 9:6; Deu 9:13; Baruch ii. 30) had ever been a reproach against Israel (Act 7:51). In Deu 10:16 and Jer 4:4, Aq. has the more literal ἀκροβυστία καρδίας.

τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην. Not the command to divorce; there was no such command; but to effect divorce in a certain way.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Πρὸς τ. σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἔγραψεν ὑμῖν τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην·—And Jesus said to them out of regard to the hardness of your heart,1 he wrote you this command. σκληροκαρδία2—coarseness of spirit. σκληρός means hard, in the sense of rough or coarse, rather than unimpressible. καρδία is the common word for the inner man generally, in the N.T. The whole word denotes the rude nature which belongs to a primitive civilization. This principle of accommodation to the time in Scripture is of inestimable importance, and of course limits finally the absoluteness of its authority. We find that the writers were subject to this limitation, as well as their readers. See also J. 16:12. This answer of Jesus admits the correctness of the interpretation of Hillel and his school, as far as it was a matter of interpretation.

Ὀ δὲ, instead of Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ, And answering, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BCL Δ Memph.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.