Matthew 19 · Verse 9

Matthew 19:9

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

Matthew 19:9, King James Version

Matthew 19:9 in other translations

BSB	Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”
WEB	I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”
ASV	And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery.
YLT	‘And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for whoredom, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery.'
DARBY	But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, not for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and he who marries one put away commits adultery.
BBE	And I say to you, Whoever puts away his wife for any other cause than the loss of her virtue, and takes another, is a false husband: and he who takes her as his wife when she is put away, is no true husband to her.
Webster	And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for lewdness, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoever marrieth her who is put away, committeth adultery.

What does Matthew 19:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

9. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except, &c.--See on Mt 5:32.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 9. And I say unto you. Emphasis should be laid here on the word I. This was the opinion of Jesus--this he proclaimed to be the law of his kingdom--this the command of God ever afterwards. Indulgence had been given by. the laws of Moses; but that indulgence was to cease, and the marriage relation to be brought back to its original intention. Only one offence was to make divorce lawful. This is the law of God. And by the same law, all marriages which take place after divorce, where adultery is not the cause of divorce, are adulterous. Legislatures have no Sight to say that men may put away their wives for any other cause; and where they do, and where there is marriage afterwards, by the law of God such marriages are adulterous.

(f) "???" Mt 5:32, Lk 16:18

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9 Except it be for fornication - See on Mat 5:32 (note). The decision of our Lord must be very unpleasant to these men: the reason why they wished to put away their wives was, that they might take others whom they liked better; but our Lord here declares that they could not be remarried while the divorced person was alive, and that those who did marry, during the life of the divorced, were adulterers; and heavy judgments were, denounced, in their law, against such: and as the question was not settled by the schools of Shammai and Hillel, so as to ground national practice on it therefore they were obliged to abide by the positive declaration of the law, as it was popularly understood, till these eminent schools had proved the word had another meaning. The grand subject of dispute between the two schools, mentioned above, was the word in Deu 24:1, When a man hath taken a wife - and she find no grace in his sight, because of some Uncleanness, ערות eruath: - this the school of Shammai held to mean whoredom or adultery; but the school of Hillel maintained that it signified any corporeal defect, which rendered the person deformed, or any bad temper which made the husband's life uncomfortable. Any of the latter a good man might bear with; but it appears that Moses permitted the offended husband to put away the wife on these accounts, merely to save her from cruel usage. In this discourse, our Lord shows that marriage, (except in one case), is indissoluble, and should be so: - 1st, By Divine institution, Mat 19:4. 2dly, By express commandment, Mat 19:5. 3dly, Because the married couple become one and the same person, Mat 19:6. 4thly, By the example of the first pair, Mat 19:8; and 5thly, Because of the evil consequent on separation, Mat 19:9. The importance of this subject will, I hope, vindicate or excuse, the length of these notes.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 19:3-12

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…

Read the full comment on Matthew 19:3-12 →

Matthew 19:9 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΛέγωLegōI sayG3004

δὲdenowG1161

ὑμῖν·huminto you:G4771

ὅτιhotithatG3754

ὃςhoswho[ever]G3739

ἂνanmaybeG302

ἀπολύσῃapolusēmay divorceG630

τὴνtēntheG3588

γυναῖκαgunaikawifeG1135

αὐτοῦautouof himG846

μὴmēexceptG3361

ἐπὶepiforG1909

πορνείᾳporneiasexual immoralityG4202

καὶkaiandG2532

γαμήσῃgamēsēshall marryG1060

ἄλλην,allēnanother,G243

μοιχᾶται.moichataicommits adultery.G3429

καὶkaiandG2532

ὁhowhichG3588

ἀπολελυμένηνapolelumenēndivorcedG630

γαμήσαςgamēsashaving marriedG1060

μοιχᾶται.¶moichataicommits adultery.G3429

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 19:9

Matthew 5:32
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Luke 16:18
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:39
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:10-13
And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
Mark 10:11-12
And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
Romans 7:2-3
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Genesis 12:18-19
And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
Jeremiah 3:8
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Genesis 20:3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
Jeremiah 3:1
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.
1 Corinthians 5:1
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
1 Corinthians 7:4
The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Whosoever.
5:32; Mr 10:11,12; Lu 16:18; 1Co 7:10-13,39
except.
2Ch 21:11; Jer 3:8; Eze 16:8,15,29; 1Co 5:1
doth.
Ge 12:18,19; 20:3; Jer 3:1; Ro 7:2,3; 1Co 7:4,11,39

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Matthew 19:8
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Matthew 19:9
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Matthew 19:10
His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.

Read all of Matthew 19

Matthew 19:9 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y yo os digo que cualquiera que repudiare á su mujer, si no fuere por causa de fornicación, y se casare con otra, adultera: y el que se casare con la repudiada, adultera.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et je vous dis que quiconque répudiera sa femme, non pour cause de fornication, et en épousera une autre, commet adultère; et celui qui épouse une femme répudiée, commet adultère.
German Elberfelder 1871	Ich sage euch aber, daß, wer irgend sein Weib entlassen wird, nicht wegen Hurerei, und eine andere heiraten wird, Ehebruch begeht; und wer eine Entlassene heiratet, begeht Ehebruch.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Dico autem vobis, quia quicumque dimiserit uxorem suam, nisi ob fornicationem, et aliam duxerit, mœchatur: et qui dimissam duxerit, mœchatur.