Matthew 5:31-32 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 5:27-32

We have here an exposition of the seventh commandment, given us by the same hand that made the law, and therefore was fittest to be the interpreter of it: it is the law against uncleanness, which fitly follows upon the former; that laid a restraint upon sinful passions, this upon sinful appetites, both which ought always to be under the government of reason and conscience, and if indulged, are equally pernicious. I. The command is here laid down (Matt. 5:27), Thou shalt not commit adultery;... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 5:1-48

As we have already seen, Matthew has a careful pattern in his gospel. In his story of the baptism of Jesus he shows us Jesus realizing that the hour has struck, that the call to action has come, and that Jesus must go forth on his crusade. In his story of the Temptations he shows us Jesus deliberately choosing the method he will use to carry out his task, and deliberately rejecting methods which he knew to be against the will of God. If a man sets his hand to a great task, he needs his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:31

It hath been said ,.... It is not added here, as in the former instances, "by them of old time"; nor prefaced with these words, "ye have heard"; because the case of divorce was not any law of Moses, or of God by him; but only a permission, because of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews: and as to the controversy, about the causes of divorce, this was not debated by them of old time, but was a new thing, just started in the time of Christ; and was a controversy then agitating, between the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:32

But I say unto you; that whosoever shall put away his wife ,.... Christ does not infringe, or revoke the original grant, or permission of divorce; only frees it from the false interpretations, and ill use, the Pharisees made of it; and restores the ancient sense of it, in which only it was to be understood: for a divorce was allowable in no case, saving for the cause of fornication ; which must not be taken strictly for what is called fornication, but as including adultery, incest, or... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:31

Whosoever shall put away his wife - The Jewish doctors gave great license in the matter of divorce. Among them, a man might divorce his wife if she displeased him even in the dressing of his victuals! Rabbi Akiba said, "If any man saw a woman handsomer than his own wife, he might put his wife away; because it is said in the law, If she find not favor in his eyes." Deuteronomy 24:1 . Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, in his Life, tells us, with the utmost coolness and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:32

Saving for the cause of fornication - Λογου πορνειας , on account of whoredom. As fornication signifies no more than the unlawful connection of unmarried persons, it cannot be used here with propriety, when speaking of those who are married. I have therefore translated λογου πορνειας , on account of whoredom. It does not appear that there is any other case in which Jesus Christ admits of divorce. A real Christian ought rather to beg of God the grace to bear patiently and quietly the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:31

Verse 31 Matthew 5:31.Whosoever shall put away his wife. As a more suitable occasion for discussing and explaining this doctrine at greater length will afterwards occur, (Matthew 19:9,) I shall now state briefly what Christ says in this passage. As the Jews falsely imagined that they discharged their whole duty toward God, when they kept the law in a national manner, so whatever the national law did not forbid, they foolishly supposed to be lawful. Divorces, which husbands were wont to give to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:32

Verse 32 32.Causeth her to commit adultery. As the bill of divorcement bore, that the woman had been loosed from her former husband, and might enter into a new marriage, the man who, unjustly and unlawfully, abandons the wife whom God had given him, is justly condemned for having prostituted his wife to others. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

The second part of the sermon: the mount of the Beatitudes and Mount Sinai: the new Law and the old. I. CHRIST THE FULFILLER OF THE LAW . 1 . He came not to destroy. They must not misunderstand the purpose of his teaching. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; both speak of Christ. The commandments are as binding now upon the Christian conscience as when they were first delivered amid the thunders of Mount Sinai. "We establish the Law," says the apostle of faith ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

Sermon on the mount: 3. Exceeding righteousness. A teacher who compels the public to look at an unfamiliar truth, the reformer who introduces a new style of goodness, will be misinterpreted just in proportion to the advance he makes upon former ideas. Our Lord renounced explicitly, and with warmth, the goodness of the Pharisees, and the cry was at once raised against him as a destroyer of the Law, a libertine, a companion or' loose people. He thus found himself called on publicly to... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 5:27-32

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 5:1-48

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:31

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:32

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:31

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:32

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:31

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:32

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

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