Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 10:1 (Nov 1947)
Article: Divorce
Author: John J. Murray

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WTJ 10:1 (Nov 1947) p. 1

Divorce

Third Article

John Murray

IV Matthew 19:9

AS respecting divorce and its implications this is on all accounts the most pivotal passage in the New Testament. It occupies this crucial position particularly for the reason that it is the only passage in the New Testament in which we have the combination of two clauses, namely, the exceptive clause (μὴ ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ) and the remarriage clause (καὶ γαμήσῃ ἄλλην). Both of these clauses occur elsewhere, the former in Matthew 5:32, in the form παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας and the latter in Mark 10:11, as also in the form καὶ γαμῶν ἑτέραν in Luke 16:18. But only in Matthew 19:9 are they coordinated.

It might not be proper to maintain that the question of the legitimacy of remarriage on the part of the innocent spouse after divorce for adultery would not arise if we did not have Matthew 19:9. The question might well emerge in connection with Matthew 5:32. For if a man may rightly divorce his unfaithful wife and if such divorce dissolves the marriage bond the question of remarriage is inevitably posed. And, again, though there is no allusion to adultery as an exception in Mark 10:11 and Luke 16:18, yet the Old Testament law respecting adultery and the peculiar character of the sin of adultery might well compel us to inquire whether or not, after all, adultery might not have been assumed as a notable exception to the principle affirmed in these two passages. Furthermore, I Corinthians 7:15 would certainly face us with the question of the effect that desertion by an unbelieving partner would have upon the marital status of the deserted believer.

WTJ 10:1 (Nov 1947) p. 2

Nevertheless, Matthew 19:9 is distinctive in that here the question of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of remarriage after divorce for adultery is thrust upon us directly and inescapably.

At the present stage of the discussion we shall assume that the correct text of Matthew 19:9 reads as follows: λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι ὅς ἄν �...

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