And he says to them, Whosoever shall put away his wife and shall marry another, commits adultery against her.
Indoors, away from the crowd, the disciples ask Jesus about what He has just said to the Pharisees. His answer is blunter than the one He gave in public. Two questions lie under it. What does a man break when he ends one marriage and starts another? And who is wronged?
Just before this, the Lord had refused to argue from what Moses allowed. He went back instead to how God made man and woman. One writer shows how far that reaches.
William KellyThe Lord here, then, stands up first of all as the defender of marriage. He teaches that in the law, important as it was, Moses did not assert the vital place of marriage for the world. On the contrary, Moses allowed certain breaches of it because of the state Israel was in... That is, even the closest other relationship, so to speak, gives way before this one... That is where it came to. But for this simple yet thorough unfolding of God's mind we are indebted to the Lord Jesus.
Mark is careful to tell us where the Lord said this. The setting matters. He is teaching His own followers, not scoring a point against opponents.
C. E. StuartIt seems the Pharisees left Him, unable to find any ground for an accusation. Later the disciples asked more about it in the house, as Mark carefully notes. The Lord repeated that the tie cannot be broken, unless one of the two had in effect broken it already. Only Matthew mentions that case... The question of the Pharisees gave the occasion for a statement of full authority, to guide Christians in this important matter.
The verse names a motive as well as an act. The divorce is not a neutral legal step; it clears the way for something already desired.
Hamilton SmithIn the house the Lord teaches His disciples more. He shows how serious it is to cancel the marriage tie so as to indulge the desires of the flesh towards another woman. In God's sight this is to fall into the most degrading sin.
Human permission does not settle the matter.
William KellyTo the disciples (in the house, as only Mark here tells us) the Lord gives the stringent reply... Here is the dark reverse side of sin in this relationship. No permission granted by man can make holy the breaking of that tie while both are still living.
The verse names the wife as the one wronged. The Lord then turns the case around, so no one can treat the rule as binding on one sex only.
Arend RemmersFirst we must note that these words apply not only to the man, but also to the woman. In Mark 10:11-12 the Lord clearly mentions the woman in the same passage.
One writer notes what this teaching guards.
C. E. StuartThe rights of the wife are protected as well as those of the husband.
The Lord does not call the divorce itself adultery. He attaches the word to what follows it — marrying another. That order tells us how God still regards the first union.
Arend RemmersWhatever the faults and weaknesses of the wife may be, the man who puts her away — that is, divorces her — puts her in danger. She may be bound to another husband afterwards. The Lord here calls such a relationship adultery. This implies that the first marriage is still valid before God. The marriage was entered into before God and men. A divorce before men alone (that is, in a court) does not break it. What breaks it is the sexual union with another partner afterwards — even when this happens inside a new marriage!
Matthew's account of the same conversation includes a clause Mark leaves out. One writer explains why the two accounts stand together without conflict.
J. N. DarbyMark 10 does not cancel Matthew 19. It looks at a man putting away his wife as his own act, his own will. If he puts her away, he has broken by his own will a tie God formed. Marrying another is then adultery. An act of sin had broken the tie already, and judicial divorce was allowed.
- Beginning. The Lord settles the question from creation, not from what Moses allowed. Marriage outranks even the tie to father and mother.
- Bond. God joined the two. A court paper does not dissolve what God formed.
- Breach. The sin the Lord names is not the separation but the remarriage. It is entered to indulge desire toward another, and in God's sight that is the most degrading sin.
- Both. Mark records the case of the husband and the wife alike, so the standard is one and the same for each.
- Betrayed. The words "against her" put a wronged person at the centre. A discarded spouse is not a formality, but the one sinned against.
And if a woman put away her husband and shall marry another, she commits adultery.
The Pharisees had come to test Jesus about divorce. He answered them from creation. Then, indoors and away from the crowd, He told His disciples what a broken marriage really is. Verse 12 turns the rule toward the wife. That raises two questions: why does Mark alone record this half of the saying, and does a legal divorce end a marriage in God's sight?
Before saying anything about adultery, Jesus went back past Moses to the way God set things up. One writer shows what the Lord set against man's hard heart, and what it means for a Christian today:
Hamilton SmithThe Lord has exposed the hardness of man's heart. Now He presents the truth about the marriage relationship, in line with the creation order that God established from the beginning. So the Lord puts His approval on the marriage tie. He enables the Christian to take up the relationship by the order of creation, and not by the rules of men.
Mark alone tells us where Jesus said this. The public debate ended at verse 9. Verses 11 and 12 are private teaching for those who follow Him, and the tone hardens.
William KellyIn the house, as only Mark tells us here, the Lord gives the disciples the strict reply. Here is the dark reverse of sin in this relationship. No permission granted by man can make holy the breaking of that tie while in the flesh.
The same writer weighs why this subject matters so much:
William KellyIt is the most momentous step of human life, and the pillar of the social fabric. How thankful we should be to have the Lord of glory pronouncing on it in His passage through this world!
A wife dismissing her husband did not fit normal Jewish practice. So why does Mark record it? One writer lists the suggestions — a legal setting familiar to Mark's first readers, or notorious cases his readers would have recognised:
William KellySome would read "put away by," since the usual reading would go against Jewish practice. It does fit Greek and Roman law, and Mark's first readers are thought to have known that law. But Burkitt is surely right in seeing a reference to the shameless conduct of Salome and Herodias.
Whatever the background, the effect is clear. The standard is not one-sided: what binds the husband binds the wife.
Jesus calls the new marriage adultery. That word only makes sense if something still binds. One writer follows the logic through, and applies it to husband and wife alike:
Arend RemmersThe Lord here calls such a relationship adultery. This implies that the first marriage is still valid before God. A marriage is made before God and man. A divorce carried out before men, in a court, does not by itself break it. What breaks it is the sexual union with another partner afterwards — even when this happens inside a new marriage! Clearly this applies to the spouse who "puts away" the other as well.
An exception exists for sexual unfaithfulness. Mark passes over it. One writer explains why: Mark keeps to the ground of creation.
Numerical Bible NotesIn the question about marriage Christ teaches us to respect the Creator's ordinance at the beginning without reserve... Mark does not even notice the exceptional allowance of divorce, when the marriage tie has in fact been broken.
Writers differ over how much weight the exception carries. One takes it further: he speaks to the conscience of the innocent partner, and points to a second ground on which the bond can break:
Leslie M. GrantFornication would in itself be a breaking of the marriage bond, which a divorce in this case only confirms. So the partner who was not guilty would not be committing adultery by marrying another after divorce. Still, in most cases there may have been fault on both sides. Before any new marriage, a person should come broken before God, seeking only His will. 1 Corinthians 7:15 also shows that desertion counts as a breaking of the marriage bond, so the one who was deserted is no longer under that bond.
- Beginning. Jesus settles marriage from creation. The rule rests on God's order, not on what men allow.
- Binding. The first marriage is still valid before God. A court's decree does not end it, so the new marriage is where the adultery lies.
- Both. Verse 12 holds the wife to the same standard. Mark alone records this half, and it leaves no double standard.
- Behind closed doors. The Lord gives the strict form to His disciples in the house. It is teaching for those who follow Him, not a debating point for the crowd.
- Broken already. Where the exception applies, sin has already broken the tie. Mark leaves it out to keep the creation standard clear, and self-judgment before God still comes first.