Mark 10:1–12 (NASB95)
1Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.
• From where to where?
o Last location was Capernaum (9:33) o Later location will be Jericho (10:46)
• Preaching in other areas eventually ending in Jerusalem. o Judea beyond the Jordan
Technically Perea
o Though a fisherman from Galilee may have just called it Judea because it’s in southern Israel
Fits well with one of Mark’s major sources being Peter
• The flow of Mark
o Going to the cross
o In 8-9 speaks of it finally, openly o In 10 he leaves Galilee
Why is that significant?
• He doesn’t come back.
• He’s on His way to the cross.
o In ch 11 – the triumphal entry Begins the last week
• A simplification of Mark (SOME of the themes) o 1-7 = who is Jesus
o 8-10 = how Jesus will save us
o 11-13 = what about Israel and its expectations? False expectations (timing)
And rejection of Jesus’ true mission o 14-16 = now it happens.
If not for the earlier chapters you would be totally confused.
WITH the earlier teaching you shouldn’t misunderstand it.
2Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.
3And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
4They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
• The backdrop
o Schools of Shammai and Hillel debated when you could rightly divorce based on Deut 24 Deuteronomy 24:1–4 (NASB95) 1“When a man takes a wife and marries her,
and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2and she leaves his house and goes
and becomes another man’s wife, 3and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
• More on this in my full teaching o Link.
• They thought this passage gave justification for WHEN divorce was ok. o They found it in the term “some indecency in her”
“indecency in anything”
o Their debate assumed “whatever that phrase means, it is giving us a description of when divorce is acceptable.”
We read about them in the Talmud (Mishna, ‘Gittin,’ ix. 10) [m. Giṭ. 9:10]
• A. The House of Shammai say, “A man should divorce his wife only because he has found grounds for it in unchastity,
• B. “since it is said, ‘Because he has found in her indecency in anything’ (Deut. 24:1).”
• C. And the House of Hillel say, “Even if she spoiled his dish, • D. “since it is said, ‘Because he has found in her indecency in
anything.’ ”
• E. R. Aqiba says, “Even if he found someone else prettier than she,
since it is said, ‘And it shall be if she find no favor in his eyes’ (Deut. 24:1).”1
o Instone-Brewer – Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001Q3L4VY/
o Shammai school, “only unchastity” o Hillel school, “any matter”
Points
• It’s a debate about Deut 24
o Mk 10:2 “whether it was lawful”
o And Mk 10:4 “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away”
Their view is seen in vs 4
• “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away”
o Implied “for any reason”
• Likely the popular view in Jesus’ time o Philo and Josephus
• THIS IS WHAT JESUS REJECTS!
o And is the context of His later statement of “commits adultery”
1 Neusner, J. (2011). The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (Vol. 11b, p. 404). Peabody,
o This debate gives one reason to see Mark has a summary of an ongoing and specific debate question.
“can a man divorce for whatever reason he wants?” Another reason
• Mt 19:3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”
o Is it parallel? Yes!
• Matthew 19:1–3 (NASB95) 1When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”
o Same travel details and intro to the discussion
o Also, Matthew tends to offer more details where it overlaps Mark.
So Matthew fills in more details for us.
o The question isn’t really “can he ever divorce?” but “can he divorce her whenever he wants?
Or, “is divorce an unqualified right of a husband?”
Jesus is saying “if you divorce for any reason at all and remarry, you are committing adultery”
• Let’s look at how Jesus answers the debate o It’s unlike either school
5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6“But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
7“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother,
8and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9“What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
• How Jesus answers the debate.
o This permission is not what you think it is.
Not “a right to divorce” but “what to do when you divorce… since you will anyways”
o “because of your hardness of heart”
Ideally, with two Christians, this is never the case.
• Ideally.
• So different than how the schools of Hillel and Shammai handled the debate. o Jesus doesn’t look to the concession as offering a “rightness” to divorce.
• They assumed that “some uncleanness in her” gave a ruling on when divorce was morally permissible.
o Shammaites interpreted it strictly o Hillelites interpreted it permissibly o What does Jesus see as central?
The nature of marriage
• Genesis 1:27 & 2:24 for the heart of the issue.
o Genesis 1:27 (NASB95) 27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
o Genesis 2:24 (NASB95) 24For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Side note:
• Jesus adds “two”
o It comes from Genesis 2:25 (NASB95) 25And the man and his
wife were both naked and were not ashamed. The ones made one flesh, were two.
And only two, therefore polygamy violates this. o I-B “The use of Genesis 2:24 to prove monogamy was by this
time very widespread…”
David Instone-Brewer. Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Kindle Locations 1478-1479). Kindle Edition.
o In Qumran texts this “twoness” of marriage was used to argue against polygamy.
CD 4.20-5.6:11... They are caught by two (snares). By sexual sin, (namely) taking (21) two wives in their lives, while the foundation of creation is "male and female he created them" [Gen. 1:27]. (5.1) And those who entered (Noah's) ark went in two by two into the ark [Gen. 7:9].
• David Instone-Brewer. Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Kindle Locations 1487-1489). Kindle Edition.
• Originally some scholars thought it argued against remarriage in addition to polygamy
o But no. See I-B’s survey in ch 6 of his book “Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context” o I-B on the meaning of this quote and its connection to Jesus’
saying in Mark
“By linking the two texts the exegete can infer that "male and female" in 1:27 is further defined by the phrase "two by two" in 7:9. This means that the use of this phrase in 1:27 implied that marriage involved only two people. Marriage is not actually mentioned in 1:27, but in the following verse God tells the male and female to multiply. This verse was the basis of the rabbinic law
that all men should marry and have children, and so marriage is implied in 1:27. It is likely that these texts formed a well-known proof for monogamy. This is suggested by the fact that the wording in Mark and the Damascus Document ment is very similar. Both Mark and the Damascus Document cite exactly the same portion of Genesis 1:27, and they both precede the quotation with a very similar phrase. Mark refers to "the beginning of creation" (&pXtjc KTIGEwc), while the Damascus Document used the phrase "the foundation of creation" (1;Z'10;i 710'); they are semantically identical.13
• David Instone-Brewer. Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Kindle Locations 1492-1497). Kindle Edition.
o Further - In Mk 10:8, in Mt 19:8 – it’s the same “two”
o Jesus may have been doing that here as well.
• The point?
o The nature of marriage is God’s design and action Its more than a mere contract
He joins us.
• Many couples need to remember what marriage IS o Not just what it does for them
• Ask yourself, “have I forgotten?”
o It’s a starting point for changing our attitudes Which can be stubborn
o Therefore, don’t separate!
“any matter” divorces violate this. This represents MOST divorces. We should STRIVE to keep that unity
• Then Jesus goes further…
10In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.
11And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
12and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
• Jesus adds “and marries another” o They didn’t mention it.
But Jesus has it in all 4 of the occurrences (Mt, Mk, Lk) o Divorce to marry another is adulterous.
• Any old divorce doesn’t end the moral obligation of the marriage. o Solution? Get back together
1 Corinthians 7:10–11 (NASB95) 10But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband 11(but if she does
leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
• Any exceptions at all?
o Yes, Jesus in Mt 5:32 and 19:9 “except for sexual immorality” o Paul in 1 Cor 7:15 – an unwilling unbeliever
I would add, anyone who refuses to obey Jesus and the church
Or drives a spouse away through unrepentant extreme behavior that endangers them
o But these are the rarities
Most divorce is immoral and most remarriages were adulterous.
• Other things
o This applies to women as well as men “if she divorces her husband”
• In Jewish contexts it was possible, just not easy. • The heart of marriage is
o Union from God
o And no two Christians, both walking in obedience, will ever need to divorce
• For more… my FULL teaching o Hundreds of hours o link
