Matthew 5:32

One of the most debated issues is over the exception to the ban on divorce, which the KJV translates as "saving for the cause of fornication." The Koine Greek word in the exception is πορνείας/porneia, and it literally translates as sexual immorality (which some interpret to mean fornication). One view is that it should be more specifically translated as adultery or marital unfaithfulness. Instone-Brewer rejects this translation arguing that contemporary sources make clear porneia meant more than just adultery, he does not agree with the most liberal translations that have the word also refer to things such as spousal abuse.[1]

At the time of first century Iudaea Province, Pharisaic Judaism was divided between two major groups. The dominant teaching was that of Hillel, who taught that divorce could be granted on a wide array of grounds, even because a wife burnt a dinner. Shammai took a more conservative opinion, arguing that only adultery was valid grounds for divorce.[2]

Current mainstream theories of the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are that they are based upon a single writer whose original verse is that of Mark, with Matthew being the most intended to communicate with the Jewish community. Some scholars feel that in Matthew 5:32 Jesus is endorsing the view of Shammai over Hillel, and arguing for the adultery only rule. Protestant churches have traditionally read πορνείας/porneia as adultery. The main argument against this translation is that Matthew has just been discussing adultery in the previous antithesis, and there used the specific term μοιχεύσεις/moicheia, rejecting the vaguer πορνείας/porneia.

Following their reading of the verse, Protestant churches give prominence to the Gospel of Matthew over Mark and Luke and accepted adultery as a valid grounds for divorce. They also often believe that an innocent divorcee can freely remarry afterwards.

According to Bruce Metzger's Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, commentary on the Apostolic Decree of the Council of Jerusalem: "it is possible ... (fornication means) marriage within the prohibited Levitical degrees (Leviticus 18:6-18), which the rabbis described as "forbidden for porneia," or mixed marriages with pagans (Numbers 25:1; also compare 2 Corinthians 6:14), or participation in pagan worship which had long been described by Old Testament prophets as spiritual adultery and which, in fact, offered opportunity in many temples for religious prostitution". Another reading is that the exception refers to the rules surrounding the Jewish betrothal ritual, linking this to Matthew 1:19, and has no relevance to the modern world.

Other scholars take the opposite view, arguing that the exception was not mentioned in the other Gospels because it was so obvious as to be implicit to contemporary readers. Leviticus 20:10 makes clear the punishment for adultery is death, so to Jesus's Jewish audience it would be assumed that adultery meant that the marriage would be over. While at the time of Jesus, and in modern societies, capital punishment is not imposed for adultery several scholars still feel the death sentence is important.[3] Martin Luther argued that since in the eyes of God an adulterer was dead, their spouse was free to remarry. More evidence for this view comes from Genesis 2:24, which makes clear that the sexual act permanently joins two individuals, so adultery can be understood to have created a new bond erasing the old one.

Another view is that the exception is not a part of Jesus's teaching, but rather a comment indicating that adultery automatically led to divorce under the law of the time, and that Jesus may very well have disagreed with this law. Instone-Brewer sees no evidence that this is how the law worked in that era, however.[4]

That adultery is a valid reason for divorce is the standard Protestant position, though some churches disagree. This interpretation was first advanced by Desiderius Erasmus,[5] and received the backing of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and most other major Protestant thinkers. Some Protestants took an even broader view. Swiss reformers Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger both read porneia as referring to all manner of marital immorality, including spousal abuse and abandonment. Anglican Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who served under King Henry VIII, listed a considerable number of valid reasons for divorce, but this never became standard Anglican doctrine. The Church of England instead took a far more restrictive view, and adultery was one of the only legal reasons for divorce in Britain up to the twentieth century. The same was true in many parts of the British Empire and the United States.

The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection, in its 2014 Discipline, teaches:[6]

We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22, 23). We deplore the evils of divorce and remarriage. We regard adultery as the only scripturally justifiable grounds for divorce; and the party guilty of adultery has by his or her act forfeited membership in the church. In the case of divorce for other cause, neither party shall be permitted to marry again during the lifetime of the other; and violation of this law shall be punished by expulsion from the church (Matt. 5:32; Mark 10:11, 12). In the carrying out of these principles, guilt shall be established in accordance with judicial procedures set forth in The Discipline.[6]

Many mainline Protestants churches have accepted a broader translation of porneia than just adultery, and now support a wide array of valid reasons for divorce. One modern view is that, since throughout the Sermon on the Mount Jesus condemns the excessive legalism of his day, delineating specific views of divorce from the exact wording of a piece of scripture should be rejected. Several major churches today believe that rules for divorce should be set to best advance Jesus's overarching goals of love and justice, rather than a legalistic interpretation of his words.

The Orthodox Church has also recognized this verse as permitting divorce for adultery and other reasons, such as spousal abuse, abandonment, and apostasy. In Eastern Orthodox practice, churches are to allow penitential remarriage up to two times after a divorce.[7] A first marriage is celebrated, a second performed, a third tolerated, and a fourth prohibited.

• Davies, W.D.; Allison, Dale C., Jr. (1988–1997). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.CS1 maint: date format (link)
• Instone-Brewer, David (2002). Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans.