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Mark 10:4

Moses
Marriage

2 Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired.

3 “What did Moses command you?” He replied.

They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

5 But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart.

6 However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

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Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
KJV
And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
WEB
They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.”
ASV
And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
DARBY
And they said, Moses allowed to write a bill of divorce, and to put away.
BLB
And they said, “Moses allowed [us] to write a roll of divorce and to send [her] away.”
ÅB
De sa: Moses har gitt lov til å skrive et skilsmissebrev og skille seg fra henne.
OTB
De svarte, “Moses tillot en mann å skrive et skilsmissebrev og sende henne bort.”
B1930
De sa: Moses har gitt lov til å skrive et skilsmissebrev og skille sig fra henne.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Deuteronomy 24:1–4

    If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

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  • Matthew 5:31–32

    It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’

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  • Matthew 19:7

    “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

    Read in context

  • Matthew 1:19

    Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

    Read in context

  • Isaiah 50:1

    This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 3:1

    “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers— and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD.

    Read in context