^19:1Now when¹ Jesus finished these sayings, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River.²^19:2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

^19:3Then some Pharisees³ came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful⁴ to divorce a wife for any cause?”⁵^19:4He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female,⁶^19:5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?⁷^19:6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ^19:7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”⁸^19:8Jesus⁹ said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts,¹⁰ but from the beginning it was not this way. ^19:9Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.” ^19:10The¹¹ disciples said to him, “If this is the case of a husband with a wife, it is better not to marry!” ^19:11He¹² said to them, “Not everyone can accept this statement, except those to whom it has been given. ^19:12For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth,¹³ and some who were made eunuchs¹⁴ by others,¹⁵ and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”

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Footnotes

1 Grk “it happened when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
2 “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).
3 Grk “And Pharisees.” See the note on Pharisees in .
4 Most have either ἀνθρώπῳ (anthrōpō, “for a man” [so א2 C D W Θ 087 f1, 13 33 𝔐 latt]) or ἀνδρί (andri, “for a husband” [1424c ]) before the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”). The latter reading is an assimilation to the parallel in Mark; the former reading may have been motivated by the clarification needed (especially to give the following αὐτοῦ [autou, “his“] an antecedent). But a few significant (א* B L Γ 579 [700] 1424* ) have neither noun. As the harder reading, it seems to best explain the rise of the others. , however, reads ἀνθρώπῳ here.
5 The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 14:1–12). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.
6 A quotation from Gen 1:27; 5:2.
7 A quotation from Gen 2:24.
8 Although the majority of witnesses (B C W 078 087 f13 33 𝔐 syp,h) have αὐτήν (autēn, “her”) after the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”), a variant lacks the αὐτήν. This shorter reading may be due to assimilation to the Markan parallel, but since it is attested in early and diverse witnesses (א D L Z Θ f1 579 700 lat) and since the parallel verse (Mark 10:4) already departs at many points, the shorter reading seems more likely to be original. The pronoun has been included in the translation, however, for clarity. includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations regarding its authenticity. A quotation from Deut 24:1. The Pharisees were all in agreement that the OT permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce his wife (not vice-versa) and that remarriage was therefore sanctioned. But the two rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel differed on the grounds for divorce. Shammai was much stricter than Hillel and permitted divorce only in the case of sexual immorality. Hillel permitted divorce for almost any reason (cf. the , m. Gittin 9.10).
9 A few important (א Φ pc) have the name “Jesus” here, but it is probably not original. Nevertheless, this translation routinely specifies the referents of pronouns to improve clarity, so that has been done here. Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 Grk “heart” (a collective singular).
11 Some significant witnesses, along with the majority of later (𝔓25 C D L W Z 078 f1, 13 33 𝔐 lat sy samss bo), read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after μαθηταί (mathētai, “disciples”), but this looks to be a clarifying reading. Other early and important witnesses lack the pronoun (𝔓71vid א B Θ e ff1 g1 sams mae), the reading adopted here. includes the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
12 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
13 Grk “from the womb of the mother” (an idiom).
14 The verb εὐνουχίζω occurs twice in this verse, translated the first time as “made eunuchs” and the second time as “became eunuchs.” The term literally refers to castration. The second occurrence of the word in this verse is most likely figurative, though, referring to those who willingly maintain a life of celibacy for the furtherance of the kingdom (see W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew [], 3:).
15 Grk “people.”