Hi npetreley . Thank you for your follow up. I appreciate your thoughts. You said; "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and any woman who divorces her husband and marries another man also commits adultery." But the Bible does not word it the way you have above. The language (both English and Greek as previously mentioned in my earlier post) are straightforward. The Bible says;
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. Luke 16: 18"
You said; " there is no provision for the woman to divorce her husband..." Yes, that is correct. Such was true in the Deuteronomy OT era and it remains true in NT era today too. Regardless of how one understands the "exception clause," Matt. 19: 9 does not apply to woman. It is directed at men only. It says;
"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." bold is mine.
Furthermore, the Matt. 19: 9 text (like the Luke 16: 18 text) plainly states that whoever marries this divorced woman commits adultery. If divorce frees a person for remarriage, then this woman should be FREE to remarry. However, her second marriage is referred to as adultery (which the text above as well as Luke 16: 18 shows).
Also, Matt. 5: 32 says; "But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." Matt. 5: 32"
Remarkably, Matt. 5: 32 shows that a man who divorces his CHASTE wife causes HER to commit adultery even though she has done nothing wrong! Read it slowly and see that this is so. Does this mean that the UNCHASTE wife has more rights than the CHASTE one? Obviously not. Yet, if the common understanding of the exception clause were correct, then the unchaste wife would be in a BETTER position than the chaste wife. Thankfully, this common understanding is wrong.
As double emphasis, Matt. 5: 32 concludes exactly the same as Luke 16: 18 and Matt. 19: 9 which says that whoever marries this divorced woman commits adultery. Again, if she were FREE to remarry (as the exception clause proponents insist she would be) then the Bible would not refer to the remarriage as adultery. So, Matt. 5: 32 shows that a man who divorces even his CHASTE wife, makes her an adulteress nonetheless.
You said; "Now -- let's add in that "exception clause" (emphasis mine)." and you quoted Matt. 19: 9 which says; [/b]
"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Matt. 19: 9
Even if the exception clause as commonly understood were true (and it's not), this would only allow a man the exception against his wife. It would NOT allow the woman any exception, because Matt. 19: 9 is speaking to men only as the verse shows (comments above). Fortunately, the Bible also makes it very clear that men cannot divorce their wives for any cause either. So the justice scale is perfectly balanced. Ironically, the incorrect common understanding of the "exception clause" may be unknowingly promoting the idea that a man has the right to divorce his wife by virtue of the exception, but they cannot provide Biblical support to show the right of a woman to divorce her husband by virtue of the exception.
You said; "Why would Jesus make marital unfaithfulness an exception?... Did He? Could the phrase be referring to something else? Luke 16: 18 shows this to be so. Otherwise, the first wife in Luke 16: 18 (the victim of an unfaithful husband) would have been free to remarry. But she was not, as the text shows her remarriage was referred to as adultery. The Matt. 19: 9 exception references "fornication" (porneia) which can only occur prior to marriage. By contrast, a cheating spouse in marriage commits adultery (moichao).
You said; "...How does that fit with the Mosaic law? Let's look at the relevant section of Deuteronomy:" You may not have noticed that Mosaic law and Deuteronomy speak of marriage as well as "betrothal" issues. Furthermore, it should go without saying that Deuteronomy should be read in context of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, etc, not the other way around. For example, Deuteronomy must be read in the context of the LORD's statement in Matt. 19: 5-6 which says;
"And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." (bold is mine).
This plainly teaches that mankind is strictly prohibited from tearing apart marriage through divorce. There is nothing at all ambiguous about this verse. Only the death of a spouse can end the marital relationship.
We read;
"The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord." 1 Cor. 7: 39
"For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man." Rom. 7: 2-3
"And unto the married I COMMAND, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife." 1 Cor. 7: 10-11. (block and bold are mine). Note that this is a specific COMMAND from GOD himself directly to the MARRIED.
You said; "Obviously, "marital unfaithfulness" means someone became "one flesh" with another person, right?" If actually married, sexual activity with someone other than the spouse is an act called adultery (moichao). If unmarried or betrothed, then such an act is called fornication (porneia). Thank you npetreley. latterrain77
