Read in context
Compare the passages.
Check the sources.
The KJV text is the foundation of this study. The comparisons identify interpretive questions, and the additional sources let you examine the historical, lexical, and theological observations.
Comparing the Gospel passages
Read these accounts together. The observations below summarize the text; the final column identifies questions an interpretation needs to answer.
| Passage and setting | What to notice | Question to examine |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew 5:31–32 The Sermon on the Mount, following teaching about adultery and lust. | A writing of divorcement is mentioned; Jesus warns about adultery and includes an exception concerning fornication. | What does the exception qualify, and how does it relate to remarriage? |
| Matthew 19:3–12 The Pharisees test Jesus about divorce for every cause; the disciples respond afterward. | Jesus appeals to creation, identifies hardness of heart, and includes an exception in verse 9. | How does the exception fit the creation ideal and the disciples’ response? |
| Mark 10:2–12 A public test is followed by further teaching to the disciples in the house. | Jesus appeals to creation and warns against adultery by a divorcing and remarrying husband or wife, without stating Matthew’s exception. | How should this account and Matthew be read together? |
| Luke 16:14–18 Teaching on self justification, the law, and the kingdom. | Verse 18 gives a concise warning about divorce, remarriage, and adultery, without stating an exception. | How does this concise statement relate to the fuller exchanges elsewhere? |
Keeping the questions distinct
Protection concerns immediate safety. Separation concerns living apart. Divorce concerns the formal ending of a marriage. Remarriage concerns freedom to enter another marriage. A conclusion about one question does not automatically answer the others.
Comparing views on remarriage
These are broad interpretive categories. There are variations within each, and a summary does not establish that every argument has equal strength. Evaluate each view against the whole biblical discussion.
| Broad position | Central reasoning | What it must explain |
|---|---|---|
| Remarriage only after death | Emphasizes Mark 10, Luke 16:18, 1 Corinthians 7:10–11 and 39, and the enduring bond. | Matthew’s exception, the meaning of not under bondage in 7:15, and marrying without sin in 7:27–28. Some versions of this view also allow annulment or distinguish invalid unions. |
| Remarriage after specified grounds | Reads Matthew’s exception as permitting remarriage after sexual immorality and often reads 1 Corinthians 7:15 as release after unbelieving desertion. | Why those exceptions qualify the broader warnings; what counts as desertion; and which spouse is free to remarry in a particular case. |
| Severe abuse included within abandonment or covenant repudiation | Brings the departure passage, covenant duties, and the biblical protection of the oppressed together; some also appeal to Exodus 21. | The steps from the text’s explicit cases to abuse, how serious grounds are distinguished from ordinary conflict, and why release includes permission to remarry. |
Questions for further study
- Which reading best explains Matthew’s exception and the warnings in Mark and Luke together?
- Does not under bondage in 1 Corinthians 7:15 imply release to remarry, and why?
- What is required to apply the departure passage to a spouse who causes the other person to flee?
- How can we protect people immediately while examining longer term questions carefully?
Scripture and study sources
The teaching, reflection questions, practices, and prayers in this manuscript are original wording prepared for this study. Scripture quotations are KJV. The sources below let readers check the biblical text and the limited historical and translation observations.
KJV Bible: read every assigned passage in context ↗
All Scripture quotations in this study are KJV. Lesson links open the assigned passages. Explanations, questions, and prayers are original study material, not Bible quotations.
Mishnah Gittin 9:10 ↗
A later written Jewish source recording differing divorce interpretations. Used only as historical background in Lesson 4, not as the authority for Christian teaching.
Malachi 2:16 translation comparison ↗
Shows the difference among translations over the sentence’s construction. Other translations are linked for comparison; the study’s quotations remain KJV.
1 Corinthians 7, full chapter in the KJV ↗
Read the whole chapter alongside Lessons 8–10. The interpretations summarized here are broad categories, not claims that all Christians within a tradition agree.
Mounce Greek New Testament Dictionary entry for agamos ↗
Defines the word as unmarried and lists its four New Testament occurrences in 1 Corinthians 7:8, 11, 32, and 34. Used for the word study in Lesson 9; the definition alone does not establish permission to remarry.
Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 24 ↗
Sections 5 and 6 provide one historical Protestant statement permitting divorce and remarriage on specified grounds. This is an example of an interpretation, not an additional biblical text.
Catholic Catechism paragraphs 2382 to 2386 ↗
An example of a tradition distinguishing separation or civil divorce from the continuing marriage bond. Its treatment of validity is not identical to every restrictive Protestant position.
PCA Committee Report on Divorce and Remarriage ↗
A historical church study examining divorce, remarriage, desertion, and serious harm. Its arguments illustrate the further reasoning involved in applying biblical passages to abuse.
Rashi on Malachi 2:16 ↗
Historical Jewish commentary on retaining a wife while mistreating her. The study paraphrases the interpretation and distinguishes it from the biblical text.
Mounce Greek dictionary: douloo ↗
Lexical background for the verb in 1 Corinthians 7:15. A word definition alone does not resolve the scope of the release.
Mounce Greek dictionary: deo ↗
Lexical background for binding language, including 1 Corinthians 7:39. Compared with douloo without treating the lexical difference as a complete doctrinal argument.
Notes on interpretation
The use of Exodus 21 as a general rule for divorce, the scope of Matthew’s exception, the meaning of not under bondage, and the identification of the loosed person in 1 Corinthians 7:27 are interpretive questions. The study explains the main points of disagreement rather than claiming a disputed conclusion is a direct quotation from Scripture.
The responsibilities of love, truthfulness, protection, repentance, and accountability are applied across the study. Practical safety guidance is pastoral application rather than a claim that a Bible passage provides a modern emergency procedure.
The separate question of a religious marriage without civil recognition is outside this study’s scope.