31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 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. (Matthew 5:31–32 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Our blessed Saviour still proceeds in vindicating and clearing the seventh commandment from the corrupt glosses of the Pharisees. Almighty God had tolerated the Jews, in case of uncleanness, to put away their wives by a bill of divorce, De 24:1
Hereupon the Pharisees maintained it lawful to put away the wife upon every slight occasion. This abuse Christ corrects; and shows that divorce, except in case of adultery, is a certain breach of the seventh commandment.
Learn, 1. That so indissoluble is the marriage covenant betwixt two persons, that nothing but adultery, which violates the bands of marriage, can dissolve or disannul it.
Learn, 2. When persons are unjustly put away, it is unlawful for them to marry to any other, or for others knowingly to marry to them.
Thomas Scott
Verses 31-32: De 24:1-4 It hath been shown how the Jews mistook and perverted the judicial law, which permitted and regulated divorces, and was intended to render them less frequent and injurious; so that, when Christ appeared, they were exceedingly common upon the most frivolous pretences.
Having therefore mentioned the seventh commandment, he took the occasion to determine this matter by his authority: And he declared, that whosoever should put away his wife, except for fornication committed before marriage, but concealed till afterwards, or adultery after (for the general word is supposed to imply both), would expose her to a strong temptation to commit adultery by marrying another man, and he would be answerable for her sin; and the man who should marry her who was put away, would commit adultery, her former husband being still living.—It seems evident that divorces for adultery (I apprehend on either side) should be allowed to the injured party if required, and without any tedious or expensive process.
Some contend that the adulterous divorced person should not be allowed to marry again: This perhaps would be consistent with justice; yet it can scarcely be expected that they, who violate conjugal fidelity, will be very scrupulous in a single state; and therefore more harm than good would result from the regulation, which is not found in scripture. It may likewise be observed, that the allowance for divorcing the adulteress seem to imply, that the law for putting to death criminals of this class was not to be considered as indispensable under the New Testament. Mt 19:3-12