2 Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 Jesus said, "What did Moses command?" 4 They answered, "Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her." 5 Jesus said, "Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. 6 In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. 7 Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage 8 he becomes one flesh with a woman - no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. 9 Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart." 10 When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. 11 Jesus gave it to them straight: "A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. 12 And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 10:2-12
Commentary on Mark 10:1-12
(Read Mark 10:1-12)
Wherever Jesus was, the people flocked after him in crowds, and he taught them. Preaching was Christ's constant practice. He here shows that the reason why Moses' law allowed divorce, was such that they ought not to use the permission; it was only for the hardness of their hearts. God himself joined man and wife together; he has fitted them to be comforts and helps for each other. The bond which God has tied, is not to be lightly untied. Let those who are for putting away their wives consider what would become of themselves, if God should deal with them in like manner.