What Does Mark 10:11 Mean in the King James?

And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.

Mark 10:11 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The Greek verb behind “put away” means to release or dismiss, yet the next marriage is still named as an act against her.

THE MEANING

When a husband dismisses his wife and marries another, the new union is named as adultery against her. The dismissal does not erase her from the moral reality of that marriage.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A man can dismiss his wife and treat his next marriage as unrelated to her, with no wrong done to her.

THE ROOT

ἀπολύσῃ

apolysē

GROWS FROM

λύω

luō

to loosen, unbind, release

“put away” in this verse is apolysē. The verb carries the sense of releasing or dismissing. But the sentence keeps the released wife in view: the new marriage is still described as being “against her.”

ALSO GROWS

luō: loosen, unbind

λύω

In John 11:44, the same root appears in “Loose him, and let him go,” showing the basic sense of undoing a bond.

apoluō: release, dismiss

ἀπολύω

Luke 16:18 uses this same verb for putting away a wife, then names the next marriage as adultery.

μοιχᾶται

moichatai

GROWS FROM

μοιχ-

moich-

to commit adultery; to violate marital fidelity

“committeth adultery” in this verse is moichatai. The verb is followed by ⁨ἐπ᾽ αὐτήν⁩ (ep’ autēn, “against her”), giving the act a direction and naming the person it harms. The wife remains present in the meaning of the new union even after she is dismissed.

ALSO GROWS

moichos: adulterer

μοιχός

This related noun names a person by the same act that the verse attributes to the husband.

moichalis: adulteress

μοιχαλίς

This related form shows the same word family can name a woman in relation to adultery, a symmetry made explicit in Mark 10:12.

THE PATTERN

A marital bond carries consequences beyond the act of separation, so a new union cannot simply erase the first relationship.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Genesis 2:24 · KJVThe image of two becoming one flesh gives the bond a depth that a later dismissal does not make disappear.

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 5:32 · KJVThe verse also keeps the dismissed wife in view, naming consequences that extend beyond the husband’s act of separation.

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 Corinthians 7:11 · KJVSeparation does not make the prior bond irrelevant; the verse names remaining unmarried or reconciliation as the live possibilities.

THE THREAD

And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

Mark 10:12 · KJV

The same release verb appears here when a woman dismisses her husband, and the same charge follows when she marries another. The shared root shows the dismissal-and-remarriage pattern from the other side of the marriage.

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