What Does Matthew 5:31 Mean in the King James?
It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
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
“Put away” carries the sense of releasing or dismissing someone, while the writing makes that separation explicit.
THE MEANING
A rule can pair the dismissal of a wife with a written certificate. The verse keeps both acts in view: the document marks the separation, while the husband’s act of sending her away remains at its center.
THE ROOT
ἀπολύσῃ
apolysē
GROWS FROM
ἀπό (apo) + λύω (lyō)
ἀπό means away or off; λύω means loosen, untie, or release. Together, ἀπολύω means release or dismiss.
“put away” in this verse is apolysē. The verb carries an image of releasing or dismissing someone away. The same λύω family can describe being loosed from a wife and unbinding someone from grave wrappings; here, that language names a husband ending the marital bond, with the writing making the separation explicit.
ALSO GROWS
lelusai: Released or loosed.
λέλυσαι
In 1 Corinthians 7:27, the same λύω family appears in the question, “Art thou loosed from a wife?” It uses release language for a marital bond.
lysate: Loosen or unbind.
λύσατε
In John 11:44, Jesus says, “Loose him, and let him go.” The same root describes the physical unbinding of Lazarus from his grave clothes.
THE PATTERN
The writing of separation appears alongside the act of sending a wife away, giving dismissal a public form.
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.THE THREAD
They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?The same Greek verb, ἀπολύω (apolýō, release or dismiss), appears in both verses. Its repetition keeps the act of sending her away audible beside the written certificate.
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