What Does Matthew 5:32 Mean in the King James?
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.
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 same Greek verb under “put away” also describes the woman as “divorced,” tying the act of dismissal to the condition that follows.
THE MEANING
This verse says that when a man puts away his wife, he causes her to commit adultery, except for the stated cause of fornication. It also names the man who marries a divorced woman as committing adultery. The release carries consequences into the life of the one dismissed and into a later marriage.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that the person who initiates a divorce can make it a private act with no consequences for the other spouse. This verse ties that dismissal to what follows in her life and in a subsequent marriage.
THE ROOT
ἀπολύσῃ
apolysē
GROWS FROM
λύω
luō
Loosen; release.
“put away / divorced” in this verse is apolysē. English divides the clause into “put away” and “divorced,” but both forms come from the same verb meaning “release, dismiss.” The first names the act; the second names the woman as released. The verse keeps the consequence attached to the initiating release.
ALSO GROWS
apolyō: To release, dismiss.
ἀπολύω
This is the verb behind both the husband’s act of putting away his wife and the description of her as divorced.
lysis: Loosening, release.
λύσις
In 1 Corinthians 7:27, “loosed” and “loosing” use this root family; the shared image makes release a concrete act, not merely a label.
THE PATTERN
A marital bond is described as reaching beyond the person who acts to sever it.
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.THE THREAD
They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?The Greek verb ἀπολύω (apolyō), meaning “release, dismiss,” appears here for the act of putting her away, as it does behind both “put away” and “divorced” in Matthew 5:32. Matthew 19:7 places that act beside the writing of divorce, opening the distinction between a document and the release itself.
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