What Does Matthew 5:32 Mean?
But I say to you, whoever sends away his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries the one who was sent away commits adultery.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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 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.
“sends away” 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.
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has yoked together, let no one pull apart.But if she does put space between, let her remain unmarried, or return to her husband. And let the husband not let go of his wife.THE THREAD
They said to him, Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorce and to send 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.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us