What does the Bible say about separation in marriage?
Retrieved texts include Matthew 19:6, Luke 16:18, Matthew 19:9, Matthew 19:5.
The texts do not directly address broader modern formulations; NO DIRECT REFERENCE IN SOURCE TEXTS and INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE apply beyond retrieved passages.
THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
1. QUESTION
What does the Bible say about separation in marriage—specifically, what do the retrieved texts indicate about the dissolution, division, or putting asunder of the marital union?
2. PRIMARY TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
On the Nature of Marital Union:
Genesis 2:24 (KJV): "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
Matthew 19:5 (KJV): "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?"
Matthew 19:6 (KJV): "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Mark 10:7, 9 (KJV): "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife... What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Ephesians 5:31 (KJV): "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."
On Divorce ("Putting Away") and Remarriage:
Matthew 5:31–32 (KJV): "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 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 19:9 (KJV): "And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
Mark 10:11 (KJV): "And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her."
Luke 16:18 (KJV): "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."
Old Testament Background:
Deuteronomy 24:1 (KJV): "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."
3. LINGUISTIC/HISTORICAL DATA (From Texts Provided)
- The phrase "put asunder" (Greek: chōrizō implied) in Matthew 19:6 and Mark 10:9 indicates active separation or division of what God has joined.
- "Put away" (Greek: apolyō implied) refers to formal divorce proceedings, as referenced in Deuteronomy 24:1.
- The Matthean exception clause—"except it be for fornication" (Greek: porneia)—appears in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, but is absent from Mark 10:11 and Luke 16:18.
- The disciples' response in Matthew 19:10—"it is not good to marry"—suggests they understood Jesus' teaching as stricter than prevailing practice.
4. SCHOLARLY POSITIONS (As Suggested by Textual Variants)
The retrieved texts reveal an interpretive tension:
| Position | Textual Basis | |----------|---------------| | Absolute prohibition of divorce/remarriage | Mark 10:11; Luke 16:18 (no exception stated) | | Exception for sexual immorality | Matthew 5:32; 19:9 ("except for fornication") | | Mosaic allowance as concession | Deuteronomy 24:1 (referenced but reframed in Matthew 5:31) |
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE: retrieved texts do not resolve this question explicitly.