Adultery, Divorce and Remarriage with a Living Spouse –
Why Does Mashiach Yahusha Say Two Different Things?
Greetings to all of my brothers and sisters who love Father Yahuah and His Son Yahusha Ha’Mashiach, who walk in the way guarding Torah. I pray this message finds all of you standing firmly on the Rock of our salvation and in the peace and grace of Father Yahuah. My apologies on taking so long to get this next post in this series to you. Thank you for the messages you have sent and for the questions asked.
One of the biggest questions regarding this part of the subject are the two accounts given in the Besorah of Mattithyahu and Marqus and it is where I said we were going to start for this next message so let’s get into it.
These two accounts can be found in Mattithyahu 19:3-12 and Marqus 10:2-12 and there are a few differences in them. Some say they are the same account , the Chronological Life Application Study Bible (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) has them listed as chronologically occurring at the same time, and some say they are two entirely different accounts. I don’t see where it makes a difference because they are told for two entirely different audiences. The account given in the Besorah of Mattithyahu was written for a Yahudiym audience and included information that would only be known by someone who was familiar with Ivriy culture and customs while the account in the Besorah of Marqus was written for the other nations (Gentiles). Is everyone with me so far? The two accounts were written for two different audiences, one for an Ivriy audience and the other a Gentile audience. I pray that this will become crystal clear as we progress further through this “cause” of so much confusion.
I feel the best way to do this is to have the two accounts side by side with corresponding verses and the ones that don’t. MT is Mattithyahu and MQ is Marqus:
3MT –“The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying unto Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his woman (wife) for every cause?”
2MQ –“And the Pharisees came to Him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his woman? tempting Him.”
They both start of with the Pharisees coming to Yahusha and trying to get Him to misspeak about the very tricky subject of divorce and remarriage
4MT – “And He answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female,”
6MQ – “But from the beginning of the creation Elohiym made them male and female.”
Yahusha responds the same in both, that Elohiym made male and female from the beginning of the creation.
5MT – “And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his woman: and they twain shall be one flesh?”
7MQ – “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;”
He continues with a man shall leave his father and mother and a subtle Ivriy detail is left out from Marqus’ account that the two become one flesh. This is an Ivriy mindset that was not understood then and is still not. When two flesh become one, there is no separation without death as the way it is stated in the creation account (Bere’shiyth 2:24) that the two become echad (one).
6MT –“Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore Elohiym hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
8MQ – “And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.”
9MQ – “What therefore Elohiym hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Both accounts now state the two flesh become one and that what Elohiym has joined together, let no person, man or woman, break apart. In other words, let no man or woman cause the breaking of wedlock between a couple that has taken the marital vow in front of Elohiym.
7MT – “They say unto Him, Why did Mosheh then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?”
3MQ – “And He answered and said unto them, What did Mosheh command you?”
The two accounts differ as to who asked whom, but the question is asked: Why did Mosheh do this terrible thing?
8MT – “He saith unto them, Mosheh because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your women: but from the beginning it was not so.”
4MQ – “And they said, Mosheh suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.”
The accounts vary again on who says what but the same thing is said, Mosheh suffered this, it was not from Yahuah but because of the hardness of the people’s hearts. If Mosheh wouldn’t have suffered this thing to happen then women would have been treated like property or livestock without any rights for their protection. This was allowed to not tear the family all the way apart by the unfair treatment of who the man is supposed to be the help meet of, they are the help meets of each other. Just because this was allowed does not mean that it wasn’t a great trespass against Father Yahuah to transgress His first commandment.
9MT – “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.”
Verse 9 in Mattithyahu is not found in Marqus because the Gentiles would not understand this very unique Ivriy Torah commandment found in Devariym 22:13-21 about the token of virginity that is supposed to be a part of every Ivriy wedding ceremony to prove the woman is a virgin. There are a lot of arguments about the word fornication and that it can mean adultery or exchanged for it, but it can’t. Some say that it is some other kind of sexual immorality, but the understanding of this word in this instance in an Ivriy context means sexual intercourse before marriage. The two distinct Greek words used in Mattithyahu 19:9 are porneia and moichatai which mean sexual immorality before marriage and sexual immorality during marriage in this Ivriy setting. To sum this all up, if a man went in unto his woman on the night of their marriage and he says she is not a virgin, he can divorce her and be free to remarry if indeed she wasn’t a virgin. This is where the token comes in to prove the false accusation. If the token has the blood of her virginity on it that the father would have collected after the consummation of the marriage. If the father could not produce the token, the man was free to remarry and the young woman would be stoned. This is the reason Yoceph was going to put Miriyam away privily when she was pregnant with Mashiach Yahusha. Once again, this is a complicated Torah commandment that Gentiles just would not understand and so Marqus omitted it.
10MT – “His talmidiym say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his woman, it is not good to marry.”
10MQ – “And in the house his talmidiym asked Him again of the same matter.”
Both accounts now mention the talmidiym but in different ways. In Mattithyahu they say the same as Sha’ul said that it is better to not marry than to have to worry about committing adultery!
11MT – “But He said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.”
12MT – “For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”
The two accounts diverge and finish separately. Mattithyahu’s account continues with Yahusha telling the talmidiym that everyone cannot accept this saying. He tells them that this can only be received by those whom Elohiym has given it to and that if you can receive this, it is a good thing that you receive it and do it. For them that are not able to receive this saying it is better to marry than to commit fornication.
11MQ – “And He saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.”
12MQ – “And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”
The account in Marqus concludes with the simple but stern warning for the Gentiles and any Ivriym who may be confused. Yahusha Ha’Mashiach, the Living Word of Yahuah Elohiym, plainly says to His talmidiym and all listening, Pharisees included: “Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” It really cannot get any clearer than this final statement in Marqus. You cannot ask for forgiveness of a sin and continue to live in it, not turning away from it and expect to inherit the kingdom of Elohiym.
I hope this helps clarify the confusion between the two accounts given in the Besorah from Mattithyahu and Marqus so that it makes it clear that the two accounts of this same subject were and still are intended for two very different audiences.
In then next post we will look at other transgressions of the first commandment.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share. It is a blessing to hear from you.
Shalom,
Minister Morrow