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OET (OET-LV) But I am_saying to_you_all that everyone which sending_away the wife of_him, except on_account of_sexual_immorality, is_making her to_be_committing_adultery, and whoever may_marry if having_been_sent_ her _away, is_causing_adultery.
OET (OET-RV) But I’m telling you all that anyone who sends his wife away, except in the case where she’s committed sexual immorality, is causing her to commit adultery, and anyone who marries a wife that’s been sent away is causing her to commit adultery.
For many years, English versions and Christians have commonly referred to Matthew 5–7 as “The Sermon on the Mount.” In some translations, it may be helpful to include a heading for chapters 5–7 that is on a level above the section heading for 5:1–12.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Sermon on the Mountain
The sermon that Jesus preached on a mountain
Jesus taught people on the side of a mountain/hill
In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of 5:32b and 5:32c. Compare the order and structure of the clauses in the BSB and the NCV below.
32aBut I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, 32bexcept for sexual immorality, 32cbrings adultery upon her. (BSB)
32aBut I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife 32cforces her to be guilty of adultery. 32bThe only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has sexual relations with another man. (NCV)
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife,
But now I tell you(plur) that anyone who divorces his wife,
But me, I tell you(plur) that if a man ends the marriage to his wife
But I tell you: The clause But I tell you also occurs in 5:22a and 5:28a. Translate it here as you did there.
you: In the Greek text, the pronoun for you is plural.
anyone who divorces his wife: The Greek word that the BSB translates as anyone refers only to men.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
any man who divorces his wife (GW)
if a man divorces his wife (GNT)
except for sexual immorality,
unless she has committed adultery,
when/and she has not had sexual relations with another man,
except for sexual immorality: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as except for sexual immorality means “except on the ground of sexual immorality” (as in the ESV). This indicates that the only acceptable reason for divorce is sexual immorality.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
except for marital unfaithfulness (NIV)
for any reason other than unfaithfulness (GW)
unless she has committed some terrible sexual sin (CEV)
sexual immorality: There are several ways to understand the Greek word that the BSB translates as sexual immorality:
It refers specifically to adultery. This means that the woman has been unfaithful to her husband after the marriage. For example:
she has sexual relations with another man (NCV)
It refers generally to any kind of sexual immorality before or after marriage.
It refers to an unlawful or illegal marriage. For example:
an illicit marriage (NJB)
Most English versions use a word or phrase that follows interpretation (1) or (2), but it is often not possible to tell which one. It is recommended that you also follow interpretation (1) or (2).
brings adultery upon her.
causes her to commit adultery.
if she marries someone else, he has caused her to do a sexual sin.
brings adultery upon her: In that culture, a divorced woman almost always remarried. She remarried because there was no satisfactory way for her to support herself alone. If the first husband has divorced her even though she has been faithful, he has caused her to become unfaithful to him if she marries another man. In that sense, he brings adultery upon her.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
causes her to commit adultery (NLT)
makes her guilty of sexual sin if she marries again
And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
And if another man marries that divorced woman, he is also committing adultery.”
And if someone else marries the woman whose first husband ended the marriage, he too has done a sexual sin.”
And he who marries a divorced woman: In this context, the phrase he who refers to another man who marries a divorced woman.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
if another man marries that divorced woman
if someone else marries the woman whose first husband divorced her
commits adultery: In God’s view, it is as if the second husband is having sexual relations with another man’s wife. God wants a man to stay married to his first wife, and he wants the woman to remain married to her first husband. Their marriage binds them together as if the two of them were one person.
You will probably want to translate this expression the same way as in 5:32c.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐγώ Δέ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τήν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτός λόγου πορνείας ποιεῖ αὐτήν μοιχευθῆναι καί ὅς ἐάν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ μοιχᾶται)
Here, the word But introduces a contrast with what Jesus said in the previous verse ([5:31](../05/31.md)). Jesus is not contradicting what he said. Rather, he is making it stronger. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces this kind of contrast. Alternate translation: [However,]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐγὼ & λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐγώ Δέ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τήν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτός λόγου πορνείας ποιεῖ αὐτήν μοιχευθῆναι καί ὅς ἐάν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ μοιχᾶται)
Jesus uses the clause I say to you to emphasize what he is about to say and to contrast it with the command he quoted in the previous verse ([5:31](../05/31.md)). See how you translated the same phrase in [5:28](../05/28.md). Alternate translation: [listen to this:] or [here is what you need to know:]
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-exceptions
πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας, ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχευθῆναι
everyone ¬which sending_away (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐγώ Δέ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τήν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτός λόγου πορνείας ποιεῖ αὐτήν μοιχευθῆναι καί ὅς ἐάν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ μοιχᾶται)
If it would appear in your language that Jesus was making a statement here and then contradicting it, you could reword this to avoid using an exception clause. Alternate translation: [the only time a man is allowed to divorce his wife is when there is a report of sexual immorality. Otherwise, when he divorces her, he causes her to commit adultery]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
λόγου πορνείας
˱on˲_account ˱of˲_sexual_immorality
Here Jesus implies that the report is about the wife having done something that is sexually immoral. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [a report that she has been sexually immoral]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
πορνείας
˱of˲_sexual_immorality
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind immorality, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [concerning what is sexually immoral] or [of sexually immoral behavior]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχευθῆναι
˓is˒_making (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐγώ Δέ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τήν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτός λόγου πορνείας ποιεῖ αὐτήν μοιχευθῆναι καί ὅς ἐάν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ μοιχᾶται)
Here, the phrase causes her to commit adultery could imply that: (1) the wife marries again, since that was expected in Matthew’s culture. When she does, she commits adultery. Alternate translation: [causes her to commit adultery when she marries another man] (2) the man marries again, since that was expected in Matthew’s culture. When he does, he makes his previous wife the victim of adultery. Alternate translation: [commits adultery against her when he marries another woman]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
μοιχευθῆναι & μοιχᾶται
˓to_be˒_committing_adultery & ˓is˒_causing_adultery
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of adultery, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [to become an adulteress … becomes an adulterer] or [to do what is adulterous … does what is adulterous]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἀπολελυμένην
˓having_been˒_sent_away_‹her›
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, it is clear from the context that it was the woman’s husband. Alternate translation: [her after her husband has divorced her]
OET (OET-LV) But I am_saying to_you_all that everyone which sending_away the wife of_him, except on_account of_sexual_immorality, is_making her to_be_committing_adultery, and whoever may_marry if having_been_sent_ her _away, is_causing_adultery.
OET (OET-RV) But I’m telling you all that anyone who sends his wife away, except in the case where she’s committed sexual immorality, is causing her to commit adultery, and anyone who marries a wife that’s been sent away is causing her to commit adultery.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.