MAT 19:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Some from the Pharisees’ party approached him to test him by asking, “Is there any cause for which a man can dismiss his wife?”

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And Pharisees approached him, testing him, and saying whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason.

UST Some Pharisees came to Jesus in order to investigate him. They asked, “Does our law allow a husband to divorce his wife whenever he wants to?”

BSB Then [some] Pharisees came [and] tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

BLB And Pharisees came to Him, testing Him and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause?"

AICNT And Pharisees approached him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

OEB Presently some Pharisees came up to him, and, to test him, said, ‘Has a man the right to divorce his wife for every cause?’

WEBBE Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause?”

LSV And the Pharisees came near to Him, tempting Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?”

FBV Some Pharisees came to test him. “Is a man allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?” they asked.

TCNT Then [fn]the Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking [fn]him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

19:3 the ¦ some CT

19:3 him ¦ — CT

T4T Some Pharisees approached Jesus and said to him, “Does our Jewish law permit a man to divorce his wife for any reason whatever?” They asked that in order to be able to criticize Jesus, whether he answered “Yes” or “No.”

LEB And Pharisees came up to him in order to[fn] test him, and asked[fn] if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any cause.

19:3 *Here “in order to” is supplied as a component of the participle (“test”) which is understood as purpose

19:3 *Here the participle (“asked”) is translated as a finite verb because of English style

BBE And certain Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

Moff Then the Pharisees came up to tempt him. They asked, "Is it right to divorce one's wife for any reason?"

Wymth Then came some of the Pharisees to Him to put Him to the proof by the question, "Has a man a right to divorce his wife whenever he chooses?"

ASV And there came unto him Pharisees, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

DRA And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

YLT And the Pharisees came near to him, tempting him, and saying to him, 'Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?'

Drby And the Pharisees came to him tempting him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

RV And there came unto him Pharisees, tempting him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

SLT And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to loose his wife for every cause.

Wbstr The Pharisees also came to him, tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

KJB-1769 ¶ The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

KJB-1611 ¶ The Pharisees also came vnto him, tempting him, and saying vnto him, Is it lawfull for a man to put away his wife for euery cause?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps The pharisees also came vnto hym, temptyng hym, and saying vnto hym: Is it lawfull for a man to put away his wyfe, for euery cause?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Gnva Then came vnto him the Pharises tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawfull for a man to put away his wife vpon euery occasion?
(Then came unto him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife upon every occasion? )

Cvdl Then came vnto him the Pharises & tepted him, & sayde vnto him: Is it laufull for a man to put awaye his wife for eny maner of cause?
(Then came unto him the Pharisees and tepted him, and said unto him: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any manner of cause?)

TNT Then came vnto him the pharises temptinge him and sayinge to him: Ys it lawfull for a man to put awaye his wyfe for all maner of causes?
(Then came unto him the Pharisees temptinge him and saying to him: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for all manner of causes? )

Wycl And Farisees camen to him, temptynge him, and seiden, Whether it be leueful to a man to leeue his wijf, for ony cause?
(And Pharisees came to him, tempting him, and said, Whether it be lawful to a man to leave his wife, for any cause?)

Luth Da traten zu ihm die Pharisäer, versuchten ihn und sprachen zu ihm: Ist‘s auch recht, daß sich ein Mann scheide von seinem Weibe um irgendeine Ursache?
(So occurred to/for him the Pharisees, tried him/it and said to/for him: Is_it also right, that itself/yourself/themselves a man scheide from his woman around/by/for anye cause?)

ClVg Et accesserunt ad eum pharisæi tentantes eum, et dicentes: Si licet homini dimittere uxorem suam, quacumque ex causa?[fn]
(And they_came to him Pharisees tempting him, and saying: When/But_if although to_man to_release wife his_own, quacumque from cause? )

19.3 Et accesserunt. Quasi complexione capiatur. Si diceret: Dimittenda est quacunque ex causa, et ducenda alia: pudicitiæ prædicator contra se facit. Si dicit non est dimittenda, contra doctrinam Moysi et Dei facit. Ideo responsum temperat naturalem legem, primamque Dei sententiam secundo opponens, quæ non voluntate Dei, sed peccantium necessitate concessa est.

19.3 And they_came. As_if complexione capiatur. When/But_if would_say: Dimittenda it_is quacunque from cause, and ducenda other: pudicitiæ preachor on_the_contrary himself he_does. When/But_if he_says not/no it_is let_gonda, on_the_contrary teaching of_Moses and of_God he_does. Therefore/For_that_reason responsum temperat naturalm the_law, the_firstque of_God opinion secondly opponens, which not/no willingly of_God, but peccantium necessitate concessa it_is.

UGNT καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ Φαρισαῖοι, πειράζοντες αὐτὸν καὶ λέγοντες, εἰ ἔξεστιν ἀνθρώπῳ ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν?
(kai prosaʸlthon autōi Farisaioi, peirazontes auton kai legontes, ei exestin anthrōpōi apolusai taʸn gunaika autou kata pasan aitian?)

SBL-GNT Καὶ προσῆλθον ⸀αὐτῷ Φαρισαῖοι πειράζοντες αὐτὸν καὶ ⸀λέγοντες· Εἰ ἔξεστιν ⸀ἀνθρώπῳ ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν;
(Kai prosaʸlthon ⸀autōi Farisaioi peirazontes auton kai ⸀legontes; Ei exestin ⸀anthrōpōi apolusai taʸn gunaika autou kata pasan aitian;)

RP-GNT Καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι πειράζοντες αὐτόν, καὶ λέγοντες αὐτῷ, Εἰ ἔξεστιν ἀνθρώπῳ ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν;
(Kai prosaʸlthon autōi hoi Farisaioi peirazontes auton, kai legontes autōi, Ei exestin anthrōpōi apolusai taʸn gunaika autou kata pasan aitian;)

TC-GNT Καὶ [fn]προσῆλθον αὐτῷ [fn]οἱ Φαρισαῖοι πειράζοντες αὐτόν, καὶ λέγοντες [fn]αὐτῷ, Εἰ ἔξεστιν [fn]ἀνθρώπῳ ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν;
(Kai prosaʸlthon autōi hoi Farisaioi peirazontes auton, kai legontes autōi, Ei exestin anthrōpōi apolusai taʸn gunaika autou kata pasan aitian; )

19:3 προσηλθον ¦ προσηλθαν WH

19:3 οι ¦ — CT

19:3 αυτω ¦ — CT

19:3 ανθρωπω ¦ — WH

Key for above GNTs: red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 19:1–12: Jesus taught about divorce and marriage

In this section, Jesus led his disciples out of Galilee and passed through the land of Perea on his way to Jerusalem. While in Perea, some Pharisees came to him and asked him a question about divorce. They hoped that he would say something that they thought was wrong so that they could shame him. But Jesus taught about divorce based on Scripture. (This section has more information about divorce than 5:31–32.)

Jesus also taught that believers may choose not to marry so that they can fully devote themselves to serving God. Jesus and Paul are examples of this way of living.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Teaching about divorce

Concerning divorce and not marrying

A Discussion About Divorce and Celibacy (GW)

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 10:1–12 and Luke 16:18.

19:3a

Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking,

Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him by asking,
Then some Pharisees approached him and tried to get/make him say something that he should not say. They asked,

Then: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Then is the connecting word that usually joins the next event to the previous one. Some English versions do not translate it here. They allow the context to suggest the connection.

Here is another way to translate it:

And (ESV)

some Pharisees: Some Pharisees came to Jesus. Not all of them.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

some members of the Pharisee group

For help in translating the word Pharisees, see the note at 3:7a.

came: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as came means that they approached Jesus. There is no indication of where these Pharisees came from. It is good to keep this as a general statement. For example:

Pharisees approached him (NJB)

some Pharisees came to Jesus

and tested Him: The word tested means “tried to trick/trap” him so that he fails. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to fail to answer the question well. They hoped that he would say something that was against the law of Moses. Then they could accuse him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

in order to test him (NET)

and tried to trap him (GNT)

and tried to trick him (NCV)

and tried to trick him to give a bad answer

This same verb occurs in 16:1b. You should translate it here as you did there.

Him: The pronoun Him refers to Jesus. Since this sentence begins a new paragraph, it may be natural in some languages to use his name. For example:

and tested Jesus

by asking: In Greek, this phrase is more literally “and saying.” But the Pharisees’ trap for Jesus involved a question. So many English translations use the word “ask” here.

It is also possible to start a new sentence here. For example:

They asked (NIV)

19:3b

“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

“Does our^(incl) law allow a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
“Does God’s law permit a man to end his marriage for no matter what reason?”

Is it lawful: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Is it lawful is more literally “Is it permitted.” This means “Does God’s/Moses’ law permit (a man to divorce his wife)?”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Does our Law allow a man (GNT)

Is it permitted in the Law of Moses for a man

This same phrase occurs in 12:10c.

for a man to divorce his wife: The Greek word that the BSB translates as divorce means “release,” “reject,” or “send away.” In this context, it refers to breaking the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.At that time, Jewish law allowed a man to break the marriage covenant with his wife, but the law made it very difficult for the woman to break it.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to send away his wife

to break the marriage vows

his wife: The English phrase his wife is a way to speak in general.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

one’s wife (ESV)

for any reason: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as any reason can also be translated as “any cause.” For example:

for just any reason? (CEV)

for any and every reason (NIV)

for no matter what reason

Deuteronomy 24:1 says that a man could divorce his wife if he found something indecent about her. There were different ideas among the Pharisees themselves about how to interpret that verse. The Pharisees wanted to know what Jesus thought “something indecent” meant. Was it limited to just sexual unfaithfulness? Or could a man divorce his wife for anything he might be unhappy about?“Their question reflects the intra-Pharisaic debate between the “schools” of Shammai and Hillel concerning the correct interpretation of Deut 24:1. In that passage God apparently permitted divorce for “anything indecent.” Shammai, placing the emphasis on “indecent,” took this to refer to sexual unfaithfulness; Hillel, placing the emphasis on “anything,” allowed divorce even for as trivial an offense as a wife burning her husband’s food (m. Git. 9:10).” (Bloomberg, page 288). Whichever way he answered, some Pharisees would disagree with him.

Parallel MAT 19:3

Section 19:1–12: Jesus taught about divorce and marriage

19:3a

19:3b