MAT 19:7 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.)

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 They say to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of divorce and to divorce her?”

UST The Pharisees responded, “If that is true, why did Moses instruct us in our law about how to divorce wives? He required each husband to present his wife with a document that states that he is divorcing her. Then, he can divorce her.”

BSB “Why then,” they asked, “{did} Moses order [a man] to give [his wife] a certificate of divorce and send [her] away?[fn]”

BLB They say to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce and to send her away?"

AICNT They said to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to send [her][fn] away?”[fn]

19:7, her: Absent from some manuscripts.

19:7, Deuteronomy 24:1

OEB ‘Why, then,’ they said, ‘did Moses direct that a man should serve his wife with a notice of separation and divorce her?’

WEBBE They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”

LSV They say to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce, and to put her away?”

FBV “Then why did Moses give a law that a man could divorce his wife by giving her a written certificate of divorce, and sending her away?”[fn] they asked.

19:7 See Deuteronomy 24:1.

TCNT They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

T4T The Pharisees then said to him, “If that is true, why did Moses command that a man who wanted to divorce his wife should give her a paper stating his reason for divorcing her, and then send her away?”

LEB They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us[fn] to give a document—a certificate of divorce—and to divorce her?”

19:7 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE They say to him, Why then did Moses give orders that a husband might give her a statement in writing and be free from her?

Moff They said to him, "Then why did Moses lay it down that we were to divorce by giving a separation-notice?"

Wymth "Why then," said they, "did Moses command the husband to give her `a written notice of divorce,' and so put her away?"

ASV They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away?

DRA They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away?

YLT They say to him, 'Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce, and to put her away?'

Drby They say to him, Why then did Moses command to give a letter of divorce and to send [her] away?

RV They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away?

SLT They say to him, Why then did Moses charge to give a writing of divorce, and loose her?

Wbstr They say to him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

KJB-1769 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

KJB-1611 They say vnto him, Why did Moses then command to giue a writing of diuorcement, and to put her away?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps They say vnto hym: why did Moyses then commaunde to geue a writyng of diuorcement, and to put her away?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Gnva They said to him, Why did then Moses commaund to giue a bill of diuorcement, and to put her away?
(They said to him, Why did then Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away? )

Cvdl Then sayde they: Why dyd Moses then comaunde to geue a testimonyall of deuorsement, & to put her awaye?
(Then said they: Why did Moses then command to give a testimonyall of deuorsement, and to put her away?)

TNT The sayde they to him: why did Moses commaunde to geve a testimoniall of divorsement and to put hyr awaye?
(The said they to him: why did Moses command to give a testimonial of divorsement and to put her away? )

Wycl Thei seien to hym, What thanne comaundide Moises, to yyue a libel of forsakyng, and to leeue of?
(They said to him, What then commanded Moses, to give a libel of forsaking, and to leave of?)

Luth Da sprachen sie: Warum hat denn Mose geboten; einen Scheidebrief zu geben und sich von ihr zu scheiden?
(So said they/she/them: Why has because/than Moses offered; a Scheidebrief to/for give and itself/yourself/themselves from you(pl)/their/her to/for divorce(v)?)

ClVg Dicunt illi: Quid ergo Moyses mandavit dare libellum repudii, et dimittere?[fn]
(Sayunt them: What therefore Moyses commanded dare libellum divorce, and to_release? )

19.7 Quid ergo Moyses, etc. CHRYS. Displicet peccatoribus doctrina, etc., usque ad veritatis interpretatio taceatur.

19.7 What therefore Moyses, etc. CHRYS. Displicet sinners teaching/instruction, etc., until to to_the_truths interpretation be_silentatur.

UGNT λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, τί οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καὶ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν?
(legousin autōi, ti oun Mōusaʸs eneteilato dounai biblion apostasiou kai apolusai autaʸn?)

SBL-GNT λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Τί οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καὶ ἀπολῦσαι ⸀αὐτήν;
(legousin autōi; Ti oun Mōusaʸs eneteilato dounai biblion apostasiou kai apolusai ⸀autaʸn;)

RP-GNT Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Τί οὖν Μωσῆς ἐνετείλατο δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, καὶ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν;
(Legousin autōi, Ti oun Mōsaʸs eneteilato dounai biblion apostasiou, kai apolusai autaʸn;)

TC-GNT Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Τί οὖν [fn]Μωσῆς ἐνετείλατο δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, καὶ ἀπολῦσαι [fn]αὐτήν;
(Legousin autōi, Ti oun Mōsaʸs eneteilato dounai biblion apostasiou, kai apolusai autaʸn; )

19:7 μωσης ¦ μωυσης CT

19:7 αυτην ¦ — WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, 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.

19:7a

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man

They asked him, “Then why did Moses command a man
Then the Pharisees asked Jesus, “If that is so, then why did Moses command a man

Why then: The BSB has translated the two Greek words Why then in the same order as they are in Greek. In some languages, it will be more natural to change the order. For example:

Then why (JBP)

Why…did Moses order a man: In Greek, this question does not include the phrase a man. In other words, the verb order has no object. Some English versions, like the BSB, add the words a man because it is natural in English to have an object.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Why…did Moses command us (NET)

Why…did Moses command one (ESV)

Here the Pharisees referred to a portion of the law in Deuteronomy 24:1–4. They did not quote this passage. Instead they gave a sort of summary statement.

they asked: The pronoun they refers to the Pharisees who asked Jesus a question in 19:3. The Greek has the pronoun “him” as well, which refers to Jesus. In some languages, it will be natural to make this explicit.

The verb asked can also be translated as “said” since it introduces a question.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

the Pharisees said to him

the Pharisees asked Jesus

19:7b

to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

to give his wife a letter of divorce and to send her away?”
to give a paper of divorce to his wife and to divorce her?”

to give his wife: Here the Greek does not add any words to the word give. But in many languages, it will be more natural to add a phrase like “his wife” as the BSB has done. For example:

give his wife (NIV)

a certificate of divorce: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as a certificate of divorce refers to a legal paper. This paper recorded the separation of the man and woman from their marriage. It also included the reason for the separation and the statement that the woman was free to remarry.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

a letter/paper of divorce

a writing that they are divorced

This phrase also occurs in 5:31b. You should translate it the same way in both places.

and send her away: The Greek verb that the BSB here translates as send…away is the same verb that it translates as “divorce” in 19:8a. It can mean both “dismiss” and “release.” When the man gave his wife a divorce paper, he both ended the marriage and released the woman to marry again.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and end the marriage

to divorce her (GW)

Actually, the passage in Deuteronomy does not command the giving of a certificate of divorce. It does not command a man to send away his wife. But that is how the Pharisees describe it.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-tense

λέγουσιν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ τί Οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο Δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καί ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν)

To call attention to a development in the story, Matthew uses the present tense in past narration. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the past tense in your translation. Alternate translation: [They said]

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

τί οὖν

why (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ τί Οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο Δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καί ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν)

The phrase Why then indicates that the Pharisees are asking a question based on what Jesus has just said. This question suggests that there is evidence against what Jesus has said. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces this kind of question. Alternate translation: [If you are correct, why]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τί οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἐνετείλατο δοῦναι βιβλίον ἀποστασίου καὶ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν

Here the Pharisees are referring to a specific section in the law that God gave to Moses (see [Deuteronomy 24:1–4](../deu/24/01.md)). This passage discusses divorce and remarriage, and it mentions the use of a certificate of divorce. The Pharisees interpreted this passage to mean that men could divorce their wives, but they had to use a certificate of divorce. They did not think that Moses commanded that men must divorce their wives. If it would be helpful in your language, you could include some of this information in your translation or in a footnote. Alternate translation: [Why then has Moses commanded in the law that a man who wants to divorce his wife must give her a certificate of divorce and then can divorce her]

Note 4 topic: translate-unknown

βιβλίον ἀποστασίου

˓a˒_scroll ˱of˲_divorce

A certificate of divorce is a written document that makes the divorce official. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of document, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. See how you translated this phrase in [5:31](../05/31.md). Alternate translation: [a written paper that testifies to the divorce]

Parallel MAT 19:7

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

19:7a

19:7b