MAT 19:8 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) “It was because of your hard hearts that Mosheh allowed you to send away your wife,” Yeshua answered, “but it wasn’t like that at the beginning.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
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 He says to them, “Because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not that way.

UST Jesus answered, “Moses knew that you were unwilling to obey. That is why in the Law he permitted you to divorce your wives. However, when God first created everything, that is not what he intended.

BSB Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart. But [it] was not this way from [the] beginning.

BLB He says to them, "In view of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives; but it was not this way from the beginning.

AICNT He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

OEB ‘Moses, owing to the hardness of your hearts,’ answered Jesus, ‘permitted you to divorce your wives, but that was not so at the beginning.

WEBBE He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Jesus said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way.

LSV He says to them, “Moses for your stiffness of heart permitted you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.

FBV “Because of your hard-hearted attitude Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but it wasn't like that in the beginning,” Jesus replied.

TCNT He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

T4T He said to them, “It was because your ancestors stubbornly wanted their own way that Moses allowed them to divorce their wives, and you are no different from them. But when God first [MTY] created a man and a woman, he did not intend for them to separate.

LEB He said to them, “Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this.

BBE He says to them, Moses, because of your hard hearts, let you put away your wives: but it has not been so from the first.

Moff He said to them, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, on account of the hardness of your hearts, but it was not so from the beginning.

Wymth "Moses," He replied, "in consideration of the hardness of your nature permitted you to put away your wives, but it has not been so from the beginning.

ASV He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so.

DRA He saith to them: Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

YLT He saith to them — 'Moses for your stiffness of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it hath not been so.

Drby He says to them, Moses, in view of your hardheartedness, allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not thus.

RV He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so.
(He saith/says unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath/has not been so. )

SLT He says to them that Moses for your hard heart permitted you to loose your wives: and from the beginning it was not so.

Wbstr He saith to them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

KJB-1769 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
(He saith/says unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. )

KJB-1611 Hee saith vnto them, Moses, because of the hardnesse of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wiues: but from the beginning it was not so.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps He sayde vnto them: Moyses, because of the hardnes of your heartes, suffred you to put away your wyues: But from the begynnyng it was not so.
(He said unto them: Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives: But from the beginning it was not so.)

Gnva He sayd vnto them, Moses, because of the hardnesse of your heart, suffered you to put away your wiues: but from the beginning it was not so.
(He said unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your heart, suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. )

Cvdl He sayde vnto the: Moses (because of ye hardnes of yor hertes) suffred you to put awaye youre wyues: Neuertheles fro the begynnynge it hath not bene so.
(He said unto them: Moses (because of ye/you_all hardness of your hearts) suffered you to put away your(pl) wives: Nevertheless from the beginning it hath/has not been so.)

TNT He sayde vnto them: Moses because of the hardnes of youre hertes suffred you to put awaye youre wyfes: But from the beginnynge it was not so.
(He said unto them: Moses because of the hardness of your(pl) hearts suffered you to put away your(pl) wifes: But from the beginning it was not so. )

Wycl And he seide to hem, For Moises, for the hardnesse of youre herte, suffride you leeue youre wyues; but fro the bigynnyng it was not so.
(And he said to hem, For Moses, for the hardness of your(pl) heart, suffered you leave your(pl) wives; but from the beginning it was not so.)

Luth Er sprach zu ihnen: Mose hat euch erlaubt, zu scheiden von euren Weibern, von eures Herzens Härtigkeit wegen; von Anbeginn aber ist‘s nicht also gewesen.
(He spoke to/for to_them: Moses has you erlaubt, to/for divorce(v) from your(s)(pl) women, from yours(pl) heart hardness because_of; from Anbeginn but it_is not also been.)

ClVg Ait illis: Quoniam Moyses ad duritiam cordis vestri permisit vobis dimittere uxores vestras: ab initio autem non fuit sic.
(He_said to_them: Since Moyses to hardness of_the_heart yours allowed to_you(pl) to_release wives your: away at_first/in_the_beginning however not/no it_was sic. )

UGNT λέγει αὐτοῖς, ὅτι Μωϋσῆς πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν, ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν; ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως.
(legei autois, hoti Mōusaʸs pros taʸn sklaʸrokardian humōn, epetrepsen humin apolusai tas gunaikas humōn; ap’ arⱪaʸs de ou gegonen houtōs.)

SBL-GNT λέγει αὐτοῖς ὅτι Μωϋσῆς πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν, ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως.
(legei autois hoti Mōusaʸs pros taʸn sklaʸrokardian humōn epetrepsen humin apolusai tas gunaikas humōn, apʼ arⱪaʸs de ou gegonen houtōs.)

RP-GNT Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὅτι Μωσῆς πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν· ἀπ' ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως.
(Legei autois hoti Mōsaʸs pros taʸn sklaʸrokardian humōn epetrepsen humin apolusai tas gunaikas humōn; ap' arⱪaʸs de ou gegonen houtōs.)

TC-GNT Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὅτι [fn]Μωσῆς πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τὰς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν· ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτω.
(Legei autois hoti Mōsaʸs pros taʸn sklaʸrokardian humōn epetrepsen humin apolusai tas gunaikas humōn; ap arⱪaʸs de ou gegonen houtō. )

19:8 μωσης ¦ μωυσης CT

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.

19:8a–b

In the Greek, the reason (“your hardness of heart”) comes before the result (“Moses permitted you to divorce your wives”). In some languages, it will be more natural to change the order and put the reason after the result, as the BSB does. In other languages, it will be more natural to follow the Greek and put the reason first. For example:

^8bBecause of your hardness of heart ^8aMoses allowed you to divorce your wives (ESV)

In other languages, it will be more natural to say something like:

You hearts were hard. That is why Moses permitted you to divorce your wives.

19:8a

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives

Jesus said, “Moses permitted you^(plur) to divorce your wives
Jesus said, “Moses gave you^(plur) permission in the law to divorce your wives.

Moses permitted you: Here the word Moses refers to the law which Moses received from God and wrote down long ago. In some languages, it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

In the law, Moses allowed/permitted you

to divorce your wives: The Greek word that the BSB here translates as divorce is the same word that it translates as “send away” in 19:7b. It means to break the bond of marriage.

19:8b

because of your hardness of heart;

because you are stubborn.
He did that because you always refuse to obey God.

because of: The words because of indicate that 19:8b is a reason clause.

Here are some other ways to introduce this reason clause:

It was on account of

It was because of

your hardness of heart: The Greek word that the BSB translates as hardness of heart is an idiom. This idiom refers to a person’s sinful attitude. For Jews in Jesus’ time, the heart was the place where emotions were experienced. The expression “hard heart” indicates that the person cannot respond to God as he should. It indicates stubbornness and disobedience.

If you have this same idiom in your language, or if this idiom would be understandable in your language as is, then use it. Otherwise, if you have a similar idiom for stubbornness and disobedience, then you may consider using that.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you were stubborn

you refused to accept God’s teaching (NCV)

you always refuse to obey God

19:8c

but it was not this way from the beginning.

But it was not like that at the beginning.
But in the beginning of the world, God did not permit divorce.

but it was not this way: The pronoun it refers to the permission for divorce. The whole clause means that the permission for divorce was added after God created people, because of sin. It was not the way God intended things to be.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

it was not so (ESV)

it was not like that (GNT)

divorce was not allowed (NCV)

from the beginning: This phrase refers to “the beginning of the world” or “the beginning of creation.” It refers to the words that Jesus said in 19:4b. There he talked about the creation of man and woman in “the beginning.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

at the time of creation (GNT)

in the beginning of the world

at first

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-tense

λέγει

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὅτι Μωϋσῆς Πρός τήν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐπέτρεψεν ὑμῖν ἀπολῦσαι τάς γυναῖκας ὑμῶν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς δέ οὒ γέγονεν οὕτως)

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: [He said]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

πρὸς τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν

The phrase your hardness of heart refers to obstinacy or unwillingness to listen and obey. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Because you are hardheaded] or [Because you are so stubborn]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς

from ˓the˒_beginning

The phrase from the beginning refers to when God created everything that exists. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. See how you translated this phrase in [19:4](../19/04.md). Alternate translation: [at the beginning of the world] or [at the beginning of creation]

Parallel MAT 19:8

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

19:8a–b

19:8a

19:8b

19:8c