""It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'"
Introduction
This short saying from Matthew 5:31 records Jesus quoting a common Jewish legal practice: "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce." In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus first summarizes what "was said" under Jewish law and custom, setting the stage for the deeper ethical teaching that follows. The line points to the concrete legal procedure used to end a marriage and invites readers to consider both the letter of the law and God's higher moral intention for marriage.
Historical-Cultural Context and Authorship
Matthew is traditionally attributed to the apostle Matthew (a tax collector), but most modern scholars see the Gospel as the work of an anonymous Christian scribe or community shaped by Matthaean tradition and written in Greek for a primarily Jewish-Christian audience. A commonly accepted date for composition is roughly 80–90 CE. The Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7) collects sayings of Jesus and frames them as authoritative reinterpretations of Torah practice.
The saying echoes Deuteronomy 24:1–4, which provides a Mosaic concession allowing a man to issue a written certificate so that a divorced wife could remarry. In the Greek New Testament and in later Jewish and rabbinic practice, formal documentation — a bill or certificate — became central to protecting legal rights; the Mishnah and Talmud preserve extensive rules about divorce documents (see tractate Gittin). In the Greco-Roman world divorce was also legally possible and often less ritualized than the Jewish bill of divorce; both Jewish and Greco-Roman social realities shaped how Jesus’ hearers would have understood the problem. Important original-language terms include the Greek verb ἀπολύω (apolyō, “to release/divorce”), γυνή (gynē, “woman/wife”), and the phrase βιβλίον ἀποστάσεως (biblion apostaseōs, “document/certificate of dismissal”), which echo the Hebrew legal language and the practice described in Deuteronomy.
Characters and Places
The verse mentions a generic husband or divorcing person ("whoever") and his wife. No specific named individuals or geographic location appear in this brief citation; the scene is best understood as addressing Jewish families and communities in which the issuing of a written certificate was a recognized legal act.
Explanation and Meaning of the Text
Jesus' phrase "It was also said" signals that he is restating what the law or popular interpretation required, not endorsing it as the final word. Deuteronomy allowed divorce as a concession to the hardness of human hearts; the certificate served to clarify the woman’s legal status so she could lawfully remarry. By quoting the common rule, Matthew preserves the background against which Jesus then issues a corrective and formative teaching (see the following verse, Matthew 5:32), moving from the permissive practice to a call to faithfulness.
Reading this line in its Matthean context shows two complementary points: first, Jesus recognizes the existing legal framework and the social reality it addressed; second, he is preparing to deepen the community’s understanding of marriage, fidelity, and responsibility. The Greek and Hebrew terms underline that this is not merely private emotion but legal and communal action with concrete consequences for a woman’s social and economic life. Jesus’ broader teaching in the Sermon on the Mount repeatedly draws from Scripture but seeks to re-form the heart so that external conformity does not replace inward faithfulness.
Devotional
Today this verse reminds us that Scripture speaks into the hard places of human brokenness with laws meant to protect and organize life, even when those laws reflect painful compromises. Christians are called to attend both to the justice that legal measures can provide and to the higher call of Christ to faithfulness, mercy, and the healing of relationships. We pray for wisdom to hold these tensions rightly, to support those wounded by divorce, and to work so that justice and compassion go together.
Let this word move you toward humility and pastoral tenderness: marriage matters deeply to God, and so does the welfare of every person affected by a broken marriage. Seek reconciliation where it is possible, offer mercy where it is not, and let Christ’s transforming love shape both personal choices and communal care so that law and gospel together bring restoration, protection, and hope.