Mateo 19:3

The Pharisees again approached Jesus to trap Him (cf. Matthew 12:2; Matthew 12:14; Matthew 12:38; Matthew 15:1; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 22:15; Matthew 22:34-35). This time they posed a question about divorce. In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus had taught the sanctity of marriage in the context of kingdom righteousness. Here the Pharisees asked Him what divorces were legitimate. Perhaps they hoped Jesus would oppose Herod as John had done and would suffer a similar fate. The Machaerus fortress where Herod Antipas had imprisoned and beheaded John was nearby, east of the north part of the Dead Sea. Undoubtedly the Pharisees hoped Jesus would say something that they could use against Him.

Both the NASB and NIV translations have rendered the Pharisees’ question well. They wanted to know if Jesus believed a man could divorce his wife for any and every reason. The Mosaic Law did not permit wives to divorce their husbands.

There was great variety of opinion on this controversial subject among the Jews. Most of them believed that divorce was lawful for Jews, though not for Gentiles, but they disagreed as to its grounds. [Note: Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:332-33.] The Qumran community believed that divorce was not legitimate for any reason. [Note: J. R. Mueller, "The Temple Scroll and the Gospel Divorce Texts," Revue de Qumran 38 (1980):247-56.] In mainstream Judaism there were two dominant views both of which held that divorce was permissible for "something indecent" (Deuteronomy 24:1). Rabbi Shammai and his school of followers believed the indecency was some gross indecency though not necessarily adultery. Rabbi Hillel and his school interpreted the indecency more broadly to include practically any offense that a wife might have committed, real or imagined by the husband. This even included a wife not cooking her husband’s meal to his liking. [Note: For a fuller discussion of the two major views, see Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:333-34.] One of Hillel’s disciples, Rabbi Akiba, permitted a man to divorce his wife if a prettier woman caught his eye. [Note: Mishnah Gittin 9:10.] Josephus was a divorced Pharisee, and he believed in divorce "for any causes whatsoever." [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 4:8:23.] In many Pharisaic circles "the frequency of divorce was an open scandal." [Note: Hill, p. 280.]