Mat 5:31 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Matt 5:31-32: 5:31-32 Jesus challenges the misapplication of the Old Testament provision for divorce (see Deut 24:1-4 ; cp. Matt 19:3-9 ): Following the rules does not make divorce acceptable. Jesus allows only one legitimate reason for divorce, sexual infidelity, and forbids casual divorce (see also 1 Cor 7:10-11 ). 5:31 A notice of divorce is a document stating the legality of a divorce. Evidence suggests that such a document permitted remarriage. “The essential formula in the notice of divorce is, ‘Lo, you are free to marry any man.’ ... The essential formula in a writ of emancipation is, ‘Lo, you are a freedwoman: lo, you belong to yourself’” ( Mishnah Gittin 9:3).

a5:31-32►

bDeut 24:1-4►

cMatt 19:3-9►

d1 Cor 7:10-11►

‏ Matthew 5:31

Summary for Matt 5:31-32: 5:31-32 ^a Jesus challenges the misapplication of the Old Testament provision for divorce (see Deut 24:1-4 ^b; cp. Matt 19:3-9 ^c): Following the rules does not make divorce acceptable. Jesus allows only one legitimate reason for divorce, sexual infidelity, and forbids casual divorce (see also 1 Cor 7:10-11 ^d). 5:31 ^e A notice of divorce is a document stating the legality of a divorce. Evidence suggests that such a document permitted remarriage. “The essential formula in the notice of divorce is, ‘Lo, you are free to marry any man.’ ... The essential formula in a writ of emancipation is, ‘Lo, you are a freedwoman: lo, you belong to yourself’” (Mishnah Gittin 9:3).