Mar 10:2-12 | TNotes

10:3 ^a Jesus answered the Pharisees’ trick question with a counter-question (cp. Matt 22:20 ^b).
10:4 ^c The Pharisees quoted what Moses permitted. There was much debate among rabbis as to what constituted the “something wrong” (see Deut 24:1 ^d) that made divorce permissible. Rabbi Shammai allowed divorce only on the basis of sexual immorality. Rabbi Hillel permitted divorce even if a woman burned her husband’s dinner or was less attractive than someone else (Mishnah Gittin 9:10).
Summary for Mark 10:5-9: 10:5-9 ^e God permitted divorce as a concession to the hard hearts of the people. But God’s will is more aptly expressed in the passages that Jesus quotes from the law of Moses (Gen 1:27 ^f; 2:23-24 ^g; see also Mal 2:16 ^h). Jesus shows that God delights in marriage, which is the creation of a new union in which two become one. No one should rebel against God’s will by seeking to split apart what God has united.
10:10 ⁱ Jesus often explained his teaching to his disciples in the privacy of a house (see 7:17 ^j; 9:28 ^k, 33 ^l).
Summary for Mark 10:11-12: 10:11-12 ^m Whoever divorces ... and marries someone else commits adultery: The parallel in Luke 16:18 ⁿ agrees with Mark and mentions no exceptions to this prohibition of divorce, while Matthew’s parallel account allows an exception in cases of infidelity (Matt 19:9 ^o; see also Matt 5:32 ^p). Paul also allows an exception if an unbelieving partner deserts the marriage (1 Cor 7:15 ^q). Mark’s account focuses on the core principles—God hates divorce (Mal 2:16 ^r), marriage is meant to be for life, and divorce betrays the divine purpose of marriage.