Matthew 19

Questions About Divorce

¹ And it came about when Jesus finished these words they went away from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. ² And many crowds followed him, and he healed them there. ³ And Pharisees came to him testing him and saying: Is it allowed to put away your wife for any reason?

⁴ But answering he said: Have you not read that the [one] having created from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said: For this reason [a] man will leave his father and mother and join together¹ to his wife, and the two shall be into one flesh? ⁶ Thus they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has yoked together, man shall² not sunder. ⁷ They say to him: Why therefore did Moses command to give [a] scroll of divorce³ and put [her] away? ⁸ He says to them: because Moses tolerated [it] to you because your hard-heartedness. This did not come to pass from the beginning. ⁹ ⁴ But I say to you that whoever puts away his wife makes her commit adultery, and the one having married the [one] having been put away commits adultery⁵. ¹⁰ The disciples say to him: If this is the relationship of the man with his wife, it is not advantageous to marry. ¹¹ But he said to them: Not all accept this statement, but to you it is given. ¹² For there are some eunuchs born that way from their mothers' belly, and there are some eunuchs castrated by men, and there are some eunuchs [who] castrate themselves because of the kingdom of the heavens. The [one] able to be accepting⁶, let⁷ him be accepting⁸ [it].

Jesus and Little Children

¹³ Then they brought to him children in order that he lay his hands on them and pray [for them], but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said: Allow the children and do not hinder them to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of the heavens. ¹⁵ And after he lay his hands on them he went from there.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁶ And behold [one] having come to him said: Good⁹ teacher, What good [thing] should I do in order that I have eternal zoe-life¹⁰ ? ¹⁷ So he said to him: Why do you ask¹¹ me concerning the good? [Only] one is good¹². But if you wish to enter into zoe-life¹⁰, be keeping the commandments. ¹⁸ He says to him: Which? So Jesus said: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor father and mother, and agape-love your neighbor as yourself. ²⁰ The young man says to him: All these have I kept ¹³ . What do I yet lack? ²¹ Jesus said to him: If you wish to be complete, be going, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and Come! Be following me. ²² But when the young man heard this statement he went away troubled, for he was having many possessions.

²³ But Jesus said to his disciples: Truly I say to you that the rich hardly¹⁴ enter into the kingdom of the heavens. ²⁴ But again I say to you it is easier for [a] camel to go through the eye of [a] needle than for [the] rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. ²⁵ When the disciples heard [this] they were exceedingly amazed saying: Who then is able to be saved? ²⁶ But looking at [them] Jesus said to them: With man this is impossible, but with God everything is possible. ²⁷ Then Peter answering said to him: Behold we have forsaken all and have followed you, what then will be to us? ²⁸ And Jesus said to him: Truly I say to you that you the [ones] following me, in the renewal, when the son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you yourselves shall also sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who forsakes houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or land because of my name, will receive a hundred¹⁵ times as much and will inherit eternal zoe-life¹⁰. ³⁰ But many [who are] first will be last and last first.

¹or "unite," "cling to"

²or "must"—imperative

³literally "departure"

⁴See Matt.5:32 and Mark.10:5 ff.

⁵omit "and the one having married the [one] having been put away commits adultery": ℵD many; as the text reads: p²⁵B K maj

⁶or "grasping," "understanding"

⁷imperative

⁸or "grasping," "understanding"

⁹"Good" W vg K; omit: ℵBD

¹⁰from ZOE "ZOH-ay" (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected. Although it means 'life' in the conventional sense (for example: Matt.9:18, Matt.27:63, Luke.2:36, Acts.25:24, Rom.7:2, 2Cor.1:8, 1Thes.4:17, 1Tim.5:10, Rev.19:20), Jesus uses ZOE exclusively of 'life eternal' (with the possible exceptions of Luke.15:13, Luke.16:25). The other N.T. writers use ZOE in both senses—temporal and eternal, generally clear from the context. The Father is the 'zoe-living God' (see Matt.16:16). The Septuagint (LXX) in Gen.2:7 has "...[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of zoe-life, and the man became a zoe-living psyche-life" (and see 1Cor.15:45); and Gen.3:20 (LXX) "And Adam called his wife's name ZOE, because she was the mother of all zoe-living." Contrast PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. See John.12:25 where both ZOE and PSYCHE occur. Greek also has the word BIOS (βιoς ) for 'life' in the sense of biological processes.

¹¹EROTAO (ερωταω) "Ask", but more polite, not demanding/begging as is AITEO. Both AITEO and EROTAO occur in John.16:26.

¹²text: WK; "Why do you call me good? One is good—GodℵBD

¹³add "since my youth" D K most

¹⁴or "with great difficulty"

¹⁵"a hundred" ℵDW vg K; "many" B