Theme series in the form of this question: Did Jesus actually change the Law of Moses?
The point is to see whether Jesus was merely repeating Moses…or whether, as the New Covenant lawgiver, he changed and even overturned Torah at certain points:
Today we look at marriage/divorce and whether or not Jesus changed that law.
What Was Said? Deut. 21:10-14; 22:28-29; 24:1-4; Ex 21:7-11
NET Study Bible: The Pharisees were all in agreement that the OT permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce his wife (not vice-versa) and that remarriage was therefore sanctioned. But the two rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel differed on the grounds for divorce. Shammai was much stricter than Hillel and permitted divorce only in the case of sexual immorality. Hillel permitted divorce for almost any reason (cf. the Mishnah, m. Gittin 9.10).
Deuteronomy 21:15–17 addresses inheritance rights when a man has two wives, ensuring the firstborn son (even from the less favored wife) receives his double portion.
Examples: Abraham (Sarah, Hagar, and later Keturah); Jacob (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, Zilpah); David (multiple wives, including Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba); Solomon (700 wives and 300 concubines, though criticized for excess and foreign alliances).
Polygamy: The Torah does not explicitly prohibit a man from having more than one wife. Instead, it regulates the practice in several places;
Later, Mal 2:13-16 a prophetic rebuke about misuse of divorce and covenant unfaithfulness;
Addendum: Deut. 17:17 limits kings from "multiplying" wives warning it could lead their hearts astray (as happened with Solomon).
But I Say: Matt 5:31-32; 19:1-12
Note Antithesis vv.8-9, cp. Mark 10:5 Moses "wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts. 6 But from the beginning of creation He made them male and female."
Jesus echoes Malachi ("I hate divorce," Mal 2:14–16) and grounds marriage from Genesis (Mal 2:10, 15; Gen 1:27; 2:24), opposing divorce as violations of God’s original design.
Under Torah Adultery was typically understood as a sexual relationship involving a married woman (Deut 22:22; Lev 18:20).
But Jesus broadens the definition of adultery to cover any sexual relationship between a married man and a woman who is not his wife, regardless of whether the woman herself is married.
Polygamy explicitly outlawed;
The exception to divorce (for pornea) not a hard rule, i.e., couple can agree to forgive, reconcial in order to continue the marriage.
Post-Resurrection: Mark 12:18-27; Matt 22:23-33
Even though Jesus roots his overall argument in the Torah (proving life after death), it is consistent with Jesus as the new covenant lawmaker.
Jesus' statement that we will be "like the angels in heaven" must not be generalized to mean that humans will be like angels in every respect.
This confirms "sons of God" were angels, i.e., fallen angels because "they saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose," (Gen 6:2) producing a race of giants (“Nephilim”) whose power and notoriety intensified the world’s corruption. Hence, the worldwide Flood;
Apostolic Additions: 1 Cor 7:10-40
Paul is not repeating Torah divorce law; he is under the Law of Messiah (1Cor 9.21), which itself goes beyond Moses back to creation;
Although 2Cor 6:14 echoes Torah prohibitions against unequal yoking (Deuteronomy 7:3–4; Exodus 34:15–16; Ezra 9–10; Nehemiah 13:23–27);
In 1 Cor 7 Paul extends marriage/divorce to new situations (like mixed marriages; seperation not divorce);
They are characteristic of Jesus’ stricter standard, not found in Torah.
The “Not I, but the Lord” vs. “I, not the Lord” doesn’t mean Paul’s words are less authoritative; he is a legitimate apostolos, aka shaliach of Jesus himself which means his words are Jesus!
Torah treated unbelief as a form of spiritual incompatibility or "fornication" (Greek: porneia), which could justify separation to preserve holiness and produce godly offspring (Malachi 2:15);
But Paul is not putting Christians “back under” the intermarriage laws of Moses.
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