---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Matthew 19"
description: "CHAPTER 19   :-. FINAL
DEPARTURE FROM
GALILEE—DIVORCE.
( = Mark 10:1-12; Luke 9:51). Farewell to Galilee
(Matthew 19:1; Matthew 19:2). 1. And it came to p"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/matthew/19"
---

CHAPTER 19

. FINAL
DEPARTURE FROM
GALILEE—DIVORCE.
( = [Mark 10:1-12](../../../kjv/mark/10/1-12); [Luke 9:51](../../../kjv/luke/9/51)).
*Farewell to Galilee*
([Matthew 19:1](../../../kjv/matthew/19/1); [Matthew 19:2](../../../kjv/matthew/19/2)).

**1. And it came to pass, that when
Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee**—This
marks a very solemn period in our Lord's public ministry. So slightly
is it touched here, and in the corresponding passage of Mark (), that few readers probably note it as the Redeemer's
*Farewell to Galilee,* which however it was. See on the sublime
statement of Luke ([Luke 9:51](../../../kjv/luke/9/51)),
which relates to the same transition stage in the progress of our
Lord's work.
**and came into the coasts**—or,
boundaries
**of Judea beyond Jordan**—that
is, to the further, or east side of the Jordan, into Perea, the
dominions of Herod Antipas. But though one might conclude from our
Evangelist that our Lord went straight from the one region to the
other, we know from the other Gospels that a considerable time
elapsed between the departure from the one and the arrival at the
other, during which many of the most important events in our Lord's
public life occurred—probably a large part of what is recorded in
[Luke 9:51](../../../kjv/luke/9/51), and part of [Luke 9:51](../../../kjv/luke/9/51).

**2. And great multitudes followed
him; and he healed them there**—Mark says further (), that "as He was wont, He taught them there."
What we now have on the subject of divorce is some of that teaching.
*Divorce* ().

**3. Is it lawful for a man to put
away his wife for every cause?**—Two rival schools (as we saw on
[Matthew 5:31](../../../kjv/matthew/5/31)) were divided on this
question—a delicate one, as DE
WETTE pertinently remarks,
in the dominions of Herod Antipas.

**4. And he answered and said unto
them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made
them male and female**—or better, perhaps, "He that made
them made them from the beginning a male and a female."

**5. And said, For this cause**—to
follow out this divine appointment.
**shall a man leave father and
mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one
flesh?**—Jesus here sends them back to the original constitution
of man as one pair, a male and a female; to their marriage, as such,
by divine appointment; and to the purpose of God, expressed by the
sacred historian, that in all time one man and one woman should by
marriage become one flesh—so to continue as long as both are in the
flesh. This being *God's* constitution, let not *man* break
it up by causeless divorces.

**7. They say unto him, Why did Moses
then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?**

**8. He saith unto them, Moses**—as
a civil lawgiver.
**because of**—or "having
respect to."
**the hardness of your
hearts**—looking to your low moral state, and your inability to
endure the strictness of the original law.
**suffered you to put away your
wives**—tolerated a relaxation of the strictness of the marriage
bond—not as approving of it, but to prevent still greater evils.
**But from the beginning it was
not so**—This is repeated, in order to impress upon His audience
the temporary and purely civil character of this Mosaic relaxation.

**9. And I say unto you, Whosoever
shall put away his wife, except,** &c.—See on .

**10. His disciples say unto him, If
the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry**—that
is, "In this view of marriage, surely it must prove a snare
rather than a blessing, and had better be avoided altogether."

**11. But he said unto them, All men
cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given**—that
is, "That the unmarried state is better, is a saying not for
everyone, and indeed only for such as it is divinely intended for."
But who are these? they would naturally ask; and this our Lord
proceeds to tell them in three particulars.

**12. For there are some eunuchs which
were so born from their mother's womb**—persons constitutionally
either incapable of or indisposed to marriage.
**and there are some eunuchs
which were made eunuchs of men**—persons rendered incapable by
others.
**and there be eunuchs which
have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake**—persons
who, to do God's work better, deliberately choose this state. Such
was Paul ([1 Corinthians 7:7](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/7/7)).
**He that is able to receive
it, let him receive it**—"He who feels this to be his proper
vocation, let him embrace it"; which, of course, is as much as
to say—"he only." Thus, all are left free in this matter.
[1 Corinthians 7:7](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/7/7). LITTLE
CHILDREN BROUGHT
TO CHRIST. ( =
[Mark 10:13-16](../../../kjv/mark/10/13-16); [Luke 18:15-17](../../../kjv/luke/18/15-17)).
For the exposition, see on [Luke 18:15-42](../../../kjv/luke/18/15-42).
[Luke 18:15-42](../../../kjv/luke/18/15-42). THE RICH
YOUNG RULER.
( = [Mark 10:17-31](../../../kjv/mark/10/17-31); [Luke 18:18-30](../../../kjv/luke/18/18-30)).
For the exposition, see on [Luke 18:18-42](../../../kjv/luke/18/18-42).

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