Matthew 19:6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” | New International Version (NIV) | Download The Bible App Now (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning of Matthew 19 6? ›

Jesus continues in Matthew 19:6, "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." His answer can be paraphrased as, "Look, you have got things all wrong. Marriage is not just a physical relationship that one can make or break at any time and for any reason.

Matthew 19:6 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)

So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” The Gospel of the Lord. Response: Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Two Becoming One. The rest of Genesis 2:24 that Jesus quotes speaks of the “one flesh” union of the man and the woman, “and they shall become one flesh.” They are two people, but these two join together into “one flesh.” “Two” into “one” is true physically through marital intimacy. It's true relationally.

Jesus told the Pharisees, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). Marriage is of God. He joined (Greek sunezeuksen, “yoked”) male and female together. It was brazen for anyone to pull them apart.

Obviously to become one flesh means to become united physically and sexually, but it is far more than that! It is a symbol of a man and a woman bound and melted together, heart, body, and soul, in mutual giving and total oneness. When husband and wife become one flesh, they are no longer two, but actually one.

On the second day of creation, God separated the water above the earth from the water on the earth, placing the sky between the two.

This explains why Jesus does not settle for the divorce provision of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (Mark 10:3-9), but says, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:9). In other words, since God is the one who decisively makes every marriage, only God has the right to break a marriage.

When unrighteous behavior batters the marriage covenant, the relationship becomes weak and may break. In some cases where the covenant is broken God allows divorce.

What is the only condition Jesus allows for divorce? ›

The first biblical ground for divorce is adultery.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”⁶ Then Jesus states clearly the exception, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

1 Corinthians 7:10-16

The first paragraph of this passage clearly indicates that God's desire is that married couples stay together even through disagreements and difficulties in the marriage. This is God's ideal, so much so, that God does not want unbelievers married to believers to separate from the marriage either.

Matthew 19:6 in Other Translations

6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." 6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

God made human beings to be male and female and decreed that men should leave their parents, hold fast to their wives, and become one flesh in marriage. Men should not separate what God has joined, Jesus concludes (Matthew 19:1–6).

The person who repeatedly and without repentance rejects the Holy Spirit's testimony to Christ is the one who has blasphemed the Holy Spirit. That sin is the only sin that never will be forgiven.

John promises in today's passage that the Messiah will baptize not just with water but with the Spirit and fire (v. 11), an image with double meaning. The long awaited flame of the Holy Spirit will purify the soul and eventually remove all corruption from those who submit to the Son of David (Isa. 1:24–26).

This verse was Jesus' supernatural guarantee that when they went to preach, they would have divine protection against serpents, scorpions, and anything else the enemy might try to use to stop or hurt them. This is why Jesus concluded by saying, “… nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

Salt permanently changes the flavor of food, just as the influence of godly people can change a culture. The main point is that Christians serve a godly purpose in the world simply by living out what we believe about Jesus. Christians stop serving that purpose when we stop living in faithfulness to God.

We are agreeing to forgive those who sin against us. And Jesus teaches us to pray in such a way that whenever we ask God to forgive us, we challenge ourselves to do the same for others. And forgiving someone who has hurt us in one of the most difficult things that we will ever do.