Verse Lens · Context pointer
Matthew 19:8 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 8. 8He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Distinguishes Moses' concession to hard hearts from creation's beginning.
Read It With
- Matthew 19:1–19:12
Read Matthew 19:8 with 19:1–19:12. In isolation, this verse's contribution—distinguishes Moses' concession to hard hearts from creation's beginning—can be detached from its speaker, audience, narrative or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: In Judea Pharisees test Jesus on divorce, he cites creation, rejects casual separation, names Matthew's exception, answers disciples' alarm, and speaks of varied eunuch conditions and chosen singleness.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Matthew 19:1–19:12 — Jesus answers a divorce test within Jewish legal debateSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 19:1–19:12, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 19:1–19:12
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗