Robert wrote: |
John,
I was looking up the teaching about divorce
in the New Testament for a friend. Only in
Matthew 19:9 is an exception made, however,
I have read multiple translations and the meanings vary from translation to translation.
Some say, 9 And I say to you: whoever:
- divorces his wife, except if the marriage is unlawful,
- divorces his wife, except for fornication,
- divorces his wife, except in the case of lewd conduct,
- divorces his wife, except when the wife has been unfaithful,
- What is the actual Greek and its direct translation?
A co-worker had a bitter divorce forced by
his wife; she insisted on it. He was looking
for guidance on the teachings from the Bible. He
is not a Catholic, although he seems to be
following the footsteps of St. John Newman [EWTN].
Eric or Mike, if you guys can shed some light as well,
I would greatly appreciate any help.
Thanks,
Rob
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{ What is the actual meaning of Matthew 19:9 and what is the actual Greek in this passage? } |
Eric
replied:
Hi, Rob —
The Greek word is porneia,
literally means unlawful
union or something close
to it. John, correct me if I am wrong.
Obviously, that's where we get the
word pornography but
it doesn't have exactly the same
sense.
The Catholic argument would be that porneia refers
to illicit marriages; the usual example
is marriage within a forbidden
bloodline.
The Catholic Church therefore
understands this exception as pertaining
to a putative marriage that, in fact,
doesn't exist because of some element
contrary to the legal requirements
for marriage, a marriage which is null and,
may be declared so.
In other words, the Church invokes
this principle in issuing declarations
of nullity (better known as annulments).
Protestant exegetes usually translate
this fornication or adultery.
Strong's Concordance
(a Protestant work) defines it as harlotry which
includes adultery and incest, and
notes that it is also translated fornication,
and says that it is derived from
a word meaning unlawful
lust.
I'm not sure this solves anything,
but it does provide additional illumination.
Yours in Christ,
Eric Ewanco
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Mike
replied:
Hi, Rob —
The following article, How
can a marriage be declared
Null? is used by Catholic
apologists in the Archdiocese of
Boston. It should provide more information
on how the Church determines whether
a marriage was valid or not.
Maybe
it will have something that will
clarify the question you have.
I strongly recommend reading all
of it.
Sorry, that's the best I can do.
Mike
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