Mark 10:7
in Mark 10‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife;
KJV
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
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This verse in Mark 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFor this cause shall a man leave his father and mother,.... The Persic version adds, "and brethren and sisters", though without any foundation in the original text, in Gen 2:24, from whence this passage is cited; or in any copy of the evangelist: and cleave to his wife; See Gill on Mat 19:5.
This site's exposition
because of your hardness of heart
on Mark 10:5-9
Jesus calls the provision a concession, written because of your hardness of heart, and reaches past Moses to creation. There God made them male and female and the two will become one flesh, so what God has joined together, let man not separate.
This site's exposition
leave his father and mother
Jesus cites Genesis 2:24, as John Gill notes. Matthew Henry reads the word for being united as a mark of both nearness and permanence. A man is to hold so fast to his wife that he is never separated from her.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife. Similarly, He said, Cleave to his wife, not to wives.
In a figurative sense, this can be understood as follows: the word of Teaching, sowing good seeds in the soul of a believing person, has the significance of a husband to the soul that receives it. And it leaves its father, that is, lofty thought, …
(ubi sup.) And in like manner, because He says, he shall cleave to his wife, not wives. It goes on: And they twain shall be one flesh.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
); which intimates not only the nearness of the relation, but the perpetuity of it; he shall so cleave to his wife as not to be separated from her. [3.] The result of the relation is, That, though they are two, yet they are one, they are one flesh,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The opening verse of this passage shows us the patient perseverance of our Lord Jesus Christ as a teacher . We are told that "Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them." Wherever our Lord went, He was always about His Father's business, preaching, teaching, and laboring to do good to souls. He threw away no opportunity. In the whole history of His earthly ministry, we never read of an idle day.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The opening verse of this passage shows us the patient perseverance of our Lord Jesus Christ as a teacher . We are told that "Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them." Wherever our Lord went, He was always about His Father's business, preaching, teaching, and laboring to do good to souls. He threw away no opportunity. In the whole history of His earthly ministry, we never read of an idle day. Of Him it may be truly said, that He "sowed beside all waters," and that "in the morning He sowed his seed, and in the evening withheld not His hand." (Isaiah 32:20. Eccles. 11:6.) And yet our Lord knew the hearts of all men. He knew perfectly well that the great proportion of His hearers were hardened and unbelieving. He knew, as He spoke, that most of His words fell to the ground uncared for and unheeded, and that so far as concerned the salvation of souls, most of His labor was in vain. He knew all this, and yet He labored on. Let us see in this fact a standing pattern to all who try to do good to others, whatever their office may be. Let it be remembered by every minister and every missionary — by every schoolmaster and every Sunday-school teacher — by every district visitor and every lay agent — by every head of a house who has family prayers — and by every caretaker who has the charge of children. Let all such remember Christ's example, and resolve to do likewise. We are not to give up teaching, because we see no good done. We are not to relax our exertions, because we see no fruit of our toil. We are to work on steadily, keeping before us the great principle, that duty is ours, and results are God's. There must be ploughmen and sowers as well as reapers and binders of sheaves.
How the passage was read
On Mark 10:2-12On Mark 10:2-12
The divorce question, translated for Rome
The test question “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?” lands in Perea, Herod Antipas's territory, where John the Baptist had just died for saying Antipas's marriage to Herodias was unlawful. Behind the question stands the recorded dispute of the Pharisaic schools over Deuteronomy 24:1: the house of Shammai allowing divorce only for unchastity, the house of Hillel for far less (“even if she spoiled his dish,” Mishnah Gittin 9:10). This site's Matthew 19 note walks that dispute; Jesus answers from creation, behind Moses.
Mark alone adds: “and if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery” (10:12). Under Jewish law of the period, the get (bill of divorce) ran from husband to wife; a wife initiating divorce was Roman law's provision, and famously what Herodias had done to her first husband. Mark, writing for Roman readers, translates the ruling into their legal world, one more instance of the New Testament doing for its first readers what this layer does for the modern one.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἕνεκεν | heneken | On account of | G1752 → | 26 times |
| τούτου | toutou | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| καταλείψει | kataleipsei | will leave | G2641 → | 23 times |
| ἄνθρωπος | anthropos | a man | G444 → | 549 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πατέρα | patera | father | G3962 → | 410 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὴν | ten | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μητέρα | metera | mother | G3384 → | 83 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| προσκολληθήσεται | proskollethesetai | will be joined | G4347 → | |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τὴν | ten | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γυναῖκα | gunaika | wife | G1135 → | 211 times |
| αὐτοῦ, | autou | of him, | G846 → | 5565 times |
ἕνεκενOn account of
henekenG1752 →26 times
τούτουthis
toutouG3778 →1381 times
καταλείψειwill leave
kataleipseiG2641 →23 times
ἄνθρωποςa man
anthroposG444 →549 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
πατέραfather
pateraG3962 →410 times
αὐτοῦof him
autouG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὴν<the>
tenG3588 →19766 times
μητέραmother
meteraG3384 →83 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
προσκολληθήσεταιwill be joined
proskollethesetaiG4347 →
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
τὴν<the>
tenG3588 →19766 times
γυναῖκαwife
gunaikaG1135 →211 times
αὐτοῦ,of him,
autouG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 2:24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
it leads to
- Matthew 19:3–9
Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
- Ephesians 5:28–31
In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
- Mark 10:6–12
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
- Romans 7:2
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
- 1 Peter 3:1–7
Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
- Matthew 19:3–9
Through
Ephesians 5:31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
it leads to
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Matthew 19:5
and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
- Mark 10:7–8
‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
- Genesis 2:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies27
On this verse
On this chapter
- The Deity of Christ
- Elders and Deacons
- Entering the Kingdom
- Barnabas, a Good Man
- The Words Tov and Agathosyne
- Why He Said He Came
Show the next 6 titles
About Mark
This page draws on Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.