1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. 5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Most Christians throughout history have believed that marriage was intended for one man and one woman for as long as they both live. They have further believed that, with one exception, adultery is committed by a person who divorces his or her spouse and marries another. The question is, what is meant by πορνείᾳ (porneia—“except for immorality”); three possibilities have generally been given.
If the word immorality was used in its more restrictive sense, possibly referring to an illegal marriage under Jewish Law (see Lev 18:6-18; Matt 14:1-3), or the unfaithfulness of a Jewish bride during her betrothal (see Deut 22:13ff; Matt 1:18-19), then there are no biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage for those in a fully consummated, biblically legal marriage. This has been the historical view of the Church Fathers and the Roman Catholic Church.
If, on the other hand, the word that is translated immorality was used in the sense of sexual sin, including marital infidelity, then there are biblical grounds for divorce. In such cases, the innocent partner is free to remarry without committing adultery because the original marriage was nullified by the guilty partner's sexual misconduct (see Deut 24:1-4; Matt 19:1-10). This has been the majority view held by the Reformers and evangelicals.
Others have argued that Jesus did not discuss other biblical grounds for divorce, such as neglect (Exod 21:10-11), but He did not disapprove of divorce on these grounds. This position sees Jesus answering a very specific question, relating to a debate that had begun between the Hillel and Shammaite rabbinic schools over divorce. In the early years of the first century A.D., the Hillel school began to issue divorce certificates for “any matter,” while the Shammaites argued that divorces were only allowed for “matters of indecency” (which included sexual sin, as well as neglect). Jesus seems to have sided with the Shammaites, since He used almost the exact same phrase. This argument would also negate the seeming contradiction between Jesus and Paul on the subject (1 Cor 7:15).
For more information on the first two views, see H. Wayne House, Divorce and Remarriage: Four Christian Views, and for the latter perspective, see David Instone-Brewer, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context.
Other Scriptures that bear on this important subject, include: Gen 2:24; Mal 2:14; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; Rom 7:1-3; 1 Cor 7:10-11; 15, 39.