Smoodock's Blog

In order to understand what’s going on, we need to know where Jesus’ discussion about divorce took place. Mark tells us that part of that discussion, the private part took place “in the house” (Mark 10:10-12). It is here, as well, that Jesus’ blessing of the children took place (Mark 10:13-16), and from this house Jesus and his disciples departed to go to Jerusalem (Mark 10:17; “he was gone forth into the way…”). Keeping in mind that Jesus left Galilee for the final time (Matthew 19:1; first phrase after finishing his teaching), passing through the midst of Samaria and Galilee (Luke 17:11-12) to celebrate the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), he then retreated to Peraea, temporarily residing in Bethabara, where John had first baptized (John 10:40-42; cp. 1:28).

Therefore, if he left Galilee to go to Jerusalem, passing through Samaria, he still had to go to Jerusalem from the far side of the Jordan (Matthew 19:1; second phrase after finishing his teaching). This second journey to Jerusalem was to celebrate the Feast of Purim, and was begun from the far side of the Jordan, and it occurred immediately after blessing the children (Mark 10:1, cp. 16-17). If this understanding is true and logical, then Jesus’ teaching about divorce occurred in Peraea, and the private portion of that teaching occurred in the house where he was staying, while in Bethabara.

Whose house might that have been? While he was in Galilee, Jesus either owned a house in Capernaum or he stayed with Peter in his house. When he was in Jerusalem, he often stayed with Martha (Luke 10:38; cp. John 12:1-2), whom I believe was married to Simon Zelotes, one of the Twelve.[1] So, whether or not Jesus owned a home in Capernaum, he did stay at the homes of folks who believed in him, when he was away from Capernaum. Understanding this, whose home did Jesus stay in, while he was in Peraea? I’m guessing, but about a year into Jesus’ public ministry he healed a nobleman’s son. I identified this man as Chuza, Herod’s steward (Luke 8:3),[2] who, no doubt had a house in Peraea, when Herod resided there (winter residence?). Keep in mind that I’m guessing, but Jesus may have stayed in the house of Joanna and Chuza, whose son Jesus healed a little over two years before this time. We know that they had been supporting his ministry (Luke 8:3), and probably for that reason. Thus, it seems likely that they would welcome his visit to Peraea by allowing, perhaps inviting, him to stay in their home, while he was there.

So, Pharisees came to Jesus, while he stayed in Peraea, away from the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. They came to tempt him regarding the subject of divorce. From the beginning, Jesus taught that except for the reason of adultery, divorce was against the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:32). However, the Pharisees taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason, but had to give her a bill of divorcement, when casting her out of his house (Matthew 5:31; see also the Apocrypha Sirach 25:26). Josephus, who was also a Pharisee, said:

“I divorced my wife also, as not pleased with her behavior, though not till she had been the mother of three children, two of whom are dead, and one whom I named Hyrcanus, is alive.[3]

The controversy is over interpreting Deuteronomy 24:1,

“If a man chooses to enter into marriage with a woman, but she finds herself displeasing to him because he has found something objectionable about her, he must draw up divorce papers, hand them to her, and then send her out of his house.”

Most scholars believe that the “temptation” (Matthew 19:3) was to get Jesus to publicly embrace the unpopular interpretation of the text, and so embarrass him in front of his supporters. However, I don’t think this is logical.

The reason Jesus was in Bethabara, in the first place, was to escape the wrath of the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem who wished to incarcerate him and have him executed (John 10:31, 39-42). The point of the Pharisees’ temptation in Bethabara seems to have been to get Jesus in trouble with Herod, who was probably wintering in his palace, Machaerus, in Peraea. This is where Herod seized and imprisoned John the Baptizer two years prior, over John’s interpretation of this same scripture. The Jewish authorities wanted Jesus out of the way and would have taken him, if he were residing in their realm of authority. The Pharisees in Matthew 19:3 were probably sent by the Jewish authorities to try to get him in trouble with Herod, just as they had done with John (John 3:23-25; cp. John 4:1, 3-4 and Matthew 4:12). 

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[1] See my earlier study: Who Is Simon the Pharisee?

[2] See my earlier study: Who Is the Nobleman in John’s Gospel?

[3] Josephus: Life paragraph 76