Matthew 19 is another passage that is misunderstood due to translation and not looking at the whole picture presented even in the chapter itself. Here is the English KJV. Following that we will show what the Greek actually says.
Matthew 19:3-9
3 "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He 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.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
The first thing to keep in mind about this passage is the setting. This is not a friendly question and answer session with students eager to learn. This is about a group of men who are trying to discredit and embarrass Christ through a public test.
The Pharisees first question bears this out as the answer would be obvious to anyone who knew the law. I view the phrase "put away" as separation with out divorce so the couple is still married. If you think it means divorce the result is the same in this verse. The scripture never teaches that a man can divorce or put away for any reason and the Pharisees knew it. This was their first question to lead Christ into a trap. As you will see though they never got to complete their plan.
Christ answers their first question by teaching God's intent for marriage in a perfect sinless world. I really think that Christ's answer caught them off-guard. Remember that if Christ had taught against the law of God he would have been a sinner. The new covenant was not in effect yet so his answer had to be in line with the law. Understand that Christ's answer had to agree with Deuteronomy 24. Also note verses 18-19 where Christ taught His law. Ever wonder that if God could change his morals with the change of a covenant that one of these listed in verses 18-19 could also be changed. Can you depend on a God who would make thievery lawful with the change of a covenant?
Moses law on divorce was not new. God's morals do not change with a covenant, but the teachers of the day only acknowledged the law beginning with Moses as that was the covenant in force at the time. The law permitted a man to divorce a woman by doing two things. The man had to write her a bill of divorcement and then he had to physically separate her from himself. This is exactly what the Pharisees quoted in verse seven.
You note that in verse seven two separate actions had to take place in order to complete a divorce. This is why I say that "put away" is not equivalent with divorce. They are different words in the Greek. Note that whenever Christ separated from a crowd of people he never divorced them. The Greek plainly states that he only "sent them away". It is the same Greek word that is used for "put away".
Now at the same time the end result of Christ sending away a crowd or a man divorcing a woman is the same. They are both separated when it is over. So in verse eight Christ makes his statement leaving out the obvious to teach what they should already have known.
In verse nine Christ gets specific. If a man separates from his wife with out divorcing her for any reason other than fornication then that woman can not marry any one else as she is still married to him. If she is guilty of fornication that act ended the marriage already and no divorce is necessary.
The interesting catch, if you will, in verse nine is that Christ is showing that the man who merely separates from his wife so that he can marry another shares in his first wife guilt when she marries another man as he was the cause of that sin by forcing her out of his house without giving her the proper paperwork. The law provides a proper way to do everything and the man refused to be responsible and do things right. So he became guilty when he forced his wife to sin.
Based on what we know of the sinful Roman lifestyle of the day I am guessing that the apostles were used to seeing men do as we just saw like we are used to hearing about or seeing abortion or sodomy today. Both actions are accepted as normal by the society we live in even though we know they are sin. I would suggest that the apostles response in verse ten shows this to be the case.
This writing on Matthew 19 is intended to be read along with the other articles posted at this site on this subject. Reading all of them will give you a more thorough understanding to what I see as truth on marriage, divorce and remarriage in scripture.