The Meaning of Luke 16:18 Explained

Luke 16:18

KJV: Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

YLT: 'Every one who is sending away his wife, and marrying another, doth commit adultery; and every one who is marrying her sent away from a husband doth commit adultery.

Darby: Every one who puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery; and every one that marries one put away from a husband commits adultery.

ASV: Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth one that is put away from a husband committeth adultery.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Whosoever  putteth away  his  wife,  and  marrieth  another,  committeth adultery:  and  whosoever  marrieth  her that is put away  from  [her] husband  committeth adultery. 

What does Luke 16:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus next cited an example of the continuing validity of the Old Testament and the Pharisees" disregard of it. God still expected and expects submission to His Word. The Pharisees did not condone adultery, though they permitted divorce ( Deuteronomy 24:1-4). Some Pharisees permitted a man to divorce his wife and then remarry another woman, though most of them did not grant women the same privilege. [1] Jesus condemned such conduct as a violation of the seventh commandment. This was an example of the Pharisees justifying themselves in the eyes of men but not being just before God ( Luke 16:15). Jesus both affirmed and clarified the Old Testament revelation. Therefore for the Pharisees to disregard His teaching about money was equivalent to rejecting other divine revelation.
This teaching on divorce supplements other statements that Jesus made on the same subject on other occasions (cf. Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11). Matthew 19:9 and Mark 10:11 evidently record one teaching incident. Matthew 5:32 occurs in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke"s reference reflects a third context. As in Mark 10:11, Jesus omitted the exception clause here (cf. Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:9). He evidently did not want to draw attention to the exceptional case because to do so would weaken His main point, namely, that people should not divorce. Matthew included Jesus" permission to divorce for fornication because the subject of how to deal with divorce cases involving marital unfaithfulness was of particular interest to the Jews.
"The basic application to this small unit is to respond with obedience to the kingdom demand for ethical integrity, whether it be in how we deal with our resources or how we approach our marriages." [2]

Context Summary

Luke 16:14-31 - A Look Into The Future
Here was a flagrant case of heartless indifference, amid luxuries of every kind, to the daily spectacle of abject need. Most of us have at least one Lazarus at the gates of our life. The charge against the rich man was, not that he had injured Lazarus, but that he had not helped him. Man condemns us for doing wrong, God for failing to do right.
Lazarus was translated to the realm of blessedness-the bosom of Abraham bespeaking nearness to him at the great feast-not because he had been so poor and miserable, but because, beggar though he was, he possessed the faith of heart and the purity of motive that characterized his great ancestor.
Notice that memory plays a conspicuous part in the sorrow of Gehenna; that Christ gives no hope of changing the soul's habitation; and that we have in the Scripture a more certain agent of spiritual renewal than would be provided by even the apparition of the dead. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 16

1  The parable of the unjust steward
14  Jesus reproves the hypocrisy of the covetous Pharisees
19  The parable of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar

Greek Commentary for Luke 16:18

Committeth adultery [μοιχευει]
Another repeated saying of Christ (Matthew 5:32; Mark 10:11.; Matthew 19:9.). Adultery remains adultery, divorce or no divorce, remarriage or no marriage. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 16:18

1 Corinthians 7:10 I give charge [παραγγελλω]
Not mere wish as in 1 Corinthians 7:7, 1 Corinthians 7:8. Not I, but the Lord (ουκ εγω αλλα ο κυριος — ouk egō alla ho kurios). Paul had no commands from Jesus to the unmarried (men or women), but Jesus had spoken to the married (husbands and wives) as in Matthew 5:31.; Matthew 19:3-12; Mark 10:9-12; Luke 16:18. The Master had spoken plain words about divorce. Paul reenforces his own inspired command by the command of Jesus. In Mark 10:9 we have from Christ: “What therefore God joined together let not man put asunder” (μη χοριζετω — mē chorizetō). That the wife depart not from her husband First aorist passive infinitive (indirect command after παραγγελλω — paraggellō) of χοριζω — chorizō old verb from adverbial preposition χωρις — chōris separately, apart from, from. Here used of divorce by the wife which, though unusual then, yet did happen as in the case of Salome (sister of Herod the Great) and of Herodias before she married Herod Antipas. Jesus also spoke of it (Mark 10:12). Now most of the divorces are obtained by women. This passive infinitive is almost reflexive in force according to a constant tendency in the Koiné{[28928]}š (Robertson, Grammar, p. 817).sa120 [source]
1 Corinthians 7:10 Not I, but the Lord [ουκ εγω αλλα ο κυριος]
Paul had no commands from Jesus to the unmarried (men or women), but Jesus had spoken to the married (husbands and wives) as in Matthew 5:31.; Matthew 19:3-12; Mark 10:9-12; Luke 16:18. The Master had spoken plain words about divorce. Paul reenforces his own inspired command by the command of Jesus. In Mark 10:9 we have from Christ: “What therefore God joined together let not man put asunder” (μη χοριζετω — mē chorizetō). [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 16:18 mean?

Everyone - putting away the wife of him and marrying another commits adultery the [one] her put away from a husband
Πᾶς ἀπολύων τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ γαμῶν ἑτέραν μοιχεύει ἀπολελυμένην ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς

Πᾶς  Everyone 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: πᾶς  
Sense: individually.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀπολύων  putting  away 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀπολύω  
Sense: to set free.
γυναῖκα  wife 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: γυνή  
Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow.
αὐτοῦ  of  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
γαμῶν  marrying 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: γαμέω  
Sense: to lead in marriage, take to wife.
ἑτέραν  another 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀλλοιόω 
Sense: the other, another, other.
μοιχεύει  commits  adultery 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: μοιχεύω  
Sense: to commit adultery.
  the  [one] 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀπολελυμένην  her  put  away 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀπολύω  
Sense: to set free.
ἀνδρὸς  a  husband 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ἀνήρ  
Sense: with reference to sex.