Matthew 19:4

King James Version

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Haven’t you read,”

King James Version (1611)
And hee answered, and said vnto them, Haue ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female?

English Standard Version
He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

New American Standard Bible
And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,

New Century Version
Jesus answered, "Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.'

Amplified Bible
He replied, "Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he answered & sayd vnto them, Haue ye not read, that hee which made them at the beginning, made them male and female,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,

Legacy Standard Bible
And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

Berean Standard Bible
Jesus answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female'

Contemporary English Version
Jesus answered, "Don't you know that in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman?

Complete Jewish Bible
He replied, "Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female ,

Darby Translation
But he answering said [to them], Have ye not read that he who made [them], from the beginning made them male and female,

Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus answered, "Surely you have read this in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made people male and female.'

George Lamsa Translation
But he answered and said to them, Have you not read, that he who made from the beginning, made them male and female?

Good News Translation
Jesus answered, "Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female?

Lexham English Bible
And he answered and said, "Have you not read that the one who created them from the beginning made them male and female

Literal Translation
But answering, He said to them, Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning "created them male and female"? Gen. 1:27

American Standard Version
And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

Bible in Basic English
And he said in answer, Have you not seen in the Writings, that he who made them at the first made them male and female, and said,

Hebrew Names Version
He answered, "Haven't you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

International Standard Version
He answered them, "Haven't you read that the one who madecreated">[fn] them at the beginning 'made them male and female'Genesis 1:27; 5:2">[fn]Genesis 1:27; 5:2; Malachi 2:15;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
But he answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who created from the beginning, male and female hath made them?

Murdock Translation
And he answered and said to them: Have ye not read, that he who made [fn] at the beginning, made them a male and a female?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He aunswered and sayde vnto them: Haue ye not read, that he which created at the begynnyng, made them male and female,

English Revised Version
And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he which made them from the beginning made them male and female,

World English Bible
He answered, "Haven't you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he answering said to them, Have ye not read, that he who made them, made them male and female from the beginning?

Weymouth's New Testament
"Have you not read," He replied, "that He who made them `made them' from the beginning `male and female,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which answeride, and seide to hem, Han ye not red, for he that made men at the bigynnyng, made hem male and female?

Update Bible Version
And he answered and said, Have you not read that he who created from the beginning made them male and female,

Webster's Bible Translation
And he answered and said to them, Have ye not read, that he who made [them], at the beginning made them male and female,

New English Translation
He answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female ,

New King James Version
And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made [fn] them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' Genesis 1:27; Genesis 5:2">[fn]

New Living Translation
"Haven't you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.'"

New Life Bible
He said to them, "Have you not read that He Who made them in the first place made them man and woman?

New Revised Standard
He answered, "Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, he, answering, said - Did ye never read - He who created at the beginning, Male and female, made them, -

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who answering, said to them: Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female? And he said:

Revised Standard Version
He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
He answered and sayd vnto them: Have ye not redde how that he which made man at the beginninge made them man and woman

Young's Literal Translation
And he answering said to them, `Did ye not read, that He who made [them], from the beginning a male and a female made them,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He answered & sayde vnto the: Haue ye not red, how yt he which made (man) at the begynnynge, made the ma & woma,

Mace New Testament (1729)
and he answered them, have ye not read, that when the creator, at the beginning, made male and female,

THE MESSAGE
He answered, "Haven't you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female? And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh—no longer two bodies but one. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."

Simplified Cowboy Version
"Don't you remember," he replied, "that the Boss made man and woman and

Contextual Overview

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. ¹⁰ His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. ¹¹ But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. ¹² For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Have: Matthew 12:3, Matthew 21:6, Matthew 21:42, Matthew 22:31, Mark 2:25, Mark 12:10, Mark 12:26, Luke 6:3, Luke 10:26

that: Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:2, Malachi 2:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:19 - two wives Deuteronomy 24:5 - a man 1 Chronicles 14:3 - took 2 Chronicles 24:3 - two wives Matthew 9:13 - go Matthew 21:16 - have 1 Corinthians 14:20 - malice

Cross-References

Genesis 13:13
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

Genesis 18:20
And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

Genesis 19:1
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

Genesis 19:6
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

Genesis 19:20
Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

Genesis 19:25
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Exodus 16:2
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

Exodus 23:2
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

Proverbs 4:16
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

Proverbs 6:18
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he answered and said unto them,.... Not by replying directly to the question, but by referring them to the original creation of man, and to the first institution of marriage, previous to the law of Moses;

have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female? This may be read in Genesis 1:27 and from thence this sense of things collected; that God, who in the beginning of time, or of the creation, as Mark expresses it, made all things, the heavens, and the earth, and all that is therein, and particularly "man", as the Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel supply it here, made the first parents of mankind, male and female; not male and females, but one male, and one female; first, one male, and then, of him one female, who, upon her creation, was brought and married to him; so that in this original constitution, no provision was made for divorce, or polygamy. Adam could not marry more wives than one, nor could he put away Eve for every cause, and marry another: now either the Pharisees had read this account, or they had not; if they had not, they were guilty of great negligence and sloth; if they had, they either understood it or not; if they did not understand it, it was greatly to their reproach, who pretended to great knowledge of the Scriptures, and to be able to explain them to others; and if they did understand it, there was no need for this question, which therefore must be put with an evil design.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he answered and said ... - Instead of referring to the opinions of either party, Jesus called their attention to the original design of marriage, to the authority of Moses an authority acknowledged by them both.

Have ye not read? - Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:21-22. “And said, For this cause,” etc., Genesis 2:24. That is, God, at the beginning, made but one man and one woman: their posterity should learn that the original intention of marriage was that a man should have but one wife.

Shall leave his father and mother - This means, shall bind himself more strongly to his wife than he was to his father or mother. The marriage connection is the most tender and endearing of all human relations more tender than even that bond which unites us to a parent.

And shall cleave unto his wife - The word “cleave” denotes a union of the firmest kind. It is in the original taken from gluing, and means so firmly to adhere together that nothing can separate them.

They twain shall be one flesh - That is, they two, or they that were two, shall be united as one - one in law, in feeling, in interest, in affection. They shall no longer have separate interests, but shall act in all things as if they were one - animated by one soul and one wish. The argument of Jesus here is, that since they are so intimately united as to be one, and since in the beginning God made but one woman for one man, it follows that they cannot be separated but by the authority of God. Man may not put away his wife for every cause. What God has joined together man may not put asunder. In this decision he really decided in favor of one of the parties; and it shows that when it was proper, Jesus answered questions without regard to consequences, from whatever cause they might have been proposed, and however much difficulty it might involve him in. Our Lord, in this, also showed consummate wisdom. He answered the question, not from Hillel or Shammai, their teachers, but from Moses, and thus defeated their malice.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 19:4. He which made them at the beginning — When Adam and Eve were the first of human kind.

Made them male and female — Merely through the design of matrimonial union, that the earth might be thus peopled. To answer a case of conscience, a man should act as Christ does here; pay no regard to that which the corruption of manners has introduced into Divine ordinances, but go back to the original will, purpose, and institution of God. Christ will never accommodate his morality to the times, nor to the inclinations of men. What was done at the beginning is what God judged most worthy of his glory, most profitable for man, and most suitable to nature.