What Does “Except” Mean in Mt. 19:9?

By Timothy Sparks
tdsparks77@yahoo.com
http://www.timothysparks.com

Many seem to believe that the word “except” always creates an “exception.” Perhaps this is especially true when it comes to Mt. 19:9. Along the same lines, there is a lot of confusion when many believe that “unless” (definition: “except if”) is a perfectly good synonym for “except” (definition: “excluding”). However, a study of the word “except” in English (and the Greek phrase mh epi¹) may be helpful. As seen below in Merriam-Webster’s definition², “except” can be used as a preposition, conjunction or verb:

preposition 

conjunction

Noticing the difference between an “exception”³ and an “exclusion”⁴ from Oxford Dictionaries should also prove helpful:

“Exception”

A person or thing that is excluded from a general statement or does not follow a rule.

‘he always plays top tunes, and tonight was no exception’

“Exclusion”

The process of excluding or the state of being excluded.

‘he had a hand in my exclusion from the committee’

In the text of Mt. 19:9, epi (“over”) in the Greek phrase mh epi (“not over”) [as well as “except” in English] is used as a preposition, not as a conjunction. Therefore, we should not read “except” as a conjunction, which would create an exception to what Christ said. We should read “except” as a preposition, which is used to exclude fornication from the action of dismissal.⁵ Understanding that Jesus did not provide an exception to divorce but rather stated an exclusion of fornication from the action of dismissal can help us understand that Jesus was only addressing a sending away that was “not over” (mh epi) fornication (thus, a non-fornication dismissal).

If we wish to know the historical context of God’s law at the time Jesus spoke the words contained in Matthew 19, we can learn quickly that under Hebrew law (the law under which Christ lived and died), God stated the death penalty, not the divorce penalty for consensual sexual immorality (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:13-24). Jesus was in no way trying to create an exception to the rule he had previously concluded: “What therefore God united, a human do not divide” (Mt. 19:6, translation mine).⁶ Jesus was not trying to state something different than the way God established marriage in the beginning. Jesus clearly states concerning divorce: “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to dismiss your wives, but from the beginning it has not existed this way” (Mt. 19:8, translation mine).⁷

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¹For further study of mh epi and “except,” please see the following articles:

• Reasons Mὴ Eπὶ (Mt. 19:9) Should Not Be Translated “Except”

• Digging Deeper into MH EPI (Mt. 19:9) and How “the Church Fathers” Understood Marriage

²https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/except

³https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/exception

⁴https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/exclusion

⁵For a more technical analysis, please see Matthew 19:9 English Parallel to Greek Diagram.

⁶See also:

• You Can’t Undo God’s Glue (Mt. 19:4-6)

• Jesus’ One Flesh Argument (Mt. 19:6)

• What Is the “What” (Mt. 19:6)?

⁷For a brief study of Mt. 19:8 and the Greek perfect tense, please see: Bound for Life, Released Only by Death.