Misinterpretations of Matthew 19:9 often include viewing the 'except for fornication' clause as a blanket allowance for remarriage after any marital unfaithfulness, ignoring Jesus' strict prohibition on divorce and remarriage in nearly all cases to preserve marital permanence; others mistakenly apply it only to men or expand 'fornication' to include abuse or incompatibility, diluting the passage's call to unwavering fidelity and God's unbreakable design for marriage.
Matthew 19:9
King James Version (1769)
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.
Jesus teaches in Matthew 19:9 that marriage is a lifelong covenant, declaring that anyone who divorces their spouse—except for sexual immorality (fornication)—and marries another commits adultery, while the one who marries the divorced person also commits adultery, thereby upholding God's ideal of permanent, faithful union between husband and wife as reflective of divine commitment and holiness.