Note 1 at Mt. 19:3: There are many references to divorce in the Old Testament but there is only one scripture in the Old Testament that addresses what the grounds for divorce are. That scripture is Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (see parallel scriptures for Mt. 19:3 and Mk. 10:2). In Deuteronomy 24:1, the reason that divorce was permitted was because the woman had lost favor in the sight of her husband because some "uncleanness" was found in her.

There were two major schools of thought in Jesus' day about what this "uncleanness" might be. The conservatives, headed by Shammai, interpreted this "uncleanness" to be fornication or adultery only, while the liberals, headed by a man named Hillel, held that this could be any reason ("for every cause") such as the way the wife combed her hair, seasoned the food, etc. Josephus, who was a first century historian, cited Deuteronomy 24:1 and wrote that he divorced his wife because he was not pleased with her manners and behavior (Ant., bk. iv. c. 8). Jesus forever settled this dispute with His answer in Matthew 19:9. God only permitted divorce for the sole reason of fornication and that was the "uncleanness" referred to in Deuteronomy 24:1.