<p>19:7&nbsp;<em>They said to him: Why then did Moses command to give </em>- They had missed the point, that a concession is not a command. Their legalism required that if something was in the teaching of Moses, then this must be done. But they missed the point that there were actually levels of response within the Mosaic law. Adultery could be simply forgiven, dealt with through the trial of jealousy in Numbers 5, become the basis for divorce, or result in the woman being killed. Such a position is very hard for legalists to cope with, desiring as they do clear definition for every situation in life. Hence the Lord emphasized twice in this dialogue that divorce was a concession for their hard hearts.</p>
<p><em>A certificate of divorce-</em>&nbsp;Gk.&nbsp;<em>Biblion apostasion</em>, literally this could be understood as &lsquo;A Bible / writing of apostasy&rsquo;. The &lsquo;lower level&rsquo; option of divorce for adultery was all part of a law which was &ldquo;holy, just and good&rdquo;, but it could so easily be misused and thus lead people into moral apostasy.</p>
<p><em>And to put her away</em>- Their legalism is reflected in how they don&rsquo;t simply say that Moses &lsquo;commanded&rsquo; divorce, but rather than Moses commanded a bill of divorce and then divorce. The legal aspect was all important to them.</p>