Does The NKJV Translation “Sexual Immorality” In Matt 19:9 Mean One Can Divorce For Lust?

In the NKJV version, Matt 19:9a reads this way – “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” Some take that to mean a person may divorce their spouse for mental adultery (lust, pornography) since admittedly that is a form of “sexual immorality” in the way we use the phrase today. But I don’t think that’s what the translators intended to communicate (had in mind).

This phrase is from the Greek word “porneia” which is defined by Thayer’s Bible Lexicon as “illicit sexual intercourse.” Do you see how “lust” does not really qualify by that definition? Lust is not a form of intercourse. Many other standard versions translate “porneia” as “fornication.” It is possible to commit fornication in the heart (Matt 5:28), but Matt 19:9 is talking about actual fornication – following through on the physical act that one might be lusting for.

Consider an analogy. The Old Testament prescribed the death penalty for murder (Gen 9:6) but not for hating one’s brother – which in principle is the same as murder (in the sense I John 3:15 is talking about). Hating one’s brother is murder “in the heart” just like lusting is “adultery in the heart.” But if we can see that “murder in the heart” should not be punished with death (like actual physical murder should), then I think we can see in the same way that “fornication in the heart” is not a scriptural cause for divorce (like actual physical fornication is).

Conclusion: Matt 19:9 is referring to the actual physical act of fornication (as the only cause for scriptural divorce), not fornication “in the heart.”

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