# Commentary on Matthew (fragments)

- Author: [Cyril of Alexandria](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/cyril-of-alexandria/)
- Latin title: *Commentarii in Matthaeum*
- Date: ca. 412-444 (approximate)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca, vol. 72 (Paris, 1857-1866), cols. 365-474 (fragments from the catenae of Corderius and Possinus, with fragments from Cramer, Catenae in Evangelia, and Mai, Nova Patrum Bibliotheca 2)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Editions and translations: J. A. Cramer, ed., Catenae Graecorum Patrum in Novum Testamentum, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1840)
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyril-alexandria-commentarius-matthaeum/
- Passages: 1

## Commentary on Matthew 5:31

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyril-alexandria-commentarius-matthaeum/5-31/#p-5-31
- Source: PG 72 72:379–380
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: On Matt 5:31–32: putting away a chaste wife exposes her to a second marriage that is a kind of adultery, because before God a marriage is dissolved not by divorce papers but by the wrongful deed.

### Greek text

Ἐῤῥέθη δὲ ὅτι ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον. Ὁ τὴν σώφρονα ἐκβάλλων δίδωσιν αὐτῇ ἄδειαν ἄλλῳ γαμηθῆναι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εἶδος μοιχείας, ὡσανεὶ μὴ λυθείσης συζυγίας· οὐ γὰρ τὰ ῥεπούδια παρὰ Θεῷ λύει τὸν γάμον, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ἄτοπος πρᾶξις.

### English translation (Claude)

"It was said: Whoever puts away his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce." The man who casts out a chaste wife gives her license to be married to another, which is a kind of adultery, as though the marriage had not been dissolved; for it is not divorce papers that dissolve a marriage before God, but the wrongful deed.

### Scripture references

- Matt 5:31: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 5:32: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 24:1: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A catena fragment ascribed to Cyril (Migne prints it from Cramer's catena on Matthew). Its attribution, like that of most catena fragments, is not certain.
- "Divorce papers" renders ῥεπούδια, a Greek borrowing of Latin repudium, the legal notice of divorce.
- "The wrongful deed": adultery (the exception of Matt 5:32), which Cyril holds is what dissolves the marriage before God.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyril of Alexandria, Comm. Matt. 5.31 (PG 72 72:379–380; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyril-alexandria-commentarius-matthaeum/5-31).