Mark 10:2 And there came unto him Pharisees, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? trying him.
"Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?" This question was asked by enemies of Christ. They showed their ignorance of the Law by the words they used.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
Because of the Pharisees' convoluted query, Jesus referred them to the appropriate text.
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
The Pharisees' response changed the discussion from the matter of putting away to the matter of divorce. They were correct in what Moses commanded, other than changing the command to "suffered."
5 But Jesus said unto them, For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.
Jesus set the Pharisees straight by informing them that the process of divorce was a commandment - not simply something Moses suffered. (The practice of putting away but not divorcing was what Moses "suffered" or tolerated. Evidently there was no punishment for it because it not only would have been impossible to judge but would be detrimental to reconciliation.) Also, Jesus began a dialogue intended to inform and convince the Pharisees of their sin in mistreating their women.
6 But from the beginning of the creation, Male and female made he them. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; 8 and the two shall become one flesh: so that they are no more two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
The above passage defines marriage and summarizes God's ideal regarding it. Because of how the original question was worded, asking about "putting away," and the fact that these people were not following God's command regarding divorce, Jesus reminded them that God does the joining, and that man should not put asunder. This is not to say, as some do, that Jesus was doing away with the law that freed a woman to "go and be another man's wife." Rather, He was saying either that it is not good to divorce or that man, using his own method (separation but with no bill of divorcement), does not do what God said a divorce, as He defined it, does.
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again of this matter. 11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her: 12 and if she herself shall put away her husband, and marry another, she committeth adultery
After the discussion with the Pharisees ended and Jesus's entire audience was composed only of His disciples, He clarified what was apparently not included in this gospel account. In Matthew 19:9, Jesus addressed the "exception" to the rule, referring to a situation in which fornication is not committed when a relationship is ended by mere putting away. Many today have determined that the "exception clause" teaches that only when one initiates the divorce for fornication may that one (and only that one) have a right to marry. But in Mark's account, Jesus clarifies that the otherwise evil practice of "putting away," or "sending away," a wife (woman) is not evil, and is in fact the right action to take, if done because the marriage is not legal, such as the cases found in Matthew 14:4 and 1 Corinthians 5:1. Jesus said adultery (fornication), committed ordinarily when a man puts away his wife, is "against her" rather than "with" someone in a subsequent marriage. He closed by noting that when the woman APOLUOs (repudiates) her husband she commits adultery if she marries another. Thus, the certificate of divorce (difficult to obtain by a woman at the time) would be required to avoid the sin of adultery, which does not necessarily involve sexual relations.
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