Note 131
In pure Greek
is not a common word; nor
can the proper meaning, fornication, be strictly applied to
matrimonial sin. In a figurative sense, how far, and to
what offences, may it be extended? Did Christ speak the Rabbinical or Syriac tongue? Of what original word is
the translation? How variously is that Greek word translated in the versions ancient and modern! There are two (Mark, x. 11,
Luke, xvi. 18) to one (Matthew, xix. 9) that such ground of
divorce was not excepted by Jesus. Some critics have
presumed to think, by an evasive answer, he avoided the
giving offence either to the school of Sammai or to that of
Hillel, (Selden, Uxor Ebraica, l. iii. c. 18 - 22, 28, 31.)
Note: But these had nothing to do with the question of a
divorce made by judicial authority. - Hugo.]
The History Of The Decline And
Fall Of The Roman Empire
—Fall In The East
—Chapter 44