Question: I am investigating the claim, made by Leslie McFall's [Erasmus and Divorce in Matthew 19:9](http://www.academia.edu/10729554/Erasmus_and_Divorce_in_Matthew_19_9), that in fact Erasmus(1466-1536), a Catholic priest, in his construction of a Greek New Testament, altered the text of Matthew 19:9 to allow the fornication exception. He asserts the text should read:

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> "Now I say to you that whoever shall dismiss his wife—not even over fornication—and shall marry another, he commits adultery. And the one who marries one divorced commits adultery."
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I have read various rebuttals which to my mind are compelling, such as several ante-nicene writers also have the Erasmus' "traditional" understanding (divorce is permitted following adultery). However, I am far from being a Greek scholar, theologian, historian or anyone with any particular knowledge other than what I've been able to glean on the web - mainly through blog posts.

So my question is: Does/has McFall's theory stood up to academic critique?

Answer: 
John Chrysostom, a 4th century Byzantine Greek Church hierarch quotes this verse in his [62nd Homily on Matthew](https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf110.iii.LIX.html):

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> *Whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication, and marry another, committeth adultery.*
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This would have been over a millennium prior to Erasmus.
There is no manuscript in existence that supports the *Textus Receptus* reading of εἰ ("if") before μὴ ("not") in Mt. 19:9. All the manuscript evidence supports the omission of εἰ. Based on overwhelming evidence, the correct reading is μὴ ἐπὶ ("not over"). The text is firmly μὴ ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ ("not over fornication") and is the reading of the Majority Text (M-Text), the Greek New Testament (GNT) and all other texts that do not follow the *Textus Receptus* tradition (<https://timothysparks.com/2018/08/21/no-manuscript-support-for-if-mt-199>). 

Dr. McFall, who allowed me to edit and publish to my website his Appendix B in which he explains his translation of Mt. 19:9, considers the following translation the most likely interpretation, "If we take the most literal translation another meaning comes to light. The translation reads: 'Now I say to you that who, for example, may have divorced his wife—not over fornication *which was punished by death*—and may have married another *woman*, he becomes adulterous *by marrying her*. And the *man* having married *a* divorced *wife*, he becomes adulterous *by marrying her*'” (<https://timothysparks.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/mcfall-mt-199-appendix-b.pdf>, page 1). 

For his complete ebook on divorce and remarriage, please see his website, which is maintained by his daughter and son-in-law: <https://lmf12.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/divorce_aug_2014.pdf>. You may also see other references to his work, which may provide clarification, here: <https://timothysparks.com/marriage>.