And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

People's New Testament

19:4 Made them male and female. In the creation, God made man male and female and united the two by an indissoluble bond in the marriage of one man to one woman.

Wesley's Notes

19:4 He said, Have ye not read - So instead of contradicting him, our Lord confutes them by the very words of Moses. He who made them, made them male and female from the beginning - At least from the beginning of the Mosaic creation. And where do we read of any other? Does it not follow, that God's making Eve was part of his original design, and not a consequence of Adam's beginning to fall? By making them one man and one woman, he condemned polygamy: by making them one flesh, he condemned divorce.

Scofield Reference Notes

Margin Have ye not read

See, Gen 1:27 2:23,24. The passage is significant as Jesus' confirmation of the Genesis narrative of creation.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female-or better, perhaps, "He that made them made them from the beginning a male and a female."

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:3-12 The Pharisees were desirous of drawing something from Jesus which they might represent as contrary to the law of Moses. Cases about marriage have been numerous, and sometimes perplexed; made so, not by the law of God, but by the lusts and follies of men; and often people fix what they will do, before they ask for advice. Jesus replied by asking whether they had not read the account of the creation, and the first example of marriage; thus pointing out that every departure therefrom was wrong. That condition is best for us, and to be chosen and kept to accordingly, which is best for our souls, and tends most to prepare us for, and preserve us to, the kingdom of heaven. When the gospel is really embraced, it makes men kind relatives and faithful friends; it teaches them to bear the burdens, and to bear with the infirmities of those with whom they are connected, to consider their peace and happiness more than their own. As to ungodly persons, it is proper that they should be restrained by laws, from breaking the peace of society. And we learn that the married state should be entered upon with great seriousness and earnest prayer.