[Moses suffer'd you to put away, &c. ] Not commanded you, saies the common observer, and therefore car'd not how soon it were abolisht, being but suffer'd; heerin declaring his annotation to be slight & nothing law prudent. For in this place commanded and suffer'd are interchangeably us'd in the same sense both by our Saviour and the Pharises. Our Saviour who heer saith, Moses suffer'd you, in the 10th of Marke saith, Moses wrote you this command. And the Pharisees who heer say, Moses commanded, and would mainly have it a command, in that place of Marke say Moses suffer'd, which had made against them in their own mouthes, if the word of suffering had weakn'd the command. So that suffer'd and commanded is heer taken for the same thing on both sides of the controversy: as Cameron also and others on this place acknowledge. And Lawyers know that all the precepts of law are devided into obligatorie and permissive, containing either what we must doe, or what wee may doe; and of this latter sort are as many precepts as of the former, and all as lawfull. Tutelage, an ordainment then which nothing more just, being for the defence of Orfanes, the Institutes of Justinian, say is given and permitted by the civil law: and to parents it is permitted to choose and appoint by will the guardians of their children. What more equall, and yet the civil law calls this permission. So likewise to manumise, to adopt, to make a will, and to be made an heire is call'd permission by law. Marriage it selfe, and this which is already granted, to divorce for adultery, obliges no man, is but a permission by law, is but suffer'd. By this we may see how weakly it hath bin thought that all divorce is utterly unlawfull, because the law is said to suffer it: whenas to suffer is but the legall phrase denoting what by law a man may doe or not doe.
[Because of the hardnesse of your hearts ] Hence they argue that therefore he allowd it not; and therefore it must be abolisht. But the contrary to this will sooner follow, that because he suffer'd it for a cause, therefore in relation to that cause he allow'd it. Next, if he in his wisedome, and in the midst of his severity allow'd it for hardnesse of heart, it can be nothing better then arrogance and presumption to take stricter courses against hardnes of heart, then God ever set an example, and that under the Gospel which warrants them to no judicial act of compulsion in this matter, much lesse to be more severe against hardnes of extremity, then God thought good to bee against hardnes of heart. He suffer'd it, rather then worse inconveniences; these men wiser as they make themselves, will suffer the worst and hainousest inconveniences to follow, rather then
