Genesis 2:24

Therefore shall a man, &c. This verse contains the comment which the narrator makes upon the words of the man in Genesis 2:23. The word "therefore" introduces his inference. As in Genesis 10:9; Genesis 26:33; Genesis 32:32, a sentence beginning with "therefore" supplies the application, or relation, of the ancient narrative to later times. It is the man who is to leave "father and mother," not "the woman." Some compare the story in Judges 15:1, where the woman remains with her family or clan, and Samson comes to live with her. This feature has been thought to illustrate the primitive usage of "the matriarchate." But it is unlikely that the Hebrew narrative would contain a reference to such conditions.

Instead of "shall leave," the full force of the tense in the Hebrew would be given by "doth leave" and "cleaveth." The sanctity of marital relations is thus referred back to the very birthday of human society, being based on a principle laid down before the Fall.

The relation of the man to his wife is proclaimed to be closer than that to his father and mother. By the words, "shall cleave unto his wife … one flesh," is asserted the sanctity of marriage. Polygamy is not definitely excluded; but the principle of monogamy seems to be implied in the words "cleave" and "shall be one flesh": and this principle is upheld by the prophets as the ideal of marriage, in their representation of the relation of Jehovah and Israel under the metaphor of the married state.

This is the classical passage dealing with marriage to which our Lord appeals, Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-8, in His argument against divorce.

St Paul quotes it in 1 Corinthians 6:16, in condemnation of unchastity, and in Ephesians 5:31, when describing the ideal relationships of Christ and His Church.

and they shall be one flesh Lit., as LXX καὶ ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν, Lat. erunt duo in carne una, where the addition of "the two" is supported by the Syriac Peshitto, the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan, and the quotations in the N.T., Matthew 19:5; Mar 10:8; 1 Corinthians 6:16.