And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
They twain in marriage become one flesh, no more two separate partners but one united pair. This union was established by God at creation before the fall as the continuing rule of marriage, and Jesus restores it to that original foundation unchanged. Its order is one man and one woman joined as one, for twain means two only and forbids polygamy and additional spouses. It is a sacred, holy and perpetual covenant between husband, wife and God, indissoluble and lifelong, not to be broken at will, and in God's sight divorce is permitted save for fornication. This oneness figures the intimate relation between Christ and the church and patterns the believer's union with Jesus, and it is to be lived in mutual respect, deference and shared life in the home.
Created One-Flesh Union
In marriage a man and a woman become one flesh, so that they are no more twain but one united pair and no longer two separate partners. The union joins two people together as one, reflecting the creation of one wife for a man and not several. The word twain means two only, not three or four.
The union was established by God at creation before the fall as the continuing rule and design of marriage, and it has not been abolished or changed. Jesus puts marriage back on this original foundation, in which from the beginning husband and wife were united never to be separated. In the first marriage God gave the wife with enough form to make clear to all involved that a marriage had taken place and declared that the two become one flesh.
Marriage is a sacred institution and holy, the most sacred human relationship and a life union. It is a perpetual covenant between husband, wife, and God, and the marriage vows affirm the institution and bear God's approval. Its sanctity predates the law given at Sinai and does not depend on or derive from the Ten Commandments. The seventh commandment guards its sacredness but does not create it.
Violations of marriage by patriarchs do not diminish the institution's sacred character. The woman was made as a fit companion for the man, not inferior to him. This is illustrated by Eve being made from Adam and recognized by him as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. The two parts of the union are equal but differing, each meant to complement the other, supplying what is lacking toward completeness and shared joy, united not only in their own life but in that of their offspring.
Monogamy and Permanence Required
God's plan from the beginning and original order is one man and one woman joined as one, reflecting the creation of one wife for a man. The word twain means two only, not three or four, so marriage is a union of two people and does not sanction additional spouses. The commandment protecting marital purity rules against polygamy, and violating the marriage vow is adultery and sin. Polygamy originated in licentious heathenism, not in God's plan. Scripture gives no example of anyone good enough to practice it without trouble and vexation and harm, in contrast to the sacred indissoluble union that preserves God's original institution. The bitter sorrows of Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon in plural and mercenary marriages stand as types and living chart lessons hung up for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come, establishing that one whole heart and one true loyal love is worth more than a kingdom.
The marriage union is indissoluble, sacred, and lifelong, united never to be separated, united not only in their own life but in that of their offspring. It is not a temporary contract to be broken at either person's whim, passion, or will, nor a mere formal contract, but a permanent relationship and duty. The verse lays down the New Testament law on divorce forbidding the breaking of marriage. With the increased light of Christ men must leave loose divorce practices suffered in past blindness and come back to first principles, for Jesus puts marriage back on this original foundation.
In God's sight no man should divorce his wife save for fornication. The union must not be broken for disagreements, irritations, selfish disappointment, or failure to agree on everything. The Biblical principle governing divorce also limits remarriage, so that ministers should not officiate at the remarriage of divorced people whose divorces were granted on grounds other than Scriptural ones. That strict standard against divorce has been kept more closely in Roman Catholic doctrine and practice than in Protestant churches, to the shame of Protestants. The right course is to bring Protestant practice nearer to this New Testament standard rather than to the Roman Catholic standard, instead of belittling the authority of Scripture and correcting the church by human ideas and human standards, and Protestant churches are making earnest effort to do so. This teaching on divorce was addressed to the individual soul in the light of primal law and was not an attempt to change any Jewish civil statute. The man who heeds it does not violate civil law, showing it is impossible to convert or save men through civil law.
Christ's Pattern and Daily Practice
Marriage joins husband and wife into one flesh, so they are no longer two but one, and this most sacred human relationship and life union figures the intimate relation between Christ and the church, in which Christ is the church's head and its members belong to him as parts of his body. Eve being made from Adam and recognized by him as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh shows God's idea of marriage in which two people are joined as one flesh. In the same way Christ became flesh and blood like his followers, making of the two one new man. The complete unity of husband and wife is the pattern for the believer's union with Jesus, and baptism is the outward profession that the believer is henceforth one with Christ and beginning a new life, while the rite is empty if it is only a form without this union.
The one-flesh union includes shared family finances, so denying a wife a share and a say in money matters contradicts that unity, and it requires fair sharing of money and counsel over spending. Marrying for purely selfish purposes to get one who pleases and serves self violates that oneness. Living the oneness requires standing for principle while respecting conscience, and agreeing to disagree where conscience differs. The husband acts as head of the home as protector and father and the wife acts as head within the household, with mutual respect and deference rather than treating the wife as slave or plaything. It requires willingness to yield personal wishes where conscience and family welfare allow, excusing the other, confessing faults, and seeking God together and separately in kindly conversation and prayer to heal differences.
The picture of two becoming one applies to the union of housekeeping and home-making, which together provide the loving refuge God designed the home to be. As a civil contract marriage binds husband and wife and is an institution the state regulates to protect society, not merely a matter of an individual's relationship with God or the church. Scripture gives grounds for regarding husband and wife as one, though for business records they must still be treated as separate persons unless they share the same name.
They twain in marriage become one flesh, no more two separate partners but one united pair. This union was established by God at creation before the fall as the continuing rule of marriage, and Jesus restores it to that original foundation unchanged. Its order is one man and one woman joined as one, for twain means two only and forbids polygamy and additional spouses. It is a sacred, holy and perpetual covenant between husband, wife and God, indissoluble and lifelong, not to be broken at will, and in God's sight divorce is permitted save for fornication. This oneness figures the intimate relation between Christ and the church and patterns the believer's union with Jesus, and it is to be lived in mutual respect, deference and shared life in the home.
Created One-Flesh Union
In marriage a man and a woman become one flesh, so that they are no more twain but one united pair and no longer two separate partners. The union joins two people together as one, reflecting the creation of one wife for a man and not several. The word twain means two only, not three or four.
The union was established by God at creation before the fall as the continuing rule and design of marriage, and it has not been abolished or changed. Jesus puts marriage back on this original foundation, in which from the beginning husband and wife were united never to be separated. In the first marriage God gave the wife with enough form to make clear to all involved that a marriage had taken place and declared that the two become one flesh.
Marriage is a sacred institution and holy, the most sacred human relationship and a life union. It is a perpetual covenant between husband, wife, and God, and the marriage vows affirm the institution and bear God's approval. Its sanctity predates the law given at Sinai and does not depend on or derive from the Ten Commandments. The seventh commandment guards its sacredness but does not create it.
Violations of marriage by patriarchs do not diminish the institution's sacred character. The woman was made as a fit companion for the man, not inferior to him. This is illustrated by Eve being made from Adam and recognized by him as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. The two parts of the union are equal but differing, each meant to complement the other, supplying what is lacking toward completeness and shared joy, united not only in their own life but in that of their offspring.
Monogamy and Permanence Required
God's plan from the beginning and original order is one man and one woman joined as one, reflecting the creation of one wife for a man. The word twain means two only, not three or four, so marriage is a union of two people and does not sanction additional spouses. The commandment protecting marital purity rules against polygamy, and violating the marriage vow is adultery and sin. Polygamy originated in licentious heathenism, not in God's plan. Scripture gives no example of anyone good enough to practice it without trouble and vexation and harm, in contrast to the sacred indissoluble union that preserves God's original institution. The bitter sorrows of Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon in plural and mercenary marriages stand as types and living chart lessons hung up for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come, establishing that one whole heart and one true loyal love is worth more than a kingdom.
The marriage union is indissoluble, sacred, and lifelong, united never to be separated, united not only in their own life but in that of their offspring. It is not a temporary contract to be broken at either person's whim, passion, or will, nor a mere formal contract, but a permanent relationship and duty. The verse lays down the New Testament law on divorce forbidding the breaking of marriage. With the increased light of Christ men must leave loose divorce practices suffered in past blindness and come back to first principles, for Jesus puts marriage back on this original foundation.
In God's sight no man should divorce his wife save for fornication. The union must not be broken for disagreements, irritations, selfish disappointment, or failure to agree on everything. The Biblical principle governing divorce also limits remarriage, so that ministers should not officiate at the remarriage of divorced people whose divorces were granted on grounds other than Scriptural ones. That strict standard against divorce has been kept more closely in Roman Catholic doctrine and practice than in Protestant churches, to the shame of Protestants. The right course is to bring Protestant practice nearer to this New Testament standard rather than to the Roman Catholic standard, instead of belittling the authority of Scripture and correcting the church by human ideas and human standards, and Protestant churches are making earnest effort to do so. This teaching on divorce was addressed to the individual soul in the light of primal law and was not an attempt to change any Jewish civil statute. The man who heeds it does not violate civil law, showing it is impossible to convert or save men through civil law.
Christ's Pattern and Daily Practice
Marriage joins husband and wife into one flesh, so they are no longer two but one, and this most sacred human relationship and life union figures the intimate relation between Christ and the church, in which Christ is the church's head and its members belong to him as parts of his body. Eve being made from Adam and recognized by him as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh shows God's idea of marriage in which two people are joined as one flesh. In the same way Christ became flesh and blood like his followers, making of the two one new man. The complete unity of husband and wife is the pattern for the believer's union with Jesus, and baptism is the outward profession that the believer is henceforth one with Christ and beginning a new life, while the rite is empty if it is only a form without this union.
The one-flesh union includes shared family finances, so denying a wife a share and a say in money matters contradicts that unity, and it requires fair sharing of money and counsel over spending. Marrying for purely selfish purposes to get one who pleases and serves self violates that oneness. Living the oneness requires standing for principle while respecting conscience, and agreeing to disagree where conscience differs. The husband acts as head of the home as protector and father and the wife acts as head within the household, with mutual respect and deference rather than treating the wife as slave or plaything. It requires willingness to yield personal wishes where conscience and family welfare allow, excusing the other, confessing faults, and seeking God together and separately in kindly conversation and prayer to heal differences.
The picture of two becoming one applies to the union of housekeeping and home-making, which together provide the loving refuge God designed the home to be. As a civil contract marriage binds husband and wife and is an institution the state regulates to protect society, not merely a matter of an individual's relationship with God or the church. Scripture gives grounds for regarding husband and wife as one, though for business records they must still be treated as separate persons unless they share the same name.