Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. These words are considered by some as uttered proleptically or prophetically by Adam; but they could not be spoken by him, since he was as yet ignorant of the parental character and relations; and could have no idea of children leaving their parents. They were most probably added by the historian himself, who, writing under inspiration of God, gave them in the way of commentary on this divine procedure; and accordingly, they are appealed to by our Lord as containing an authoritative declaration of the Divine Will concerning the institution of marriage (Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8; 1 Corinthians 6:16), as well as by the apostle, as a type of the intimate union of believers with Christ (Ephesians 5:31). They are words which, if language has any meaning, give a clear and full intimation, not only of the nearness, but of the sanctity of the marriage relation-representing it as the source and foundation of all other relations-as not only superior to and closer than any other, but comprehending all the rest, uniting the parties so intimately in heart and affection, and at the same time by a bond so indissoluble, that the man and his wife become as it were one. What language could put a higher honour on the marriage relation than by thus representing it in the character of a divine institution? and what view of this institution can lay a better foundation for mutual affection and tender endearment than that which describes the parties who contract it as becoming by virtue of that union "one flesh?"
'This is the great original law of marriage, binding on the whole human family. It was not a part of any ceremonial law, or of the national code of Israel; but was promulgated, at the original institution of marriage, to the first parents of mankind, as the representatives of the whole human race. By the terms of it, Adam and Eve were personally exempted from its operation, since they were already married, and Adam had no father nor mother whom he could leave. It was made, therefore, because their posterity; and since, in its binding force on them, there are no restrictions or limitations, it was clearly given to bind the whole human family. This law, in the very terms of it, as well as according to the comment of Christ, is an absolute prohibition of polygamy. It is so in the terms of it. It declares that lawful marriage, as appointed by God, is the connection between one man and one woman, and that, when they are married they cease to be "twain," and are "one flesh." It also declares that the man who is thus united to a woman in marriage shall "cleave unto her as his wife." Before, he clave with filial affection unto his parents as a son, and acknowledged them only; and now he is directed as a husband to cleave into his wife.
This language is capable but of one interpretation. If he is connected with any other woman, he ceases to cleave to his wife, and makes himself one flesh with a stranger (1 Corinthians 6:16). In short, in the original constitution of marriage, God made one woman only, and united her to Adam, and thus appointed married to be the union of one man with one woman. He was able to have made more; why, then, did he create but one? Because he foresaw, if more than one woman were created and given to Adam, "a godly seed" would have been impossible (Malachi 2:10-16). The law of marriage, then, as originally established by God, was strictly positive in its nature, as resulting from a positive command. Still, in its design, in its binding force, and in the duties which it involves, as well as in the violations to which it is liable, it is in the highest sense moral-the form most conducive to the promotion of godliness and piety.' The words "they shall be (or become) one flesh," suggest another observation as to the inviolable sacredness of the nuptial bond. The primitive law made no provision for its dissolution; it was in all time coming to be commensurate with the lives of the married pair; and should circumstance vary their worldly condition ever so often and so much, or Providence separate them to opposite regions of the globe, they would still remain in the same relation as man and wife, until the relation was severed by the death of one of the parties (Romans 7:2-3). This law, if man had remained in his state of unfallen innocence, was indisputably the only right one for the human race; but in consequence of the disorder in his will and passions produced by sin, tyranny and lust became so unhappily prevalent, as to necessitate a relaxation of the original institution by the permission of divorces on various accounts, according to certain regulations prescribed in the Levitical code; but under the Christian dispensation, only from the commission of that crime which amounts to a violation of the nuptial vow.
Thus, it is clear that marriage is an ordinance of God; because it was instituted, if not commanded, at the creation; and that 'it consisted,' as Milton expresses it ('Treatise of Christian Doctrine'), 'in the mutual love, society, help, and comfort of the husband and wife, though with a reservation of superior rights to the husband (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:7-9). Marriage, therefore, is a solemn, permanent union of man with woman, ordained by God for the purpose either of the procreation of children or of the relief and solace of life; and it is of so intimate, mysterious a character that the apostle knew nothing within the whole range of human experience so fit to represent the spiritual union of the believer's soul with Christ.' That it is a connection of one man with one woman is not only evident from this passage, and our Lord's comment upon it, but from the divine will as manifested by the course of Providence in the near equality of the number of the sexes. The most accurate observations on the statistics of population have shown that the number of male births exceeds that of females by a very small proportion; but the mortality of males, by exhaustion of labour, or war, or other causes, through the course of life, a little exceeds that of females: so that the excess in the one case is counterbalanced by that in the other; and the average number of marriageable persons of each sex is found as nearly equal as it is possible to ascertain. This, therefore, is a physical law, which demonstrates the intention of Providence, and affords a constant authoritative comment, illustrating the drift of the passage to be this, that a husband should have ONE wife, and only one, during her life.
In the adaptation of the sexes for such a close and indissoluble union, the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator are eminently displayed. The husband finds in the love and the life of woman what was wanting to the perfection of his own character, and the wife enjoys in the man the counselor, the guardian, and the friend whom her weaker and gentler nature requires. The former has his temper, his passions, and his sorrows, produced by the cares and turmoil of the world, soothed or dispelled by the warm affection, the ready sympathy, the faithful and delicate assiduities of the latter; and both having the same common interests, are led to study each other's dispositions, to bear one another's burdens, to help each other's infirmities, so that by the growing assimilation of tastes, the identity of aim, and the reciprocities of attachment, provision is made for increasing and riveting the mutual bond that unites them. If ever conjugal love was felt in all its purity and power, it was by the newly-created pair. Milton has drawn an enchanting picture of the implantation and the first working of this passion, in his description of the woman and her first presentation.