Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Colossians 3:18-19
• 1 Corinthians 7:36-40
• 1 Corinthians 11:3
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-15
• Ephesians 5:22-33
  Click to retrieve Ephesians 5:22-33
• Hebrews 13:4

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 17:17
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 21:10-13
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 21:15-17
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 22:13-21
  Click to retrieve Deuteronomy 22:13-21
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 22:28-29
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 23:2
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 23:3
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 24:1-2
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 24:5
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 25:5-10
  Click to retrieve Deuteronomy 25:5-10
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 21:7-11
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 22:15-16
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 2:18-24
  Click to retrieve Genesis 2:18-24
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 18:6-20
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 18:6-20
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 20:14
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 21:7
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 21:13-15
  Jewish Commentary

Supportive NT Scriptures

• 1 Corinthians 7:1-6
  Click to retrieve 1 Corinthians 7:1-6
• 1 Corinthians 7:8
• 1 Corinthians 7:25-35
  Click to retrieve 1 Corinthians 7:25-35
• Mark 10:6-8
• Mark 12:25
• Matthew 19:3-6
• Matthew 19:12
• 1 Peter 3:5-7
• 1 Timothy 3:2
• 1 Timothy 3:12
• Titus 1:6

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 23:1-9
  Click to retrieve Deuteronomy 23:1-9
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 24:1-4
  Jewish Commentary
• Ezra 9:12-14
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 38:8-10
  Jewish Commentary
• Jeremiah 29:6
  Jewish Commentary
• 1 Kings 11:1-6
  Click to retrieve 1 Kings 11:1-6
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 20:17
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 20:19-21
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 21:13-14
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 18:22
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 19:14
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 31:10-31
  Click to retrieve Proverbs 31:10-31
  Jewish Commentary

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

This Mitzvah is derived primarily from Genesis 2:24 : This is why a man is to leave his father and mother and stick with his wife, and they are to be one flesh. 1 The resulting "one flesh" is what makes the leaving and cleaving covenantal, and the fact that the commandment appears so early in Genesis is why I call it a "creation" covenant (to distinguish it from other covenants that came later). We commonly call this covenant "marriage". You will notice that several of the Scriptures from the Tanakh cited above are labeled "obsolete". That is because circumstances and conditions today are so different than during the time of Moses. Back then, the Scriptures that are now obsolete made perfect sense and could be implemented, while today they cannot. Although this Mitzvah is expressed as a "man" leaving his parents to join with his wife, the covenant of becoming "one flesh" cannot be fulfilled unless the man's intended wife similarly leaves her parents. The "leaving" of parents in the Scripture is not a reference to where the couple resides. The Scripture is speaking of the controlling influence that parents rightly have over their young unmarried children, but which is improper and interfering if it is allowed to continue once the child (man or woman) becomes married. I believe the reason Genesis 2:24 reads the way it does, is that a man's responsibility to leave his parents is different from a woman's. It is the man's responsibility to take the initiative in leaving, but it is the woman's parents' responsibility to release her to her intended husband. The implication of her parents not doing so is, of course, obvious and, after marriage, problems result when either or both of the marrieds allow improper ties to their parents to continue. The concept of becoming "one flesh" is not only covenantal, but also mystical and difficult to comprehend. Mark 10:8b attempts to explain it by stating: Thus they are no longer two, but one. Ephesians 5:29-32 relates the phenomenon to Messiah and the Body of Believers by stating: Why, no one ever hated his own flesh! On the contrary, he feeds it well and takes care of it, just as the Messiah does the Messianic Community, because we are parts of his Body. "Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and remain with his wife, and the two will become one." There is profound truth hidden here, which I say concerns the Messiah and the Messianic Community. This "oneness" possibly reminds one of the plural unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Genesis 2:24 has been interpreted, in some quarters, as requiring everyone to marry. I do not view it that way, especially in light of Paul's remarks in 1 Corinthians 7:8, 32-35 . I believe that Scripture teaches that the norm of creation is to marry and procreate, but it allows for not doing so and, in some cases, singleness is God's will for an individual (see Matthew 19:12 ). This Mitzvah includes Scriptures that prohibit marriage to certain persons. These include family members with whom we cannot have sexual relations, persons with whom we are unequally yoked, Jews marrying persons of certain nations, etc. It also includes persons that a cohen cannot marry. Secular law also puts restrictions on marrying family members in order to avoid weakening the human genetic pool and allowing unwanted recessive traits to emerge. 1. Some translations state "cleave" to his wife.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch make no reference to Genesis 2:24 (or any other Scripture) to support leaving one's father and mother and becoming one flesh with one's wife when one marries. Maimonides' RP213, Meir's MP44, and HaChinuch's C552, rely on Deuteronomy 24:1 to support their allegation that marriage must be by kiddushin (consecration) - a binding marriage ceremony. The Scripture does not say that, nor does any other Scripture. Maimonides and HaChinuch refer to Exodus 21:11 , and Meir refers to Deuteronomy 24:1 to support their general law of marriage, but I find all three commentators ambiguous as to whether their respective mitzvot command marriage or simply describe the kiddushin (sanctification), of a marriage ceremony. Apparently, Rabbi Dr. Charles B. Chavel, a prominent translator into English of Maimonides' " Sefer HaMitzvot " had the same concern, for he found it necessary to introduce the bracketed word [only] in the first sentence of his mitzvah RP213, causing it to read: By this injunction we are commanded to take a woman to wife [only] by a binding ceremony: either by giving her something [of value] 2 , or by handing her a writ of marriage, or by intercourse [accompanied by a declaration of marriage]. Meir discusses kiddushin through the payment of monetary value, and he also discusses betrothal before nissuin (consummation) but not the other ways of consecrating a marriage. HaChinuch presents the most detail of kiddushin . He states that if marriage is consecrated by the giving of monetary value, the groom must say: "You are now consecrated to me by this money (or thing of monetary value)." If the marriage is consecrated by a document, the groom must say: "You are consecrated to me by this document (or whatever it is)." If marriage is consecrated by sexual intercourse, he must say to his bride before witnesses: "You are consecrated to me by this act of intimacy." He then takes his bride into seclusion and is seen doing so by the witnesses. 2. The modern equivalent of paying the bride money is for the groom to give the bride a wedding ring of significant monetary value while stating: "You are hereby consecrated to me with this ring, according to the law of Moses and Israel." It is analogous to a "bride price" practiced in certain other cultures, and opposite to a "dowry" which the bride or the bride's father is expected to pay to the groom.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2