“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
Parallel Translations
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“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
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For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cotinue with his wyfe and two shalbe made one flesshe.
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For this cause shall a man leaue father and mother, and shall cleaue to his wife, and they twaine shalbe one flesh.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Ephesians 5:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
- Matthew 19:5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’
- Mark 10:7-8 For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
- 1 Corinthians 6:16 Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 31. For this cause. This is an exact quotation…
31. For this cause. This is an exact quotation from the writings of Moses. (Genesis 2:24.) And what does it mean? As Eve was formed out of the substance of her husband, and thus was a part of himself; so, if we are the true members of Christ, we share his substance, and by this intercourse unite into one body. In short, Paul describes our union to Christ, a symbol and pledge of which is given to us in the ordinance of the supper. Those who talk about the torture exercised on this passage to make it refer to the Lord’s supper, while no mention is made of the supper, but of marriage, are egregiously mistaken. When they admit that the death of Christ is commemorated in the supper, but not that such intercourse exists as we assert from the words of Christ, we quote this passage against them. Paul says that we are members of his flesh and of his bones. Do we wonder then, that in the Lord’s supper he holds out his body to be enjoyed by us, and to nourish us unto eternal life? Thus we prove that the only union which we maintain to be represented by the Lord’s supper is here declared in its truth and consequences by the apostle.
Two subjects are exhibited together; for the spiritual union between Christ and his church is so treated as to illustrate the common law of marriage, to which the quotation from Moses relates. He immediately adds, that the saying is fulfilled in Christ and the church. Every opportunity which presents itself for proclaiming our obligations to Christ is readily embraced, but he adapts his illustration of them to the present subject. It is uncertain whether Moses introduces Adam as using these words, or gives them as an inference drawn by himself from the creation of man. Nor is it of much consequence which of these views be taken; for, in either case, we must hold it to be an announcement of the will of God, enjoining the duties which men owe to their wives.
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He shall leave his father and mother. As if he had said, “Let him rather leave his father and mother than not cleave to his wife.” The marriage bond does not set aside the other duties of mankind, nor are the commandments of God so inconsistent with each other, that a man cannot be a good and faithful husband without ceasing to be a dutiful son. It is altogether a question of degree. Moses draws the comparison, in order to express more strongly the close and sacred union which subsists between husband and wife. A son is bound by an inviolable law of nature to perform his duties towards his father; and when the obligations of a husband towards his wife are declared to be stronger, their force is the better understood. He who resolves to be a good husband will not fail to perform his filial duties, but will regard marriage as more sacred than all other ties.
And they two shall be one flesh. They shall be one man, or, to use a common phrase, they shall constitute one person; which certainly would not hold true with regard to any other kind of relationship. All depends on this, that the wife was formed of the flesh and bones of her husband. Such is the union between us and Christ, who in some sort makes us partakers of his substance. “We are bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh,” (Genesis 2:23;) not because, like ourselves, he has a human nature, but because, by the power of his Spirit, he makes us a part of his body, so that from him we derive our life.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain See Matt. 19:5
See Matt. 19:5
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 31 For this cause shall a man leave his…
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Ver. 31. For this cause, &c.] {See Trapp on "Mat 19:5"} {See Trapp on "Gen 2:24"}
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Shall be one flesh] By virtue of that covenant of God between married couples, Pro 2:17, for he keepeth the bonds of wedlock.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For this cause; because the woman was formed of…
For this cause; because the woman was formed of the flesh and bones of the man. He refers to Adam’s words, Gen 2:24.
Shall a man leave his father and mother; as to cohabitation, and domestic conversation; or, let a inan rather leave his father and mother than not cleave to his wife. The apostle doth not cancel the obligations of other relations, but prefers this before them.
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They two shall be one flesh; i.e. one body, or one man, viz. by the marriage bond, whereby each hath power over the other’s body, 1Co 7:4.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Here the apostle uses a farther argument to excite…
Here the apostle uses a farther argument to excite the husband’s love to his espoused wife, taken from the law of marriage, which maketh them two one flesh in a civil sense; therefore the man should leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife: not that their obligations cease to their parents, or as if they were to cast off natural affection to them; but he shows, that there is a nearer union betwixt husband and wife, than betwixt parents and child, and that the bonds of matrimonial love are stronger than those of nature.
Their being said to be one flesh, implies a most strict union, and most intimate communion, and whereby they have one interest. Common goods, common friends, yea and all things common, as if they were but one person; but the apostle further intimates to us, at the 31st verse, that this matrimonial union betwixt man and wife, was designed by God, to shadow forth and represent that mystical union which is betwixt Christ and his Church. Doth the conjugal union give the wife an interest in the estate and honour of the husband, be she never so meanly descended in herself? in like manner, from the saints’ union with Christ, does there immediately result a sweet and blessed communion or fellowship with Christ in grace and spiritual privileges; all that Christ is, and has, is theirs by communication to them, or improvement for them; well might the apostle therefore say, This is a great mystery, & c.
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In the 33rd verse, the apostle shuts up his discourse upon this argument, with a repeated exhortation to the husband to love his wife, and to the wife to reverence her husband. Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself: "so love," that is, with an extensive love, reaching the whole person, soul and body; with an intensive love, above all persons and relatives whatsoever; with an hearty love, without dissimulation; with an holy love, without alteration; and with great love, beyond comparsion.
And let the wife see that she reverences her husband. The great duty which the wife owes to her husband is reverence. This is made up of three ingredients; namely, estimation, love, and fear: the wife that reverences her husband, esteems him and dares not think meanly of him; her esteem of him provokes her love unto him; and her love of him is accompanied with an ingenuous fear to offend and grieve him; and the wife expresses this reverence in her gestures, by a respectful demeanour towards him; in her speeches to him when with her, and of him when absent from her, always mentioning him with respect and honour; in her actions, by complying with his desires, by following his directions, by hearkening to his reproofs, and by her cheerful and respectful behaviour towards him at all times and in all places, as well at home as abroad before the world. And that the wife may thus reverence her husband, let her be earnest with God in prayer, for wisdom and understanding, for prudence and patience, for humility and meekness: a proud spirit would not agree with an angel, but the humble will agree with any person.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain For this cause - Because of this intimate union.…
For this cause - Because of this intimate union. Gen. ii, 24.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 31. Shall be joined unto his wife] προσκολληθησεται.…
Verse 31. Shall be joined unto his wife] προσκολληθησεται. He shall be glued or cemented to her; and, as a well-glued board will sooner break in the whole wood than in the glued joint, so death alone can part the husband and wife; and nothing but death should dissolve their affection. See Clarke's notes on Ge 2:21-24.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For this cause - Ἀντὶ τόυτου Anti toutou. This…
For this cause - Ἀντὶ τόυτου Anti toutou. This verse is a quotation from Gen 2:24, and contains the account of the institution of marriage. The meaning of the phrase rendered “for this cause” is, “answerably to this;” or corresponding to this - that is, to what Paul had just said of the union of believers and the Redeemer. On the meaning of this verse, see the notes on Mat 19:4. There is no evidence that the marriage connection was originally designed to symbolize or typify this union, but it may be used to illustrate that connection, and to show the strength of the attachment between the Redeemer and his people. The comparison should be confined, however, strictly to the use made of it in the New Testament.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For--The propagation of the Church from Christ, as that…
For--The propagation of the Church from Christ, as that of Eve from Adam, is the foundation of the spiritual marriage. The natural marriage, wherein "a man leaves father and mother (the oldest manuscripts omit 'his') and is joined unto his wife," is not the principal thing meant here, but the spiritual marriage represented by it, and on which it rests, whereby Christ left the Father's bosom to woo to Himself the Church out of a lost world: Eph 5:32 proves this: His earthly mother as such, also, He holds in secondary account as compared with His spiritual Bride (Luk 2:48-49; Luk 8:19-21; Luk 11:27-28). He shall again leave His Father's abode to consummate the union (Mat 25:1-10; Rev 19:7).
they two shall be one flesh--So the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, &c., read (Gen 2:24), instead of "they shall be one flesh." So Mat 19:5. In natural marriage, husband and wife combine the elements of one perfect human being: the one being incomplete without the other. So Christ, as God-man, is pleased to make the Church, the body, a necessary adjunct to Himself, the Head. He is the archetype of the Church, from whom and according to whom, as the pattern, she is formed. He is her Head, as the husband is of the wife (Rom 6:5; Co1 11:3; Co1 15:45). Christ will never allow any power to sever Himself and His bride, indissolubly joined (Mat 19:6; Joh 10:28-29; Joh 13:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 31. For this cause—That is, (in Genesis,) on account…
31. For this cause—That is, (in Genesis,) on account of the created completion of a sexual pair.
Two… one flesh—Two, literally; one, conceptually. And this conceptual image of oneness, by which it is pictured that man and woman, being complements of each other, are maritally united into one person, is formed in order to place in the most loving light the unity of affection and the identity of interest by which they are identified with, and vicarious representatives of, each other.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 31. For this cause, &c.] The Gr. in this…
31. For this cause, &c.] The Gr. in this verse is practically identical with that of Gen_2:24. We may reverently infer that the Apostle was guided to see in that verse a Divine parable of the Coming Forth of the Lord, the Man of Men, from the Father, and His present and eternal mystical Union with the true Church, His Bride.
“For this cause:”—the cause of His (covenanted and foreseen) Union with us as Incarnate, Sacrificed, and Risen; in order to realize that Divine Idea.
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joined] A kindred word is used in a kindred passage, full of importance here, 1Co_6:17.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (31) For this cause.—In spite of much authority, it…
(31) For this cause.—In spite of much authority, it seems far simpler to consider the words “Even as the Lord . . . His bones” as parenthetical, and refer back to Eph_5:28-29. In exactly the same way our Lord quotes the same verse of Genesis (Gen_2:24) to show the indissoluble character of the marriage tie. Here the similarity of connection with that of the original passage is even stronger. Because a man’s wife is as his own body, “for this cause shall a man,” &c. To connect these words with those going before is indeed possible, but somewhat too mystical even for this passage.
Shall a man leave his father . . .—The relation of parentage is one of common flesh and blood, and stands at the head of those natural relations which we do not make, but into which we are born. The relation of marriage is the most sacred of all the ties into which we are not born, and which we do make for ourselves, in accordance with a true or supposed harmony of nature. It becomes, says Holy Scripture, a relation, not of common flesh and blood, but of “one flesh.” Itself originally voluntary, it supersedes all natural ties. Our Lord therefore adds, “They are no more twain, but one flesh. What God hath joined together let not man put asunder” (Mat_19:6). Hence it strikingly represents that unity with Christ—voluntarily initiated by Him, voluntarily accepted by us—which yet so supersedes all natural ties that it is said to oblige a man to “hate his father and mother . . . and his own life also” (Luk_14:26).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For this cause shall a man leave his father…
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall come to be one flesh.
Quoted in substance from Gen_2:24. It seems to be introduced simply to show the closeness of the relation between man and wife; it is such as in a sense to supersede that between parent and child. The apostle (as appears from the next verse) has in view, at the same time, the parallel truth the closeness of the relation between Christ and the Church; it too in a sense supersedes the relations of nature. (comp. Luk_14:26; Mat_12:50)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For this cause shall a man leave his father…
Eph_5:31
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
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Husbands and wives
Marriage is the most dignified, honourable, and helpful relationship into which we can enter.
1. It is a relationship of mutual sympathy.
2. It is a relationship of mutual sacredness. There is no authority which can constrain into marriage, and there is none which of itself can dissolve the tie.
3. It is a relationship of mutual honour.
4. It is a relationship of mutual responsibility. (W. Braden.)
The mystery of marriage
I. The counsel that God had about Adams marriage with Eve.
1. The Lord made Adam before He thought of a wife for him.
2. Among all the created things God could not find a help meet for Adam.
3. God, in blessing Adam, blessed her afterwards to be made.
II. The creation of the woman out of the man.
III. The marriage itself.
1. God brought the woman to Adam.
2. When brought, he consented and owned her.
IV. The consequence of Adams marriage.
1. A union.
2. A rule for all time--that the wife cleave to her husband. (T. Goodwin, D. D.)
Qualities of a good wife
An old author says, A good wife should be like three things, which three things she should not be like.
1. She should be like a snail, to keep within her own house; but she should not be like the snail, to carry all she has upon her back.
2. She should be like an echo, to speak when spoken to; but she should not be like an echo, always to have the last word.
3. She should be like a town clock, always to keep time and regularity; but she should not be like a town clock, speak so loud that all the town may hear her.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 31–33. For this cause. This verse is quoted from…
31–33. For this cause. This verse is quoted from Gen. 2:24. It speaks not only a fact of the marriage state, but also implies that Christ left the Father for the sake of his mystical Bride.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 31-33. No one can read these verses, and call…
31-33. No one can read these verses, and call in question the Bible doctrine of conjugal unity. It is not only repeatedly affirmed, but even enforced by the example of Christ and his bride. As we receive his nature, and become one with him in spirit, mind, life, purpose, and enterprise for time and eternity, so husband and wife are “no longer twain, but one flesh.” In harmony with this truth, we must receive the doctrine of literal and actual conjugal unity in the Divine institution of Christian matrimony. Hence, we should watch and pray, lest we infringe upon the rights and privileges of this God-given blessing to the world. It was instituted in Eden, and survived the fall, to bless mankind to the end of time. The social purity problem is not to be construed interconjugally so as to antagonize conjugal unity. Husband and wife are to walk in the clear light of God’s Word, Spirit, and providence, lest they deflect into fanaticism, and mar the beauty, chill the bliss, and darken the brightness of the Christian home.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The quotation is from the writings of Moses in the Old Testament.
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General Information:
The words "his" and "himself" refer to a male believer who marries.
translationWords
flesh
mystery
Christ
church
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:31 The unity of husband and wife should motivate…
5:31 The unity of husband and wife should motivate the husband to care for his wife.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.