Bible Strands
Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records this declaration immediately after Adam identifies Eve as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, establishing the structural pattern for human marriage.
The words — The Hebrew phrase עַל־כֵּן ('al-ken) literally renders "for this reason," functioning as a causal marker that ties the marital union to the preceding creation account. The verb יַעֲזָב (ya'azov) means "he leaves," indicating a decisive transfer of primary loyalty from the parental household.
The thread — The text's sequence of leaving, cleaving, and becoming one flesh is referenced in Matthew 19:4-5 to address marital permanence and reiterated in Ephesians 5:31 before the instruction for husbands to love their wives.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to recognize marriage as a divinely instituted reordering of primary relationships, demanding practical separation from former dependencies and exclusive physical and relational union with one spouse.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Cross-references
- Matthew 19:3 Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
- Ephesians 5:28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
- Mark 10:6 However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
- Romans 7:2 For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
- 1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
- 1 Corinthians 7:2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- 1 Corinthians 6:16 Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
- Proverbs 31:10 A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
- Malachi 2:14 Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
- 1 Corinthians 7:10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.