And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Parallel translations
- WEB and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’
- BSB and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
- NKJV and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ ?
- NASB and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
- NLT And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus quotes Genesis, that a man leaves his parents, joins his wife, and the two become one flesh. Marriage is a God-ordained, exclusive, one-flesh union.
Overview
Citing Genesis 2:24, Jesus shows that marriage forms a new, permanent bond in which two persons become one flesh. This union, established by God, is meant to be lifelong and exclusive. Scripture later sees in this one-flesh covenant a picture of Christ and his church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Gen 2:21–24And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
- 1 Cor 7:4The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
- 1 Cor 7:2Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
- Eph 5:31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
- Mark 10:5–9And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
- 1 Cor 6:16What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
- Ps 63:8My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
- Rom 12:9Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
- 1 Sam 18:1And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
- 2 Sam 1:26I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
- Ps 45:10Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
- 1 Kgs 11:2Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
- Deut 4:4But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
- Deut 10:20Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
- Deut 11:22For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
- Gen 34:3And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 19:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.