Genesis 2 · Verse 24

Genesis 2:24

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:24, King James Version

Genesis 2:24 in other translations

BSBFor this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
WEBTherefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
ASVTherefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
YLTtherefore doth a man leave his father and his mother, and hath cleaved unto his wife, and they have become one flesh.
DARBYTherefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
BBEFor this cause will a man go away from his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
WebsterTherefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

What does Genesis 2:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. one flesh--The human pair differed from all other pairs, that by peculiar formation of Eve, they were one. And this passage is appealed to by our Lord as the divine institution of marriage (Mt 19:4, 5; Ep 5:28). Thus Adam appears as a creature formed after the image of God--showing his knowledge by giving names to the animals, his righteousness by his approval of the marriage relation, and his holiness by his principles and feelings, and finding gratification in the service and enjoyment of God.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother - There shall be, by the order of God, a more intimate connection formed between the man and woman, than can subsist even between parents and children. And they shall be one flesh - These words may be understood in a twofold sense. 1. These two shall be one flesh, shall be considered as one body, having no separate or independent rights, privileges, cares, concerns, etc., each being equally interested in all things that concern the marriage state. 2. These two shall be for the production of one flesh; from their union a posterity shall spring, as exactly resembling themselves as they do each other. Our Lord quotes these words, Mat 19:5, with some variation from this text: They Twain shall be one flesh. So in Mar 10:8. St. Paul quotes in the same way, 1Cor 6:16, and in Eph 5:31. The Vulgate Latin, the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Samaritan, all read the word Two. That this is the genuine reading I have no doubt. The word שניהם sheneyhem, they two or both of them, was, I suppose, omitted at first from the Hebrew text, by mistake, because it occurs three words after in the following verse, or more probably it originally occurred in Gen 2:24, and not in Gen 2:25; and a copyist having found that he had written it twice, in correcting his copy, struck out the word in Gen 2:24 instead of Gen 2:25. But of what consequence is it? In the controversy concerning polygamy, it has been made of very great consequence. Without the word, some have contended a man may have as many wives as he chooses, as the terms are indefinite, They shall be, etc., but with the word, marriage is restricted. A man can have in legal wedlock but One wife at the same time. We have here the first institution of marriage, and we see in it several particulars worthy of our most serious regard. 1. God pronounces the state of celibacy to be a bad state, or, if the reader please, not a good one; and the Lord God said, It is not good for man to be alone. This is God's judgment. Councils, and fathers, and doctors, and synods, have given a different judgment; but on such a subject they are worthy of no attention. The word of God abideth for ever. 2. God made the woman for the man, and thus he has shown us that every son of Adam should be united to a daughter of Eve to the end of the world. See on 1Cor 7:3 (note). God made the woman out of the man, to intimate that the closest union, and the most affectionate attachment, should subsist in the matrimonial connection, so that the man should ever consider and treat the woman as a part of himself: and as no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and supports it, so should a man deal with his wife; and on the other hand the woman should consider that the man was not made for her, but that she was made for the man, and derived, under God, her being from him; therefore the wife should see that she reverence her husband, Eph 5:33. Gen 2:23, Gen 2:24 contain the very words of the marriage ceremony: This is flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. How happy must such a state be where God's institution is properly regarded, where the parties are married, as the apostle expresses it, in the Lord; where each, by acts of the tenderest kindness, lives only to prevent the wishes and contribute in every possible way to the comfort and happiness of the other! Marriage might still be what it was in its original institution, pure and suitable; and in its first exercise, affectionate and happy; but how few such marriages are there to be found! Passion, turbulent and irregular, not religion; custom, founded by these irregularities, not reason; worldly prospects, originating and ending in selfishness and earthly affections, not in spiritual ends, are the grand producing causes of the great majority of matrimonial alliances. How then can such turbid and bitter fountains send forth pure and sweet waters? See the ancient allegory of Cupid and Psyche, by which marriage is so happily illustrated, explained in the notes on Mat 19:4-6.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 2:18-25

Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all. It also shows his insight into the works of God. But though he was lord of the creatures, yet nothing in this world was a help meet for man. From God are all our helpers. If we rest in God, he will work all for good. God caused deep sleep to fall on Adam; while he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain. God, as…

Read the full comment on Genesis 2:18-25 →

Genesis 2:24 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עַל\־'al-there-H5921
כֵּן֙ken-foreH3651
יַֽעֲזָב\־ya.'a.zov-he leavesH5800
אִ֔ישׁ'Isha manH376
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אָבִ֖יו'a.Vivfather hisH1
וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
אִמּ֑וֹ'i.Momother hisH517
וְדָבַ֣קve.da.Vakand he cleavesH1692
בְּאִשְׁתּ֔וֹbe.'ish.Toto wife hisH802
וְהָי֖וּve.ha.Yuand they becomeH1961
לְבָשָׂ֥רle.va.Sar<into> fleshH1320
אֶחָֽד\׃'e.ChadoneH259

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 2:24

  • Matthew 19:3-9

    The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 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? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. …

  • Ephesians 5:28-31

    So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 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.

  • Mark 10:6-12

    But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. …

  • Romans 7:2

    For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

  • 1 Peter 3:1-7

    Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. …

  • 1 Corinthians 7:2-4

    Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The 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 Corinthians 6:16-17

    What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

  • Proverbs 31:10

    Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

  • Malachi 2:14-16

    Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:10-11

    And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

  • Proverbs 12:4

    A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

  • Leviticus 22:12-13

    If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
leave.
24:58,59; 31:14,15; Ps 45:10
cleave.
Le 22:12,13; De 4:4; 10:20; Jos 23:8; Ps 45:10; Pr 12:4; 31:10
Ac 11:23
and they shall be one flesh.The LXX., Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan read, "they two;" as is also read in several of the Parallel Passages.
Mal 2:14-16; Mt 19:3-9; Mr 10:6-12; Ro 7:2; 1Co 6:16,17; 7:2-4,10
1Co 7:11; Eph 5:28-31; 1Ti 5:14; 1Pe 3:1-7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 2:23

    And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

  • Genesis 2:24

    Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

  • Genesis 2:25

    And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Read all of Genesis 2

Genesis 2:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Por tanto, dejará el hombre á su padre y á su madre, y allegarse ha á su mujer, y serán una sola carne.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		C’est pourquoi l’homme quittera son père et sa mère, et s’attachera à sa femme, et ils seront une seule chair.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Darum wird ein Mann seinen Vater und seine Mutter verlassen und seinem Weibe anhangen, und sie werden ein Fleisch sein.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quam ob rem relinquet homo patrem suum, et matrem, et adhærebit uxori suæ: et erunt duo in carne una.