Matthew 19 · Verse 5

Matthew 19:5

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?
Matthew 19:5, King James Version

Matthew 19:5 in other translations

BSBand 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’?
WEBand 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’?
ASVand said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?
YLTand said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be--the two--for one flesh?
DARBYand said, On account of this a man shall leave father and mother, and shall be united to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh?
BBEFor this cause will a man go away from his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and the two will become one flesh?
WebsterAnd said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh?

What does Matthew 19:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. And said, For this cause--to follow out this divine appointment. shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?--Jesus here sends them back to the original constitution of man as one pair, a male and a female; to their marriage, as such, by divine appointment; and to the purpose of God, expressed by the sacred historian, that in all time one man and one woman should by marriage become one flesh--so to continue as long as both are in the flesh. This being God's constitution, let not man break it up by causeless divorces.

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

Barnes' Notes
Verse 5. Mt 19:4

(c) "For this cause" Gen 2:24, Eph 5:31

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 For this cause - Being created for this very purpose; that they might glorify their Maker in a matrimonial connection. A man shall leave (καταλειψαι, wholly give up) both father and mother - the matrimonial union being more intimate and binding than even paternal or filial affection; - and shall be closely united, προσκολληθησεται, shall be firmly cemented to his wife. A beautiful metaphor, which most forcibly intimates that nothing but death can separate them: as a well-glued board will break sooner in the whole wood, than in the glued joint. So also the Hebrew word דבק debak implies. And they twain shall be one flesh? - Not only meaning, that they should be considered as one body, but also as two souls in one body, with a complete union of interests, and an indissoluble partnership of life and fortune, comfort and support, desires and inclinations, joys and sorrows. Farther, it appears to me, that the words in Gen 2:24, לבסר אחד lebasar achad, for one flesh, which our Lord literally translates, mean also, that children, compounded as it were of both, should be the product of the matrimonial connection. Thus, they two (man and woman) shall be for the producing of one flesh, the very same kind of human creature with themselves. See the note on Gen 2:24.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 19:3-12

The Pharisees were desirous of drawing something from Jesus which they might represent as contrary to the law of Moses. Cases about marriage have been numerous, and sometimes perplexed; made so, not by the law of God, but by the lusts and follies of men; and often people fix what they will do, before they ask for advice. Jesus replied by asking whether they had not read the account of the creation, and the first…

Read the full comment on Matthew 19:3-12 →

Matthew 19:5 in the original Greek

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.

καὶkaiandG2532
εἶπεν·eipensaid;G2036
ἕνεκαhenekaOn account ofG1752
τούτουtoutouthisG3778
καταλείψειkataleipseiwill leaveG2641
ἄνθρωποςanthrōposa manG444
τὸνtontheG3588
πατέραpaterafatherG3962
καὶkaiandG2532
τὴνtēntheG3588
μητέραmēteramotherG3384
καὶkaiandG2532
κολληθήσεταιkollēthēsetaiwill be joined withG2853
τῇtēatheG3588
γυναικὶgunaikiwifeG1135
αὐτοῦ,autouof him,G846
καὶkaiandG2532
ἔσονταιesontaiwill becomeG1510
οἱhoitheG3588
δύοduotwoG1417
εἰςeisintoG1519
σάρκαsarkafleshG4561
μίανmianone’G1520

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

Cross references for Matthew 19:5

  • Genesis 2:21-24

    And 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; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:4

    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 7:2

    Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

  • Ephesians 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.

  • Mark 10:5-9

    And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 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. …

  • 1 Corinthians 6:16

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

  • Psalms 63:8

    My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

  • 1 Samuel 18:1

    And 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.

  • Romans 12:9

    Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

  • Deuteronomy 4:4

    But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

  • 1 Kings 11:2

    Of 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.

  • Psalms 45:10

    Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
said.
Ge 2:21-24; Ps 45:10; Mr 10:5-9; Eph 5:31
cleave.[Proskollao ,] "shall be cemented to his wife," as the Hebrew davak implies; a beautiful metaphor, forcibly intimating that nothing but death can separate them.
Ge 34:3; De 4:4; 10:20; 11:22; 1Sa 18:1; 2Sa 1:26; 1Ki 11:2; Ps 63:8
Ro 12:9
and they.
1Co 6:16; 7:2,4

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

Context

  • Matthew 19:4

    And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

  • Matthew 19:5

    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?

  • Matthew 19:6

    Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Read all of Matthew 19

Matthew 19:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dijo: Por tanto, el hombre dejará padre y madre, y se unirá á su mujer, y serán dos en una carne?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et qu’il dit: « C’est pourquoi, l’homme laissera son père et sa mère et sera uni à sa femme; et les deux seront une seule chair »?
German
Elberfelder 1871		und sprach: "Um deswillen wird ein Mensch Vater und Mutter verlassen und seinem Weibe anhangen, und es werden die zwei ein Fleisch sein";
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Propter hoc dimittet homo patrem, et matrem, et adhærebit uxori suæ, et erunt duo in carne una.