Abstract
The narrator of the second account of creation, precisely on God’s solicitous plan to find a fitting partner for man, concludes with an insightful observation that serves both as a conclusion and an interpretation: “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). In a strong patrilineal culture in which this text was composed, presenting a man as the one leaving home to join his wife calls for a profound reflection on the message of this Biblical text in a context that appears as an etiology. The point of emphasis seems to rest on the necessity of detachment as a necessary condition in order to create an efficacious bond between the man and “his helper as his partner” (Genesis 2:18). Employing a literary exegetical approach, this paper attempts to explain the sociological and theological implications of Genesis 2:24. Self-effacement interpreted as “leaving father and mother” in Genesis 2:24 prepares a man and a woman for a new life where they are responsibly free to form “one flesh”, according to the divine plan. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4p526
Highlights
Could Genesis 2:24 be a continuation of the poetic exclamation of Adam1 at the sight of his appropriate “helper as his partner”2 ‘ezer keneۖdô whom he has given the name “woman” ’iššƗh, the meaning of which he explained in the same verse? the layout of v.24 shows that even if it were uttered by the man, there is a significant shift in the mood of the two adjacent verses; that is, verses 23 and 24
We have discovered above that in the aetiology which v. 24 explicates we perceive the nature of marriage instituted by God
Since marriage and human family have their origin in God, understanding and appreciating their divinely endowed values will certainly help human beings retrace their steps to the divine plan in establishing this oldest human institution
Summary
Could Genesis 2:24 be a continuation of the poetic exclamation of Adam (the man) at the sight of his appropriate “helper as his partner”2 ‘ezer keneۖdô whom he has given the name “woman” ’iššƗh, the meaning of which he explained in the same verse? the layout of v.24 shows that even if it were uttered by the man, there is a significant shift in the mood of the two adjacent verses; that is, verses 23 and 24. In the second part of the same verse, there is a divine proposal: to make man “helper as his partner” ‘ezer keneۖdô. Verse 24 comes as a conclusion and an explanation. This paper attempts to give an answer to the puzzle and to understand the true significance of this explanatory conclusion. One would surmise that leaving a paternal home to another place is a significant and symbolic gesture which might not be taken in its face value. It entails most certainly a necessary separation which is required for a new life with another person. Discovering the techniques of narration in the text enhances our understanding of its meaning and significance in our world today
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