FAQ: Doesn't Genesis 2:24 Teach Monogamy?

[CecilW]

Genesis says, and both Jesus and Paul quoted, that the TWO shall become one.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. -- Gen 2:24

The TWO, not 3 or 4. That means Monogamy Only, doesn't it?

Maybe. Maybe not. Let's see how it was used and quoted elsewhere.

Jesus quoted it in Matthew 19:3-9. The topic under discussion was divorce, not monogamy vs polygamy. Jesus quoted it in support of the durability of the marriage covenant. Exclusivity wasn't even under discussion.

Similarly, Paul quoted it in Ephesians 5:31. But here again, the topic was how a man ought to treat his wife because of the completely united nature of their union. She is like his own body. Can't separate her out. Durability, not exclusivity.

Nope. Sorry. No writer in the Bible used this verse to teach Monogamy As God's Ideal. They did, however, use it against divorce and for good treatment of wives by hubbies.

Seems advisable for us to do the same.

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