Adam and Eve

Macro Design Observations: From Alone to One Flesh

“This two-step divine provision of the “help” (עזר) is crucial. It mimics Genesis 1 (days 1-3 are step one, days 4-6 are step two), and it creates a model or expectation. God is the first one to notice “no good” in his creation (Gen. 2:18). The lone human is unable to fulfill his vocation without an other.

The narrative design of Genesis 2:18-25 goes from problem to solution. A solitary human cannot accomplish the calling placed upon “the image-statue of Elohim” in Genesis 1:26-28 to rule creation as God’s partners, to image God through gender difference, and to be fruitful and multiply. To fulfill this task, the human family must simultaneously become “many” and “one/unified,” and they must do all of this as an image of God.

*Genesis 2:24NASB*

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cling to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 addresses a foundational question about human relationships: Why would a person leave their closest biological relationship (a child to their parent) and join themselves to one who is not in their family? The claim of Genesis 2:24 is that marriage overcomes this biological divide and recovers an original, unified state of humanity. The woman is not a “helper” or simply a mating partner in Genesis 2. She is half of him and he is half of her; only together can they become the unified humanity that God has called us to be.

The “one flesh” of Genesis 2:24 transcends the union of the sexual act (though it is one way the “one flesh” unity may be experienced). It is a prime example of how two humans who are genuine others to one another may experience unity and oneness. Notice the highly surprising roles of man and woman in Genesis 2:24. It is the man who leaves his family to join a biological stranger, his wife, to create a new family. This formulation is the opposite of every marriage in the Hebrew Bible, where the woman leaves her family to join the man (e.g. Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, etc.).The words “abandon” (‘azab / עזב) and “cling” (dabaq / דקב) are covenantal terms that speak to the forsaking of previous bonds and “clinging” to one’s covenant partner (Deut. 4:4; 10:20; 11:22; 22:16).”

From Adam to Noah