2:24 — For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
[T - OL ]
Here the author is no longer reporting on the events in the Garden of Eden but reflecting on the significance of what he has just reported.
First, he understands, and wants us to understand, why it is then that "a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." The verb "leave," 'azab, carries all the shades of meaning from departing from something or someone, to abandoning and/or letting go of something or someone. However we understand the verb, it speaks of an act of the will. Now, we know that filial piety (which, not incidentally, is not to be confused with ancestor worship) is held very dear in ancient Israelite society. In fact the 'Fifth Commandment' requires it (Exo 20:12; Deut 5:16). "Leaving his father and mother" cannot, therefore, mean abandoning them to their own fate. It can only mean that a man, upon marrying his wife, has the responsibility to reorder his priorities so that they are now set "by default" on her. The way God had made man and woman in the Garden means that, as far as the author can see, husband and wife are meant to enjoy an intimacy so close they are not merely as good as but is "one flesh"—"they will become one flesh." Only when the man is committed to this reset will there be the possibility of true intimacy.
What this means in practice is that the man who tells his future wife that he will always do what his dear mother wants has no intention to live biblically. This is an issue of particular significance for Christians in non-Western cultures that prize filial piety; we preachers have a special responsibility in helping our members to understand this. Failing to do so can mean that the couples we marry risk a broken marriage even before they have to face all the other thousand and one things that can cause friction inherent in living together as husband and wife.1
You may wish to read the following commentaries-expositions:
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2016