Last year I read through the Bible using the New King James Version. This year I will do the same using the translation by James Moffat. As I read, his rendering of Genesis 2:24 stood out to me. It reads, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, till they become one flesh.” This got me to thinking.

Marriage is a subject that I am convinced I am assigned to teach on, not only in my church, but also as I travel and minister the word. As a result I am very familiar with this verse, but this particular rendering really caught my attention. Two things stood out to me in the passage. Firstly, “THIS IS WHY” and secondly, “TILL THEY BECOME.”

In verse 23 Adam said, “This, this at last, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my own flesh: this shall be called Wo-man, for from man she was taken.” (Moffat) Adam recognized the Eve was created from a part of him, his flesh and his bone, thus they were one flesh. More…