What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives? Husbands and wives both have their responsibilities in marriage. It is by keeping to these responsibilities that both spouses make a successful family. These responsibilities are clearly discussed in the Bible. Despite the fact that both males and females are equal in relationship to Christ, the Scriptures clearly give specific roles to each spouse in marriage. The Bible tells us that the husband is to assume a leadership position in the home (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23). However, this leadership should not be condescending, dictatorial, or patronizing to the wife, but should be one that goes in accordance with the example of Christ leading the Church.

Inline with this, Ephesians 5:25-26 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.”

Jesus Christ loved the Church (His people) with mercy, compassion, respect, forgiveness, and selflessness. It is in this same way that the Bible calls on husbands to love their wives. On the other hand, wives are called to submit to the authority of their husbands.
Inline with this, Ephesians 5:22-24 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”
In as much as the Bible calls on women to submit to their husbands, it also calls on the husbands to treat their wives with respect, love, compassion, and mercy. The husband should show respect to his wife and her humble opinions.

What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Ephesians 5:28-29 exhorts men to love and treat their wives in the same way that they love and treat their own bodies, feeding and caring for them. A man’s love for his wife should reflect Christ’s love for His Body, the Church. Colossians 3:18-19 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.” On the other hand, 1 Peter 3:7 says, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Love and respect characterize the roles of both husbands and wives.
When love and respect are present in a relationship, leadership, authority, headship, love, and submission will be no problem for either partner.

What The Scriptures Say About Married Men And Women

There is much that the Scriptures say about husbands and wives. When it comes to the division of responsibilities at home, the Bible instructs husbands to provide for their families. This means that the husband is in-charge of working and making enough money to sufficiently provide the basic needs and necessities of life for his wife and children. Failing to do so comes with severe spiritual consequences as we can read from 1 Timothy 5:8 – “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” With this in mind, it is without doubt that a man who makes no effort to provide for his family cannot rightly call himself a Christian. This is not to say that a wife cannot assist in supporting the family.

Proverbs 31 points to the fact that a godly wife can assist in supporting the family although this is not her primary role, it’s her husbands. While a husband can as well help with the children and household chores (thereby fulfilling his duty to love his wife), Proverbs 31 makes it clear that the home is to be the woman’s primary area of influence and responsibility. She is to put in all her effort to make sure that her home is well cared for. Even is she must stay up late and rise up early. Such is not an easy lifestyle for women – especially those in affluent western nations. However, a good number of women are stressed out and stretched to the breaking point. To avoid such, both the husband and wife should walk together as they set their priorities and follow their roles as revealed in the Bible.

What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Ephesians 5:25 – “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,“

1 Peter 3:7 – “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.“

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 – “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. …“

Colossians 3:19 – “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”

Ephesians 5:22-33 – “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, …“

Group 1 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Ephesians 5:31 – “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

Ephesians 5:28 – “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”

Proverbs 31:10-31 – “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. …“

Hebrews 13:4 – “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.“

1 Peter 3:1-6 – “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, …“

Group 2 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

1 Timothy 3:1-7 – “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? …“

Ephesians 5:22 – “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.“

Proverbs 18:22 – “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”

Ephesians 5:25-29 – “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,”

Group 3 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Genesis 2:24 – “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Ephesians 5:21 – “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.“

Ephesians 5:23 – “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.“

Colossians 3:14 – “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.“

Ephesians 5:33 – “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.“

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Proverbs 5:18-19 – “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 – “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?“

1 Timothy 5:8 – “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.“

Group 4 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Genesis 3:16 – To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

1 Corinthians 6:18 – “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

Colossians 3:18 – “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.“

Matthew 5:28 – “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“

Matthew 19:4-6 – He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 5:32 – “But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.“

1 Timothy 2:12 – “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”

Group 5 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Titus 2:1-15 – “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. …“

1 Corinthians 11:9 – “Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.”

1 Peter 3:6 – “As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.“

Ephesians 5:24 – “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.“

1 Corinthians 7:2 – “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.“

Ecclesiastes 9:9 – “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.“

Group 6 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

James 4:1-17 – “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? …“

Proverbs 14:1 – “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.”

1 Peter 3:1 – “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,“

Titus 2:5 – “To be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.“

Ephesians 5:22-23 – “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.”

Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

1 Corinthians 11:3 – “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-8 – “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; …“

Colossians 3:18-19 – “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.“

Ephesians 5:22-24 – “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.“

Proverbs 1:8 – “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,“

Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

1 Timothy 5:1-25 – “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, …“

Mark 10:6-9 – But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Song of Solomon 7:7-12 – “Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine. It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth. I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages; …”

Ephesians 6:2 – “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),

Ephesians 5:26 – “That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,“

Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

1 Timothy 2:15 – “Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.“

Matthew 7:1-29 – “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. …“

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Ephesians 4:32 – “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.“

Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.“

Ephesians 5:25-27 – “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.“

Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Husbands And Wives?

Ephesians 5:1-33 – “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. …“

Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.“

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.“

Proverbs 12:4 – “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.“

Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.“

Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say On Husbands And Wives?

Ephesians 5:25-33 – “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, …“

Proverbs 31:1-31 – “The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him: What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. …“

1 Peter 4:8 – “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Song of Solomon 4:9-10 – “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!“

Proverbs 19:14 – “House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say On Husbands And Wives?

Matthew 19:5 – “And said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?“

Romans 12:9-18 – “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. …“

Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Malachi 2:14 – “But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.“

1 Corinthians 7:3-5 – “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.“

Group 13 – What Does The Bible Say On Husbands And Wives?

Titus 2:4-5 – “And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

Proverbs 31:10 – “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.”

1 Peter 3:2 – “When they see your respectful and pure conduct.“

Ephesians 1:22 – “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,”

Genesis 2:18-24 – “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. …“

Group 14 – What Does The Bible Say On Husbands And Wives?

1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.“

Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.“

Colossians 3:21 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”

Colossians 3:20 – “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

1 Peter 3:4 – “But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.“

Psalm 91:1-16 – “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, …“

1 Corinthians 7:3 – “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.“

Group 15 – What Does The Bible Say On Husbands And Wives?

Ephesians 5:28-29 – “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,“

Exodus 21:22-25 – “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.“

Group 16 – What Does The Bible Say On Wives And Husbands?

Luke 16:1-31 – He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ …”

Genesis 2:23 – Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Ephesians 5:28-33 – “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. …“

Acts 5:29 – “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Group 17 – What Does The Bible Say On Wives And Husbands?

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.“

Psalm 51:1-19 – “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. …“

1 Peter 2:18 – “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.“

Romans 5:8 – “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.“

1 Corinthians 6:16 – “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”“

Group 18 – What Does The Bible Say About Wives And Husbands?

Song of Solomon 1:2-4 – “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.”

Matthew 19:3-9 – “And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” …“