THY2:

MARRIAGE & FAMILY:

MARRIAGE IN THE SCRIPTURES

IR Instructor
HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND MARRIAGE IN THE BIBLE?
 OLD TESTAMENT

Rooted in
CREATION
Genesis 1: 28 Genesis 2:18,24
• “Be fruitful and • 'It is not right that
multiply…” the man should be
alone
OLD TESTAMENT

PARTICIPATION IN GOD’S BLESSING

Human creation and sexuality belong to
the divine order.

SHARE IN THE DIVINE GIFT OF

PROCREATING LIFE.
 OLD TESTAMENT

“When God removed a rib

from Adam, He did more
than just create another
man, He created a man with
the same genes, blood type,
DNA and physical
characteristics. He created
kinfolk. God‘s existence is
eternal kinship.
 OLD TESTAMENT

Tobit  8:4b-9 is an expression par

excellence of Christian marriage:

the
the the
elevation
placement recollection the role of
of the
of nobility of the family.
spiritual
above lust, tradition,
life,
 “My love, get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and to grant us deliverance.”

Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever.

Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him
his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You
said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.’

Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose.

Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age.”

They said together, “Amen, amen,” and went to bed for the night.
 OLD TESTAMENT

Rooted in the notion

of COVENANT
"I remember your faithful love, the
affection of your bridal days, when you
followed me through the desert,
through a land unsown.” Jeremiah 2:2, 3:20
COVENANT
Covenant is a solemn, binding
arrangement between two parties and
entails a variety of responsibilities,
benefits and penalties depending on
the specific covenant which is being
studied. 

Covenant is meant
to last a life time. 
 Etymology of the word
“COVENANT”

Latin  means to "come

together, unite; be
Convenire, suitable, agree.
Testamentum  To witness or testify

Greek was a common technical word used in the Greco-Roman law to

διαθηκη describe the settlement of an inheritance and used in the NT to
(diatheke) describe the "self-commitment, promises, and conditions by which
God entered into relationship with man" 

Hebrew ‫ברית‬ describes a compact made by passing between pieces of flesh. 

(berith) 
 Marriage is a holy covenant between a man and a
woman and their God for a lifetime. 

In the Old Testament days when two people

entered into a covenant with one another, a
goat or lamb would be slain and its carcass
would be cut in half. With the two halves
separated and lying on the ground, the two
people who had formed the covenant would
solemnize their promise by walking between
the two halves saying, "May God do so to me
[cut me in half] if I ever break this covenant
with you and God!"
Marriage is a Covenant and not
simply a contract.

In a covenant, parties come

together to make a sacrificial
permanent bond which is
sustained and nurtured by
the commitment of both
parties
Marriage is a Covenant and not
simply a contract.

Covenant is motivated by
sacrifice and love (I am yours
and you are mine) while
contract is motivated by self- In contract there is the exchange of
interest (This is yours and this goods and services while in
is mine) covenant there is the exchange of
persons in communion
Marriage is a Covenant and not
simply a contract.

In the marital covenant, both are asked to

sacrificially love one another till the day they die.

In a marital contract, one’s rights are protected

and limits responsibilities while in marital
covenant one sacrifices his/her rights and
assumes responsibility.
Marriage is a Covenant and not
simply a contract.

A covenant is
initiated by God
for the good of
humanity.
God who is love authored marriage
and bound himself to us by the
sacred bond of interpersonal love.

Marriage is a covenant because it

signifies God’s loving and faithful
presence since the time of creation
until the time we commit to a
relationship with another person.
Creation stories in Genesis
show that: Men and women, created in
God’s image, are called to love
Man and woman are created in
like God.
God’s image, “male and female
He created them”
(Gn. 1:27)

A man and a woman—husband As God is a communion of

and wife—uniquely
complement each other; they persons—the Trinity—husband
are made for each other (“bone and wife form a communion of
of my bones and flesh of my
flesh”—Gn. 2:23).
persons within their family.
Marriage as a Covenant

"The primordial model of the

family is to be sought in God
Himself, in the Trinitarian
mystery of His life. . . The
divine We is the eternal
pattern of the human "we".
(JPII, Letter to Families)
 It is an image and living sign of
the covenant relationship
between God and his people.
The Old Testament uses In the New Testament
the image of marital the sacramental
love to reveal the marriage of Christians
relationship binding God signifies the love uniting
and his people. Christ and his Church.
Marriage in the Gospels

• Like the Old Testament wherein

marriage is typically used to
illustrate the relationship of
Yahweh to His people, so does
the New Testament illustrate the
union of Christ and the Church,
finally elevating marriage to its
eternal state while still fully
defending its original intent.
 John the Baptist compared his role to that of the
best man whose role is to assist the bridegroom
[Jesus] in his ministry. John the Baptist serves as the
link of the Old Testament prophetic era to the New
Testament‘s arrival of the Messiah. Therefore, ―in
light of the OT where Israel is depicted as ‗the bride
of Yahweh,‘ the Baptist is suggesting that Jesus is
Israel‘s awaited king and Messiah.

John the Baptist‘s role comes

into focus as the ―bridegroom‘s
friend who assists him in the
completion of the wedding.
It is often taught that Jesus is the fulfillment
of the Old Covenant and if the covenant in
the Old Testament includes marriage and
mirrors the marriage of Yahweh with His
chosen people, then marriage finds
fulfillment in Jesus.

In Christ, God brings back creation to its

original unimpeded state. Christ in turn,
fulfils marriage and transforms it in the
intended image and plan of God
Jesus used the
metaphor of marriage
in the parable of the
bridesmaids wherein
the wise bridesmaids
bring extra oil for
their lamps to help
them wait for the
coming of the
bridegroom. In
another instance,
Jesus insinuates the
He is the bridegroom
 ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΘΑΙΟΝ (KATA MATHAION) 19:3-11

Ἐρρέθη δέ, ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ

ἀποστάσιον1. ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τὴν
γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ παρεκτὸς2 λόγου πορνείας3 ποιεῖ αὐτὴν
μοιχευθῆναι4, καὶ ὃς ἐὰν ἀπολελυμένην γαμήσῃ5 μοιχᾶται6.

I say to you, whoever divorces his wife

(unless the marriage is unlawful) and
marries another commits adultery."
Affirmation of the original
plan of God for woman
and man in marriage.

Marriage is…
Permanent
Exclusive
union
 “To confuse Covenant with
Contract would be to confuse
marriage with prostitution!”
(Dr. Scott Hann)
 IMPORTANT ASPECTS

UNITY
NO EXTRA NO POLYGAMY

INDISSOLUBILITY
NO DIVORCE NO REMARRIAGE
Pauline Letter INDISSOLUBILITY of
Marriage
“To the married I give charge, not I
but the Lord, that the wife should
not separate from her husband, but
if she does, let her remain single or
else be reconciled to her husband –
and that the husband should not
divorce is wife” (1 Cor 7:10-11).
Pauline Letter Remarriage IS NOT a
Christian option
“Thus a married woman is bound by law to
her husband as long as he lives; but if her
husband dies she is discharged from the law
concerning the husband. Accordingly, she will
be called an adulteress if she lives with
another man while her husband is alive. But if
her husband dies she is free from that law,
and if she remarries another she is not an
adulteress” (Rom 7:2-3).
Pauline Letter “Wives, be subject to your
husbands, as to the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the
According to wife as Christ is the head of
St. Paul, this is the church, his body, and is
not an issue on himself its Savior. As the
ruling, but church is subject to Christ, so
authentic love. let wives also be subject in
everything to their husbands”
(Eph 5:22-24).
 Qualities of Authentic Love

Self-sacrifice

• Self-sacrifice requires surrendering

my ego and my desires for someone
else.

Commitment

• Commitment means I will sacrifice

myself when it is difficult, even
painful.
 This is how
When love is This is how men and
perfect Jesus loves. women can
love in Jesus
the self-
sacrifice is
total

the
commitmen
t is absolute.
 Human Marriage is of divine origin
founded in the mystery of covenantal
relationship with God.

It is not simply a human tradition

it is not subject to majority vote

it is not a result of an executive order

It is not a supreme court decision.

Father, you have made
the union of man and
wife so holy a mystery
that it symbolizes the
marriage of Christ and
his Church. Father, keep
them always true to
your commandments.
Keep them faithful in
marriage and let them
be living examples of
Christian life.