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What does the Bible say about marriage?

Relationships

Short answer

Scripture presents marriage as a God-instituted covenant, not a human convention. It begins at creation: God says "it is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18), and the man "shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Jesus grounds marriage's permanence in that creation design, "what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:6-9). The Bible gives marriage three purposes: companionship (Genesis 2:18), the bearing and raising of children (Genesis 1:28; Malachi 2:15), and a living picture of covenant love, which Paul calls a "great mystery" imaging Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Marriage is honored as good and pure (Hebrews 13:4). On the debated question of headship and submission (Ephesians 5:22-33), sincere Christians differ, see the companion answer on husband-and-wife roles.

Question

What does the Bible say about marriage?

Analysis

Marriage as creation design

Genesis 2:18-25 is the foundational text, with three movements: a man leaves father and mother, cleaves to his wife, and the two become one flesh. Jesus treats this as the permanent norm, citing both Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 when he is questioned about divorce (Matthew 19:4-6). Because the design is rooted in creation, the Bible presents lifelong one-man/one-woman covenant as the pattern, not a cultural accident.

The three biblical purposes

PurposeAnchor textNote
CompanionshipGenesis 2:18, "not good that the man should be alone"Marriage answers a created relational need
ProcreationGenesis 1:28; Malachi 2:15 "a godly seed"A primary purpose, not the only one
Covenant pictureEphesians 5:31-32; Hosea 2; Revelation 19:7Marriage displays God's faithfulness to his people

What the New Testament adds

Ephesians 5:22-33 is the most extensive NT teaching: husbands love "as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25); the relationship images Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). 1 Corinthians 7 is the most practical: mutual sexual obligation (1 Corinthians 7:3-5), permanence (1 Corinthians 7:10-11), and counsel for mixed-faith marriages (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage is honourable in all", corrects any idea that marriage is spiritually inferior to celibacy.

Contested and settled points

  • Headship and submission (Ephesians 5:22-33), genuinely contested across traditions; presented fully in. Our voice stays neutral here.
  • Old Testament polygamy, recorded among the patriarchs but never commanded; read as descriptive permission, not design (Leviticus 18:18; Deuteronomy 17:17; Malachi 2:14-15; 1 Timothy 3:2 "the husband of one wife"). Broad consensus.
  • Mixed-faith marriage, most traditions follow the Pauline exception: existing mixed-faith marriages are valid (1 Corinthians 7:12-16), while believers are cautioned about forming new unequal yokes (2 Corinthians 6:14).
  • Divorce and remarriage, when a marriage fails.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Genesis 2:18bsb

    The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

  • Genesis 2:24bsb

    For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

  • Matthew 19:6bsb

    So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

  • Mark 10:6bsb

    However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

  • Genesis 1:28bsb

    God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

  • Malachi 2:15bsb

    Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

  • Ephesians 5:31bsb

    “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

  • Hebrews 13:4bsb

    Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

  • Ephesians 5:22bsb

    Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

  • Genesis 1:27bsb

    So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

  • Matthew 19:4bsb

    Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

  • Revelation 19:7bsb

    Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.

  • Ephesians 5:25bsb

    Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her

  • Ephesians 5:32bsb

    This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:3bsb

    The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:10bsb

    To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

What does the Bible say about marriage? · Bubble Bible