Attitudes Towards Marriages in the Book of Genesis

Marriage is a formal or legal bond between two people, but it has to be recognized by society, where couples give to each other for a common life (Simkins, 1). The attitude of marriage in the book of Genesis is that marriages are holy and ordained by God, men ruled over wives, loved polygamous and gave power to women depending on their child-bearing capacities. According to Genesis 2 verse 24, marriage is a covenant between two people of different sexes and it claims that a man shall leave his parents and be united with his wife to become one flesh.

God designed the woman from man, and this indicates they are of a similar essence, proved in verse 23 where Adam talks of Eve as bones of his bones and flesh from his flesh. Moreover, genesis stipulates that marriage began with God when He created both male and females in His image as it was not good for man to stay alone, but needed a helper, and therefore, the purpose of marriage was for a fleshly relationship and companionship.

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Nonetheless, marriages are entirely patriarchal where women exist as adjuncts to men, and their success and safety lies in their marriages. Both genders have different roles in the relationship, seen when God created the woman as a helper and later gave them different punishments after the fall at the garden of Aden; was to have difficulty tilling the land for food, while the woman was to have challenges bearing children. However, the message from Genesis 3: 16 indicates that the relationship between man and woman became bruised after the fall and instead of a woman willingly submitting to the husband, she desires to rule over him (Beall, 1).

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Again, since women had a role of bearing and filing the earth, polygamous marriages and sexual fidelity are not prohibited in the book of Genesis, and this indicates that women have the least control of their destiny within wedlock. Nonetheless, the creation narrative implies partnership and equality between both genders before the fall, but when Moses took the authority of controlling the lives of God's people, some rights for aliens and women were enshrined. In the book of Genesis, there also exists some strong women, but their power revolves on their husbands and children (Reid, 1). For instance, Sarah the wife of Abraham is a critical figure in the relationship between God and Abraham since she is expected to help in the creation of generations. God promised a son to the Abraham family, but Sarah becomes impatient and gives Hagar for a child, where they bear a son, but Sarah sends them away.

The story indicates lack of sexual fidelity in the genesis, but also how women would fight for the rights of their children as compared to those of their co-wives, and this is due to the power shared to the mother because of the child. The narrative of Jacob marrying two sisters Racheal and Leah (the one he did not love) supports the argument about the power of women in childbearing; the two women were competing on having children to the point of using their servants. Jacob started to love Leah because of the number of children that Racheal could not have provided, but he later began to love Racheal after God broke her barrenness.

Updated: Dec 18, 2021
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Attitudes Towards Marriages in the Book of Genesis. (2021, Dec 18). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/attitudes-towards-marriages-in-the-book-of-genesis-essay

Attitudes Towards Marriages in the Book of Genesis essay
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