📖 Biblical Definition
Marriage is the covenant union of one man and one woman, established by God at creation (Gen. 2:24), governed by His law, and designed to display the relationship between Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:22–33). It is not a human invention subject to human redefinition. Marriage is the foundational institution of civilization — prior to the state, prior to the church as an institution — existing in God's created order. It is simultaneously a domestic partnership, a procreative institution, a covenantal bond, and a theological sign. Jesus affirmed the creation pattern and ruled out divorce except for sexual immorality (Matt. 19:3–9). Marriage is for this age; the resurrection reveals it was always pointing to something greater (Rev. 19:7–9).
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 5:31–32 — "'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."
Matthew 19:4–6 — "He who created them from the beginning made them male and female… So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Hebrews 13:4 — "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled."
Revelation 19:7 — "Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready."
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H1285 — berith (בְּרִית): covenant, binding agreement; the relational bond underlying the marriage institution in the Old Testament.
G1062 — gamos (γάμος): marriage, wedding feast; used of both human marriage and the eschatological "marriage supper of the Lamb."
G4567 — See also nymphē (νύμφη, bride) and numphios (νυμφίος, bridegroom) — New Testament imagery for Christ and the Church.
Usage
"Marriage is not primarily about personal fulfillment — it is about covenant fidelity that images God's love for His people."
"To defend marriage is not bigotry — it is bearing witness to a reality that God designed for human flourishing."
"Every Christian marriage is a living sermon about the relationship between Christ and His Church."
Related Words
The modern redefinition of marriage is the most consequential cultural revolution in Western history. By severing the connection between marriage and its biological/procreative reality, and by reducing it to a contractual arrangement between any two consenting adults who love each other, the state has claimed authority to define what God ordained. The logical consequence — "marriage equality," polyamory, contractual marriages with expiration dates — follows inevitably once marriage's foundations in creation, covenant, and complementarity are abandoned. The church is not called to defend a social tradition but to bear witness to a theological reality written into the fabric of human existence since Eden.
Latin maritus ("husband, married man")
→ maritare ("to wed") → Old French mariage
→ Middle English mariage → Modern English "marriage"
Possible root: mas/maris ("male") → maritus
Alternative: PIE *mari- ("young woman") — the union of male and female
Greek:
γάμος (gamos, G1062) — marriage, wedding feast
→ γαμέω (gameō, G1060) — to marry
→ Modern: monogamy, bigamy, polygamy
Biblical parallel:
Hebrew אִשָּׁה (ishshah, H802) — woman, wife
→ אִישׁ (ish, H376) — man, husband
→ Eve from ish — they share the same root (Gen 2:23)
→ בְּרִית (berit, H1285) — covenant; marriage as berit in Prov 2:17, Mal 2:14
📖 Key Scripture
• 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 5:31–32 — "'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."
• Matthew 19:4–6 — "He who created them from the beginning made them male and female… So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
• Hebrews 13:4 — "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled."
• Revelation 19:7 — "Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready."
• "Marriage is not primarily about personal fulfillment — it is about covenant fidelity that images God's love for His people."
• "To defend marriage is not bigotry — it is bearing witness to a reality that God designed for human flourishing."
• "Every Christian marriage is a living sermon about the relationship between Christ and His Church."