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NASB | Ephesians 5:22 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 5:22 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord. |
Bible Question:
Dear sir's I was wondering what constitutes a biblical marriage? How were people married in the bible? How come we don't read of a ceremony or a priest in the early marriages of the bible? What actually constitutes a marriage and where does the marriage receive it's sanctity from? Thank you for your time. |
Bible Answer: I've wondered the same thing? I've not found any reference in the Bible that detail a marriage ceremony as an exchange of vows. However, I have found at least three examples of marriages that came into existence thru cohabitation AND consumation: 1. Deut 21:10 gives a soldier a procedure to follow in order to marry a woman of the enemy. 2. Gen 16:2 indicates how Abram (who was already married to Sarai) took her maid, Haga, to wife. 3. Gen 29:20 is the clearest evidence of them all and is the story of Abram, Rachel and Leah. Abram worked 7 years for the hand of Rachel, the youger sister. After the wedding celebration, the father sent the older sister to the marriage bed instead. Abram woke up the next morning to find that he had actually consumated a marriage with Leah, the older sister. After confronting the father, Rachel was sent to him one week later to wife. In this story, there was only one wedding feast which obviously involved Rachel. Therefore the marriage to Leah was due solely to cohabitation and consumation. If you think about it, Adam and Eve used the same procedure. |