All For One and One for All

April 27th - 28th, 2007

Genesis 2:16-25 (NCV)

The Lord God commanded him, "You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat the fruit from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will die!"

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him." From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him.

So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man's ribs. Then God closed up the man's skin at the place where he took the rib. The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man. And the man said, "Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body. I will call her 'woman,' because she was taken out of man." So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body. The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.

OK, so I have read this scripture more times than I can probably imagine. It's in the beginning of Genesis, so for those times I tried to read the Bible front to back, It was knocked down then. Or at least I would hope so, it's only Genesis 2. If I couldn't get past Genesis 2, then I had some problems. But the part that I've had problems with getting a full understanding is the whole "two becoming one" thing - or mainly the "one body". The NIV uses "one flesh", which I think the King James uses, as well. The two becoming one is in verse 24 and that is what I am going to look at right now in the Quiet Time of mine.

Genesis 2:24 (KJV)

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

I know I insert humor a great deal in my Quiet Times, but I don't know if I will have much if any in this one. I have two others pending (still in the works - in draft mode), that I revisit every few days, so I think they are going to get the majority of all that stuff. It keeps me focused when these take several days to compile.

• So: kên (pronounced: kane) meaning rightly or so.
• Man: 'îysh (pronounced: eesh) meaning a man as an individual or a male person.
• Leave: ‛âzab (pronounced: aw-zab') meaning to relinquish, permit, leave (destitute, off).
• Leave (cont.): 'êth (pronounced: ayth) used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition; means self.
• Father: 'âb (pronounced: awb) meaning father or chief.
• Mother: 'êm (pronounced: ame) meaning a mother (as the bond of the family).
• United: dâbaq (pronounced: daw-bak') meaning to cleve, cling, adhere, or be joined together.
• Wife: 'ishshâh nâshîym (pronounced: ish-shaw', naw-sheem') meaning wife or woman who is married to a man.
• Shall Be: hâyâh (pronounced: haw-yaw') meaning to exist, be or become, and come to pass.
• One: 'echâd (pronounced: ekh-awd') meaning properly united, that is, one.
• Flesh: bâśâr (pronounced: baw-sawr') meaning flesh (from its freshness); by extension body, person; also (by euphemism) the pudenda of a man.

This is the whole passage that I was able to find (Hebrew-wise). One is one. There is no argument there. It's the number before two and after zero. Gotcha. Clear on that. Now, flesh... these things in this Hebrew dictionary are extremely confusing for me. And I figured I would hit something to cause me to dig deeper. And this is the one that's doing that... English dictionary to the rescue!

OK, I have NO IDEA what a euphemism is, what it means, yada-yada-yada...

Euphemism (noun):

• The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive.

And I can't think I've ever even heard of this word...

Pudenda (noun):

• Yeah, I'm just not going to put this here. But I will say, I'm more educated. (Not sure I really wanted to be... oh well)

United (verb):

• To join, combine, or incorporate so as to form a single whole or unit.
• To cause to adhere.
• To join in marriage.
• To cause to be in a state of mutual sympathy, or to have a common opinion or attitude.

United (adj.):

• Combined into a single entity.
• Concerned with, produced by, or resulting from mutual action.
• Being in harmony; agreed.

This is probably the most inspiring definition thus far...

Cling (verb):

• To remain close; resist separation.
• To remain emotionally attached; hold on.

I'm just going to try to re-write the scripture in a JRV... I don't know. I still don't feel I'm grasping this completely.

Genesis 2:24 (JRV)

Rightly, a man will relinquish himself from the chief and bonds of his family and cling with his wife, becoming one person.

You know, I am glad I do these things. It's when I do, that I really get a scripture. I get it. I am to "cling" to my wife. We are to be "one person". I am to RESIST seperation. All I did was say the same thing in a different way, but I tell you, it helps for to get that way. After making the JRV, I feel like I am grasping it so much more. Johnny Out.