Jesus points back to creation, not as a distant, irrelevant past, but as the very blueprint for marriage, revealing that God's original design was a unified pair, not a divisible unit. This highlights that the "one flesh" union is fundamental, predating any societal allowances for separation.
But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus is responding to Pharisees who are testing him with a question about divorce, asking if it's lawful for a man to divorce his wife. He counters their question by pointing back to the original creation, emphasizing God's design for marriage as a permanent union between one man and one woman, which sets the stage for his explanation of why divorce was only a concession to human sinfulness.
Why does Jesus immediately go back to creation when asked about divorce? He's pointing to an original, perfect design.
When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a question about divorce, He doesn't get sidetracked by their legalistic arguments. Instead, He directs their attention to the very beginning of everything.
The First Pair
‘God made them male and female.’ This isn't just a statement of biological fact; it's the foundation of His plan for humanity. From the dawn of creation, God established a complementary union between man and woman.
Purpose and Design
This original design wasn't arbitrary. It sets the stage for a unique, unbreakable bond where two distinct individuals become 'one flesh.' Jesus uses this foundational truth to underscore the sanctity and permanence of marriage, contrasting it with the cultural allowances for divorce that had crept in.
The Pharisees used Moses' law to justify divorce. Jesus shows why that misses the bigger picture.
The Pharisees were experts in the Law of Moses, and they brought up its provisions for divorce to challenge Jesus. They pointed to the 'bill of divorcement' that Moses permitted as evidence that divorce was acceptable.
Hardness of Heart
Jesus’ response is powerful: ‘For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.’ He explains that Moses’ allowance for divorce wasn't God’s ideal; it was a concession, a practical measure to deal with a sinful, stubborn people. It was a way to manage a difficult reality, not a divine endorsement of divorce itself.
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The Original Ideal
By returning to the creation account, Jesus highlights that God’s perfect will from the start was for a permanent, unified union. The 'hardness of heart' that necessitated the Mosaic concession reveals a departure from that original, beautiful design. Jesus calls His followers back to that higher standard, the purity of God’s initial intent for marriage.
Understand the original words
ktiseōs · Greek Noun
A reference to the inception of the universe by divine act, indicating the original divine intent and order for humanity before the fall.
arsen kai thēly · Greek Adjective/Noun phrase
The fundamental biological and functional distinction established by the Creator, emphasizing God's intentional design in human gender.
kataleipsei · Greek Verb
A verb denoting a permanent, covenantal breaking of the previous primary household allegiance to form a new, independent domestic unit.
proskollēthēsetai · Greek Verb
A term implying a firm, binding attachment or 'glueing' together, often used to describe loyalty, fidelity, and the intimacy of the marriage bond.
sarka mian · Greek Noun phrase
A theological concept of profound union involving physical, emotional, and spiritual oneness, signifying the total merging of two lives into a single covenantal reality.
Jesus' teaching directly challenges the prevailing lax attitudes toward divorce in 1st-century Judea, grounding his argument in the foundational act of creation itself, long before the Mosaic Law.
c. 1400 BC
Mosaic Law Promulgated
The Law of Moses, including regulations on divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4), is given to the Israelites. This legislation, while permitting divorce, is later understood by Jesus as a concession to human weakness rather than God's ideal.
c. 450 BC
Malachi Condemns Divorce
The prophet Malachi speaks out against divorce, highlighting God's hatred for it and emphasizing the sanctity of the marriage covenant established from the beginning.
c. AD 25-30
John the Baptist Denounces Herod's Divorce
John the Baptist confronts King Herod Antipas for divorcing his wife and marrying his brother's wife, Herodias, an act that leads to John's imprisonment and eventual execution.
c. AD 28-30— this verse
Pharisees Challenge Jesus on Divorce
Pharisees test Jesus with a question about the lawfulness of divorce. This encounter, occurring in Judea beyond the Jordan, prompts Jesus to explain God's original design for marriage.
This is the foundational creation account that Jesus is directly referencing, establishing God's original design for humanity as male and female, intended for companionship and procreation.
Genesis 2:24This passage immediately follows the creation of male and female and describes the profound union of marriage, emphasizing the 'one flesh' concept that Jesus uses to underscore the indissolubility of marriage.
Malachi 2:15-16This prophetic passage speaks against the corrupt practice of divorce, urging faithfulness and warning that God hates divorce, echoing Jesus' stance by appealing to the principle of one man and one woman created by God.
Matthew 19:4-5This parallel account in Matthew records Jesus' identical reference to the creation account when addressing the Pharisees' question about divorce, highlighting the consistent teaching of Jesus across the Gospels.
calvinMark 10:2-12: "And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him."
- And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever? 4. Who answering said to them, Have you not read, that he who made them at first, [593] made them male and female? 5. And he said, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall be one flesh. 6. The…
wesleyMark 10:6: "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female."
10:6 From the beginning of the creation - Therefore Moses in the first of Genesis gives us an account of things from the beginning of the creation. Does it not clearly follow, that there was no creation previous to that which Moses describes? God made them male and female - Therefore Adam did not at first contain both sexes in himself: but God made Adam, when first created, male only; and Eve female only. And thi…
Jesus points back to creation, not as a distant, irrelevant past, but as the very blueprint for marriage, revealing that God's original design was a unified pair, not a divisible unit. This highlights that the "one flesh" union is fundamental, predating any societal allowances for separation.
Jesus is responding to Pharisees who are testing him with a question about divorce, asking if it's lawful for a man to divorce his wife. He counters their question by pointing back to the original creation, emphasizing God's design for marriage as a permanent union between one man and one woman, which sets the stage for his explanation of why divorce was only a concession to human sinfulness.
Jesus is responding to Pharisees who are testing him with a question about divorce, asking if it's lawful for a man to divorce his wife. He counters their question by pointing back to the original creation, emphasizing God's design for marriage as a permanent union between one man and one woman, which sets the stage for his explanation of why divorce was only a concession to human sinfulness.
"But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh." — Jesus points back to creation, not as a distant, irrelevant past, but as the very blueprint for marriage, revealing that God's original design was a unified pair, not a divisible unit. This highlight…
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Last reviewed October 2026
