Shadows of Matrimony, by John Carberry
The root of marriage goes all the way back to the creation of humankind. God
culminated his creation with the creation of humankind. He now looked on his completed
creation and saw it to be very good (Gn 1:31, Ps 104:31), whereas before he created humankind,
he looked on creation as only good (Gn 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, Wis 11:24-25). Saint Augustine
taught that what was individually good was very good collectively.1 Humankind completes
God’s very good creation. Early in the creation stories, God saw that it was not good for man to
be alone (Gn 2:18, Tb 8:6). He therefore made a suitable partner for him by forming Eve from
one of Adam’s ribs (Gn 2:21-22) and bringing her to him. “That is why a man leaves his father
and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gn 2:24). God
created man and woman for one another.2
The Old Testament is full of illicit sɛҳuąƖ and marital encounters, which caused tensions
and failures in marital relationships. Abram deceives Pharaoh by letting on that he is only the
brother of Sarai, rather than her husband. When Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s palace, God
struck Pharaoh with several plagues (Gn 12:17). Pharaoh scolded Abram for not being truthful,
and he returns Sarai to Abram (Gn 12:19). Abraham acts similarly with Abimelech, king of
Gerar, and God threatens to take the life (Gn 20:3) of Abimelech (Gn 20:1-18). Later, Isaac also
calls his wife his sister, and he has a similar encounter with an Abimelech (Gn 26:1-11). Even
before the Mosaic Law, the natural law showed the seriousness of improper sɛҳuąƖ relationships.
The Old Testament also presents the consequences of improper relationships. After a long
period in which Sarai was unable to conceive, she tells Abraham to have a child with her
maidservant who bears Ishmael (Gn 16:1-16). But after Isaac is born, Ishmael is treated as a
slave and sent away (Gn 21:9-20, Gal 4:22-31). Jacob has children by his two wives and two
concubines (Gn 29:23, 28, 30:3, 10) which later results in jealousy, envy and tension among the
brothers (Gn 37:4-35). After God gave the law to Moses, marital problems did not end. King
David, who had many wives and concubines (1 Sm 18:27, 25:42-43, 27:3, 2 Sm 3:2-5, 5:13),
commits adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sm 11:4) and King Solomon is infamous for his seven
hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kgs 11:3). While this polygamy is not explicitly
rejected, it shows the hardness of heart present before Christ.3
Hebrew Scripture is not silent to virtuous and proper relationships. The books of Ruth
and Tobit witness fidelity and tenderness of spouses. Tobiah and Sarah pray on their wedding
night: “You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve as a helper and support. From the
two of them the human race has sprung. You said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;
let us make a helper for him like himself.’ I now am taking this kinswoman of mine, not because
of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that she and I may find mercy and that we may grow old
together” (Tb 8:6-7). The Song of Solomon shows how human love reflects God’s love.4 “After
the fall, marriage helps to overcome self-absorption, egoism, pursuit of one’s own pleasure, and
it can open oneself to the other, to mutual aid and self-giving.”5
God formed man in his own image and likeness (Gn 1:26-27, Sir 17:1) and the Lord God
blew into the man’s nostrils the breath of life so that man became a living being (Gn 2:7). Man
was better than any of God’s other material creation, a little less than a god (Ps 8:6). From the
beginning, God’s original command presents one of the principal ends of marriage: “Be fertile
and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gn 1:28, Heb 6:14).6 When Eve bears her first son,
she immediately recognizes this cooperation with God in the creative process: “I have produced
a man with the help of the Lord” (Gn 4:1). God later kills Onan for trying to frustrate the
procreative process by wasting his seed on the ground in a sɛҳuąƖ relationship with his legitimate
wife (Gn 38:9-10).7 Sex is holy and sacred to God (Lv 18:1-30). Saint John Paul II says that
Christmas reveals the full meaning of every human birth, and the joy which accompanies the
Birth of the Messiah is the foundation and fulfillment of joy at every child born into the world
(Jn 16:21).8 Holy Matrimony is the begetter of humanity, the creator of images of God.9 From
the beginning, it is evident that procreation is the essential end, or purpose, of marriage.10 In the
Old Testament, sterility is viewed as a curse while numerous offspring are considered a blessing
(Gn 15:5, Dt 1:11, 7:13, 28:11, Ps 115:14, 127:3, 128:3, Prv 17:6). This goodness of creation of
a child of God begins in this life when we cooperate with God, who forms each of us in the
womb (Gn 25:23-24, 30:2, Jgs 13:5-7, 16:17, 2 Mc 7:22-23, Ps 71:6, 139:13, Jb 10:8-12, 31:15,
Wis 7:1-3, 12:5-6, Eccl 11:5, Sir 46:13, 49:7, 50:22, Is 44:2, 24, 49:1, 5, Jer 1:5, Lk 1:41-45,
Rom 8:29, Gal 1:15).11
John Carberry is the author of Parables: Catholic Apologetics Through Sacred Scripture
(2003) and Sacraments: Signs, Symbols and Significance (2023).
1 Augustine, Saint, Confessions, 7, ?, Augustine of Hippo, Selected Writings, p. 72.
2 CCC, 1605.
3 CCC, 1610.
4 CCC, 1611.
5 CCC, 1609.
6 Pius XI, Casti Connubii (Chaste Wedlock), 8, 11.
7 Pius XI, Casti Connubii (Chaste Wedlock), 55.
8 John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life), 1.
9 John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life), 43.
10 John Paul II, “The Content of the Commandment: “You Shall Not Commit Adultery” (8/13/1980), Theology of the Body, p. 134.
11 John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life), 44. CCC, 2367.
Topic: Shadows of Matrimony (Read 967 times)