# Marriage defined in the bible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242 "2004-02-20T18:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242/1 "2004-02-20T18:46:49Z")
I know that homosexual acts between two men are forbidden in several places in the bible, but is marriage defined in the bible? If not, where is it defined? I know that many states have it defined in law, but is there any other religious or law text that define it? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242/2 "2004-02-20T19:08:34Z")
In response to Shrub’s comments about marriage being a sacrament and possibly worth of entrenchment in the Constitution, there’s an e-mail circulating proposing a “Constitutional Amendment protecting Biblical Marriage”. It’s heavily tongue-in-cheek, and I’ve not bothered to check the cites so can’t vouch for their accuracy, but here it is, for what it’s worth: > [@](#): > > **BIBLICAL MARRIAGE** > > I. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5.) > > II. Marriage shall not impede a man’s right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21) > > III. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21) > > IV. Marriage between a believer and a nonbeliever shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30) > > V. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9) > > VI. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother’s widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen. 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242/3 "2004-02-20T19:22:44Z")
**Genesis 2:18** : > [@](#): > > And the Lord God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a suitable partner for him.” **Genesis 2:24** : > [@](#): > > That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. **Jeremiah 29:6** : > [@](#): > > Take wives, and beget sons and daughters; find wives for your sons, and give your daughters husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters. There you must increase in number, not decrease. **Matthew 5:31-32** : > [@](#): > > “It was also said, ‘Whenver a man divorces his wife, he must give her a decree of divorce.’ What I say to you is: everyone who divorces his wife — lewd conduct is a separate case — forces her to commit adultery. The man who marries a divorced woman likewise commits adultery.” **1 Corinthians 7:2-4** : > [@](#): > > But to avoid immorality, every man should have his own wife and every woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his conjugal obligations toward his wife, the wife hers toward her husband. **Hebrews 13:4** : > [@](#): > > Let marriage be honored in every way and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242/4 "2004-02-20T19:45:00Z")
Thanks Walloon, but that did not answer my question. No where in the quotes that you gave was marriage defined. NP, I will look into the Gen and Sam verses and see what I can did up. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242/5 "2004-02-20T22:58:44Z")
You know…, you’re not going to find a dictionary type definition of a word in the Bible (except for some person and place names). **Walloon** ’s quotes offer plenty of reason for many people to come to conclusions about what the Bible says about marraige. Try out this one, too: [Matthew 19: 4-6](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=matt+19%3A4-6&version=NIV) > [@](#): > > “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” I’m afraid that’s about as you’re going to get on this question. You could use these scriptures to make an argument for what you think the Bible says on marraige, but you won’t find a doctrine spelled out word for word. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marriage-defined-in-the-bible/230242/6 "2004-02-20T23:43:42Z")
Northern Piper, an amendment: VII. A virgin must marry her rapist Deut 22:28-29 > [@](#): > > If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.