Albert Barnes Commentary Genesis 2:24

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." — Genesis 2:24 (ASV)

These might be the words of the first man (Genesis 2:24). Since he thoroughly understood the relationship between himself and the woman, there is no new difficulty in imagining him becoming acquainted at the same time with the relationship of son to father and mother, which was, in fact, only another form of the relationship in which the newly-formed woman stood in relation to him. The latter is truly more intimate and permanent than the former and, therefore, naturally takes its place, especially since the practical purpose of the filial tie—that of being trained to maturity—is already accomplished when the conjugal one begins.

But it seems more probable that this sentence is the reflection of the inspired author on the special manner in which the female was formed from the male. Such remarks by the writer are frequently introduced by the word “therefore” (על־כן kēn - ‛al). It is designed to impress upon the race that would spring from them the inviolable sanctity of the conjugal relationship. In the primeval wedlock, one man was joined to one woman only for life.

Hence, in the marriage relationship, the animal is subordinate to the rational. The communication of ideas; the cherishing of the true, the right, and the good; the cultivation of social affections; the spontaneous outflow of mutual acts of kindness; the thousand nameless little thoughts, looks, words, and deeds that cheer the brow and warm the heart; the common care of children, servants, and dependents; and the constant and heartfelt worship of the Father of all, constitute the main ends and joys of the married state.

After the man's exclamation upon contemplating the woman, as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, and therefore physically, intellectually, and morally qualified to be his mate, we may suppose the blessing of man, and the general endowment of himself and the animals with the fruits of the soil as recorded in the preceding chapter (Genesis 1:28–30), to follow immediately. The endowment of man embraces every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. This general grant was, of course, understood by man to exclude the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was excluded, if not by its specific nature, then by the previous command given to man.

This command, we find, was given before the formation of the woman and, therefore, sometime before the events recorded in the second and third clauses of Genesis 1:27. Hence, it preceded the blessing and the endowment. It was not unique to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, however, that it was intended for purposes other than human food, as there are very many other trees that provide no proper nourishment for humans. The endowment, therefore, refers to such trees as were both nourishing and not expressly and previously forbidden.

This chapter is occupied with the “generations, issues or products of the skies and the land,” or, in other words, of the things created in the six days. It is the fitting preface to the more specific history of man, as it records his constitution, his provision, his moral and intellectual cultivation, and his social perfection. It brings us up to the close of the sixth day. Since the Creator pronounced a declaration of approval on all that He had made at the end of that day, we have reason to believe that no moral derangement had yet taken place in man’s nature.