The Garden and the Sanctuary: The Genesis of Marriage

Happy Sunday! As we continue our reflections on marriage, we need to go back to Genesis to
understand the foundations of marriage as God intended. Keeping in mind that the beauty of
marriage is woven into creation itself, we can note the following:

1. When God made Adam, he literally “made” or “formed” him ( , ר ַצָיto form) (Gen. 2:7).
   God made Adam with a purpose, and that purpose is to “tend” ( , ד ַב ָעabad) and
   “keep” ( , ר ַמ ָשshamar) the garden (Gen. 2:15). These words are priestly terms (e.g.
   Numbers 3 and 18) and speak to how a priest is to care for the sanctuary of God that
   has been entrusted to him. We are meant to understand, therefore, that Adam is a
   priest-figure in the eyes of God and that he is meant to care for that which is entrusted
   to him as if it were the sanctuary of God.
2. God notes, however, that it is not good for Adam to be alone (Gen. 2:18). God does not
   intend for Adam to undertake this mission alone, especially since the animals God has
   created prove to be unsuitable partners for Adam in the fulfillment of his mission. For
   this reason, God casts Adam in a deep sleep and draws the suitable partner from
   Adam himself.
3. God, however, does not make this partner he has envisioned for Adam. God, rather,
   builds ( , הָנ ָבbanah) this partner for Adam (Gen. 2:22). The symbolism here is clear:
   God is building a personified sanctuary to be Adam’s partner. This is the one who is to
   receive Adam, to be a sanctuary for his heart, and the one who is to support him in his
   mission. Adam, for his part, must never take her for granted. He is to receive her as the
   gift she is and care for her as one who is entrusted to him. This mutual gift of self will
   then result in man and woman participating in God’s own power through the act of
   creation itself.
4. This mutual self-giving by which Adam and Eve lay down their lives for each other is
   the foundation of marriage itself. Marriage is not something we enter into for our own
   pleasure: it is something we are moved to enter into through our own self-gift. This is
   why Adam “recognizes” Eve by saying here at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my
   flesh (Gen. 2:23).
   With all of this in mind, we can begin to see why this would be elevated to the level of a
   Sacrament by Christ. By living the foundation of marriage in the world, a married couple can
   become, by the grace of the Sacrament, a powerful sign for the Truth and Beauty of marriage
   and God’s love for every human person. Stay tuned for more!