When or How does becoming 'one flesh' occur between individuals?
I just wanted to understand how the "becoming of one flesh" or 'yoking' happens between two persons. Is it when they have sex? Is it when they get legally married? Is it when they are courting (no sex involved)? When and how does this actually take place and what would be evidence of this? Thanks.
1 Corinthians 6:16
ESV - 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh.
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Asked October 08 2015
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Mellifluous Kandi
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Tim Maas
In my opinion, the phrase "to become one flesh" refers specifically and exclusively to sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. It is not necessary for a couple to be married, or even courting, for them to be considered "one flesh" in this way. Paul seems to make this clear in the verse cited in the question when he refers to a man becoming "one flesh" with a prostitute. It certainly would not appear that the man was courting or marrying the prostitute, but solely engaging in sexual relations with her, as is normally the case between a prostitute and her client, who may never see each other again after they have had sexual relations. On the other hand, to me, the word "yoking" (as used by Paul) refers to two people being joined together in the formal long-term interpersonal commitment of the marriage relationship (apart from its sexual aspect), metaphorically in the same way that two oxen are yoked together by a wooden collar to work as a team, which restricts their ability to go their separate ways, but also with no connotation of a sexual relationship between them (although a married couple will, of course, normally have sexual relations with one another, and thus also be "one flesh").
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