Gen 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh
When the Pharisees approached Jesus to test Him, one of their questions was about marriage & divorce. Jesus quoted this passage of scripture to them in referring to Adam & Eve, who were joined as one.
So when God made this statement, who is the mother that the man (Adam) left to be joined with Eve? Is this further proof that Adam & Eve were not the first humans?
My pennies worth.
There isn't a mother for Adam I can see unless we consider the dirt to be the mother I suppose. Think I'll stick with no mother. We have Adam"s creation spelled out simply as being formed out of the dust of the earth and then later Eve being made out of Adam. I don't see this as further proof for anything other than how marriage between a man and a woman is supposed to work.
I have 3 translations that use the word "now" in Gen. 2:23. There may be more.
Look at verse 23. Adam says this is "now" (now what? a beginning? consider Gen.3:20, marriage?) which indicates to me, from this point forward a man shall leave his father and mother. In verse 24 we have the "therefore" which indicates "for this reason" for what reason? The reason given in verse 23, the "now". From this point forward this is how it is gonna work, a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave, be joined, as if they are the same flesh and bone joined to one another, a close nit relationship not to be separated.
The point Jesus was making to the Pharisees is all about Marriage, once united, joined together as one flesh and bone, it is never meant to be separated. He was telling them in the strongest manner possible that they didn't know squat about how marriage is supposed to work.
Mat 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives:
but from the beginning it was not so.What beginning? The beginning of Marriage, the first one recognized.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now (now what, still part of me, my wife, my woman, the beginning in Mat. 19:8 ) bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore (for this reason, marriage will work like this) shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (to adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Then again, if anyone wants to look at Gen. 2:24 as a parable or the whole book as a parable for that matter, it can lead down many paths. I'm not saying it's one or the other, just that this is how I understand Gen. 2:24 and what Jesus was saying to the Pharisees.
Marques , I didn't intend to try explaining away the possibility you bring up with my limited and simple understanding but I just don't see Adam having a mother at all. As always with scripture I know there is more than meets the eye.