Mar 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother...
Mar 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
Alternative: On account of this, a man will leave behind his father and mother and stick with his woman.
The parallel quote in Mat 19:5 is discussed here.
Christ saw the relationship between a man and a woman as part of the process of growing up, that transfer of connection from the physical to the emotional and from ourselves to "the other." We share a common physical flesh with our mothers and fathers. Our relationship with our parents focuses on us. As children, the relationship is one-sided. We take and they give. They serve our needs: providing us with a home, love, and security.Loving them is loving ourselves since all we are, physically and psychologically, comes from them. Since ideally we have parents of both sexes, both boys and girls have an exact physical template in their parents for themselves.
When we marry, however, we move beyond the physical and beyond ourselves. Since our spouse is of another sex, a very different form of humanity, we move into a direct relationship with "the other." Since one of our parents is also of the opposite sex, they provide an outline for this relationship but they support us. In marriage, we reach our and personally support "the other," becoming a part of a new whole.
This transformation is a worldly parallel of our embracing the Divine Other, God. In death, we move on from a marriage to the other sex and move to a marriage to the other Spirit. I find it particularly entertaining that the Greek word used for "wife" is used to distinguish between mortal women and goddesses.
"For this cause" is from heneka (heneka), which means "on account of," "as far as regards," "in consequence of," and "because."
"Men" is from anthrôpos (anthropos), which "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.
"Leave" in the Greek is from enkataleipô (egkataleipo), which means "to leave behind," "to leave in the lurch," and "to abandon."
"Cleave" is from proskollaô, which means "to glue to or on," and "to be stuck to."
"Wife" is from gunê (gyne), which means "woman (as opposed to man)," "wife," "spouse," "mortal woman (as opposed to a goddess)," and "female mate (among animals)."
