Keywords

Torah family narratives, marriage symbolism, eternal marriage

Abstract

More than the sacred literature of any other people, the Torah is the story of family, of marriages, and not prettied-up versions, either, but the stuff of real marriages—love, romance, anger, deceit, honor, faithfulness, distrust, infidelity, companionship, intimacy. . . . Perhaps that explains why marriage becomes the ultimate paradigm for the relationship between God and the Jewish People.¹

At first thought, the Old Testament may not come to mind as a rich source from which to study marriage and its centrality to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, the words marry and marriage appear only six times in the entire volume (see Genesis 38:8; Exodus 21:10; Numbers 36:6; Deuteronomy 25:5; Psalm 78:63; Isaiah 62:5). With such apparent paucity of information on marriage in general, the Old Testament would seem even less likely to reveal much concerning eternal marriage. In fact, one of our faithful scholars commented, “I am not aware of any specific reference to eternal marriage in the Old or the New Testament.”²

Original Publication Citation

Eternal Marriage and Family in the Old Testament, Goodman, M.A. (2009). in The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament: The 28th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium. Ogden, D.K., Ludlow, J.W., & Muhlestein, K. (Eds.) (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book/Religious Studies Center), 17-31.