the center, suggesting a corresponding and equal relationship to one another.33 The point of Genesis 2:24 about the man’s leaving his father and mother and cleaving to his wife is not to indicate that ancient Israel was originally matriarchal, nor to justify the institution of marriage (which is assumed in the Bible), nor to suggest patriarchy in view of the man’s initiating the process. Rather, it is to observe that marriage achieves a reunion of what God had divided in the creation of the woman.