become one flesh

The Greek and Hebrew that is often translated into English as “(the two) shall become one flesh” is translated as “become just one” in Copainalá Zoque and San Mateo del Mar Huave or with existing idiomatic equivalents such as “become one blood” in Mitla Zapotec, “become the complement of each other’s spirit” in Tzeltal (source for this and above Bratcher / Nida), “become one body” in Uab Meto (source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 208ff. ), “tie with wife as one, so that they tie one insides” in Luang (source: Kathy and Mark Taber in Kroneman [2004], p. 539), or “become like one body-entity” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

In Tataltepec Chatino it is translated as “the two shall accompany each other so that they no longer seem two but are like one person,” in Choapan Zapotec as “when the man and woman live together in front of God, it is as if just one person,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “they aren’t two, it is as though they are one.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with bilden eine neue Sippe or “form a new clan.” They explain (p. 417): “Usually ‘become one flesh.’ This is clearly not correct from a biological point of view. In the Old Testament, ‘flesh’ in such contexts means: ‘kinship, clan, family.’ So the idea is that the man gives up his clan and forms a new clan together with the married woman.”

See also I am your bone and flesh.