And did not {x} he make one? Yet had he the {y} residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly {z} seed. Therefore take heed to your {a} spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

(x) Did not God make man and woman as one flesh and not many?

(y) By his power and strength he could have made many women for one man.

(z) Those who should be born in lawful and moderate marriage, in which is no excess of lusts.

(a) Contain yourselves within your bounds, and be sober in mind, and bridle your affections.

Wesley's Notes

2:15 One - But one man, and one woman. Yet - Yet he could have made more. Wherefore one - One couple, and no more. A godly seed - A holy seed born to God in chaste wedlock, and bred as they were born, in the fear of God. Take heed - Keep your heart from wandering after strange wives.

King James Translators' Notes

residue: or, excellency

godly...: Heb. seed of God

treacherously: or, unfaithfully

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] spirit

Summary of the O.T. doctrine of the Holy Spirit:

(1) The personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit appear from the attributes ascribed to Him, and from His works.

(2) He is revealed as sharing the work of creation and therefore omnipotent Gen 1:2 Job 26:13 33:4 Ps 104:30 as omnipresent Ps 139:7 as striving with men Gen 6:3 as enlightening Job 32:8 enduing with constructive skill Ex 28:3 31:3 giving physical strength Jud 14:6,19 executive ability and wisdom Jud 3:10 6:34 11:29 13:25 enabling men to receive and utter divine revelations Num 11:25 2Sam 23:2 and, generally, as empowering the servants of God Ps 51:12 Joel 2:28 Mic 3:8 Zech 4:6

(3) He is called holy Ps 51:11 good Ps 143:10 the Spirit of judgment and burning Isa 4:4 of Jehovah, of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, good, knowledge, the fear of the Lord Isa 11:2 and of grace and supplications Zech 12:10.

(4) In the O.T. the Spirit acts in free sovereignty, coming upon men and even upon a dumb beast as He will, nor are the conditions set forth (as in the N.T.) by complying with which any one may receive the Spirit. The indwelling of every believer by the abiding Spirit is a N.T. blessing consequent upon the death and resurrection of Christ Jn 7:39 16:7 Acts 2:33 Gal 3:1-6.

(5) The O.T. contains prediction of a future pouring out of the Spirit upon Israel Ex 37:14 39:29 and upon "all flesh" Joel 2:28,29. The expectation of Israel, therefore, was twofold--of the coming of Messiah-Immanuel, and of such an effusion of the Spirit as the prophets described. See Mt 1:18.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. Maurer and Hengstenberg explain the verse thus: The Jews had defended their conduct by the precedent of Abraham, who had taken Hagar to the injury of Sarah, his lawful wife; to this Malachi says now, "No one (ever) did so in whom there was a residue of intelligence (discriminating between good and evil); and what did the one (Abraham, to whom you appeal for support) do, seeking a godly seed?" His object (namely, not to gratify passion, but to obtain the seed promised by God) makes the case wholly inapplicable to defend your position. Moore (from Fairbairn) better explains, in accordance with Mal 2:10, "Did not He make (us Israelites) one? Yet He had the residue of the Spirit (that is, His isolating us from other nations was not because there was no residue of the Spirit left for the rest of the world). And wherefore (that is, why then did He thus isolate us as) the one (people; the Hebrew is 'the one')? In order that He might seek a godly seed"; that is, that He might have "a seed of God," a nation the repository of the covenant, and the stock of the Messiah, and the witness for the one God amidst the surrounding polytheisms. Marriage with foreign women, and repudiation of the wives wedded in the Jewish covenant, utterly set aside this divine purpose. Calvin thinks "the one" to refer to the conjugal one body formed by the original pair (Ge 2:24). God might have joined many wives as one with the one husband, for He had no lack of spiritual being to impart to others besides Eve; the design of the restriction was to secure a pious offspring: but compare Note, see on [1193]Mal 2:10. One object of the marriage relation is to raise a seed for God and for eternity.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:10-17 Corrupt practices are the fruit of corrupt principles; and he who is false to his God, will not be true to his fellow mortals. In contempt of the marriage covenant, which God instituted, the Jews put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to make room for strange wives. They made their lives bitter to them; yet, in the sight of others, they pretend to be tender of them. Consider she is thy wife; thy own; the nearest relation thou hast in the world. The wife is to be looked on, not as a servant, but as a companion to the husband. There is an oath of God between them, which is not to be trifled with. Man and wife should continue to their lives' end, in holy love and peace. Did not God make one, one Eve for one Adam? Yet God could have made another Eve. Wherefore did he make but one woman for one man? It was that the children might be made a seed to serve him. Husbands and wives must live in the fear of God, that their seed may be a godly seed. The God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away. Those who would be kept from sin, must take heed to their spirits, for there all sin begins. Men will find that their wrong conduct in their families springs from selfishness, which disregards the welfare and happiness of others, when opposed to their own passions and fancies. It is wearisome to God to hear people justify themselves in wicked practices. Those who think God can be a friend to sin, affront him, and deceive themselves. The scoffers said, Where is the God of judgement? but the day of the Lord will come.