God's Blessing On Late Life Marriages
Marriage is presented in the Bible as a divinely instituted covenant relationship intended for human happiness, procreation, and the raising of godly offspring [5, 6]. This blessing extends to marriages at all stages of life, including those entered into later in life.
The foundational blessing for marriage, "Be fruitful and multiply," was given by God to Adam and Eve in paradise before the fall, signifying its inherent goodness and purpose [8, 9, 11]. Augustine emphasizes that this blessing was not a consequence of sin but a benediction upon the fertility of marriage itself [8]. Even after the introduction of sin, God did not revoke this blessing, nor did He remove the gifts of senses and bodily limbs, indicating the enduring nature of His design for marriage [10].
The Bible does not limit the blessing of marriage to first unions or to specific age groups. Hebrews 13:4 states, "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled" [2]. This verse implies that marriage is honorable for everyone, regardless of their past marital status or age. Similarly, 1 Corinthians 7:39, in discussing widows, states that "the husband being dead, she is at liberty to marry whom she will." Matthew Henry interprets this to mean that "second marriages are not unlawful" and that there is "no limitation by God's law to be married only for such a number of times" [7].
Biblical narratives also illustrate God's favor on later-life unions. The story of Ruth and Boaz provides an example where Boaz blesses Ruth for her "last kind act" in not pursuing younger men, implying divine approval for their union, which occurred later in their lives [4]. The book of Ecclesiastes encourages enjoying life "with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun" [3]. While Proverbs 5:18 speaks of joy in "the wife of your early years," this does not preclude joy and blessing in marriages formed later [1].
Rabbinic tradition also affirms the blessing of marriage, with the Holy One, blessed be He, described as blessing grooms and adorning brides [12]. The Babylonian Talmud discusses benedictions recited for both virgins and widows upon marriage, indicating that the joy and blessing associated with marriage are present regardless of prior marital status, though the duration of the benediction period might differ [14]. The blessings recited at a Jewish wedding celebrate the creation of joy, gladness, groom, and bride, and pray for the sound of joy and gladness to be heard [13].
Sources
- Proverbs “Proverbs 5:18 (BBE) — Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years.”
- Hebrews “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. -- Hebrews 13:4”
- Ecclesiastes “Ecclesiastes 9:9 (BSB) — Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.”
- Ruth “Ruth 3:10 (BBE) — And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going after young men, with or without wealth.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Marriage — Divinely instituted -- Ge 2:24. A covenant relationship -- Mal 2:4. Designed for The happiness of man. -- Ge 2:18. Increasing the human population. -- Ge 1:28; 9:1. Raising up godly seed. -- Mal 2:15. Preventing fornication. -- 1Co 7:2. The expectation of the promised seed of the woman an incentive to, in the early age -- Ge 3:15; 4:1. Lawful in all -- 1Co 7:2,28; 1Ti 5:14. Honourable for all -- Heb 13:4. Should be only in the Lord -- 1Co 7:39. Expressed by Joining together. -- Mt 19:6. Making affinity. -- 1Ki 3:1. Taking to wife. -- Ex 2:1. Giving daughte”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Marriage — Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Matt. 19:4, 5). It is evident that monogamy was the original law of marriage (Matt. 19:5; 1 Cor. 6:16). This law was violated in after times, when corrupt usages began to be introduced (Gen. 4:19; 6:2). We meet with the prevalence of polygamy and concubinage in the patriarchal age (Gen. 16:1-4; 22:21-24; 28:8, 9; 29:23-30, etc.). Polygamy was acknowledged in the Mosa”
- 1 Corinthians (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 7:39: The whole is here closed up with advice to widows: As long as the husband liveth the wife is bound by the law, confined to one husband, and bound to continue and cohabit with him. Note, The marriage - contract is for life; death only can annul the bond. But, the husband being dead, she is at liberty to marry whom she will. There is no limitation by God's law to be married only for such a number of times. It is certain, from this passage, that second marriages are not unlawful; for then the widow could not be at liberty to marry whom she pleased, nor to marr”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 40 [XXXV.]--MARRIAGE EXISTED BEFORE SIN WAS COMMITTED. HOW GOD'S BLESSING OPERATED IN OUR FIRST PARENTS.: There was, however, undoubtedly marriage, even when sin had no prior existence; and for no other reason was it that woman, and not a second man, was created as a help for the man. Moreover, those words of God, "Be fruitful and multiply,"[11] are not prophetic of sins to be condemned, but a benediction upon the fertility of marriage. For by these ineffable words of His, I mean by the divine methods which are inherent in the truth of His wis”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 22.--OF THE CONJUGAL UNION AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY INSTITUTED AND BLESSED BY GOD. (part 1): But we, for our part, have no manner of doubt that to increase and multiply and replenish the earth in virtue of the blessing of God, is a gift of marriage as God instituted it from the beginning before man sinned, when He created them male and female,--in other words, two sexes manifestly distinct. And it was this work of God on which His blessing was pronounced. For no sooner had Scripture said, "Male and female created He them,"(3) than it”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 54 [XXXII.]--HOW MARRIAGE IS NOW DIFFERENT SINCE THE EXISTENCE OF SIN. (part 1): God forbid that we should say, what this man pretends we say, "Such marriages as are now enacted are the invention of the devil." Why, they are absolutely the same marriages as God made at the very first. For this blessing of His, which He appointed for the procreation of mankind, He has not taken away even from men under condemnation, any more than He has deprived them of their senses and bodily limbs, which are no doubt His gifts, although they are condemned to die ”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 1:28: And God blessed them,.... The man and the woman he had made, with all the blessings of nature and Providence; with all the good things of life; with his presence, and with communion with himself in a natural way, through the creatures; and particularly with a power of procreating their species, as follows, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth: if this is not an express command, as the Jews understand it, for marriage and procreation of children, it seems to be more than a bare permission; at least it is a direction and an advic”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 8:13: Rabbi Abahu said: The Holy One blessed be He [Himself] took the cup of blessing, 53 The cup of wine over which the wedding benedictions are recited. [as it were,] and gave a blessing to them. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: Mikhael and Gavriel were the groomsmen of Adam the first man. Rabbi Samlai said: We have found that the Holy One blessed be He blesses grooms, adorns brides, visits the ill, and buries the dead. He blesses grooms – from where is it derived? “God blessed them.” He adorns brides – from where is it derived? “The Lord God built the side”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 8a.6: The sixth blessing is: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has created joy and gladness, groom and bride, delight, exultation, happiness, jubilation, love and brotherhood, and peace and friendship. Soon, Lord our God, may there be heard in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, the joyous sound of grooms from their wedding canopy and of young people from their feast of song (see Jeremiah 33:11). Blessed are You, Lord, Who makes the gr”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 7b.1: The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita : One recites a benediction for a virgin who marries for seven days and for a widow who marries for one day. What, is it not even in the case of a widow who is married to a bachelor, that one recites the benediction for one day? The Gemara answers: No, it is only in the case of a widow who is married to a widower that the benediction is recited for one day. The Gemara asks: However, one may then infer that in the case of a widow who is married to a bachelor, what is the halakha ? The blessing is recited seven days? ”