Cleave

Ge 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

A followup based on a comment posted. In the KJV the word used is cleave, NIV United, NAS Joined, all 3 are translated as follows...

Hebrew word: qbd translated word: Dabaq
Phonetic daw-bak' Verb

Definition
to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch
(Qal)
to cling, cleave to
to stay with
(Pual) to be joined together
(Hiphil)
to cause to cleave to
to pursue closely
to overtake
(Hophal) to be made to cleave

Used 54 Times in the KJV: cleave 32, follow hard 5, overtake 3, stick 3, keep fast 2, ...together 2, abide 1, close 1, joined 1, pursued 1, take 1

Tipically hebrew writing has one word for each meaning. And there is no reference I can find were they used Dabaq to mean dividing...

Dividing or Divide was a separate word: Baqa` Pronounced: baw-kah' Which intersting enough has cleave in its definition, but is only used once to

to split, cleave, break open, divide, break through, rip up, break up, tear
(Qal)
to cleave, cleave open
to break through, break into
(Niphal)
to be cleft, be rent open, be split open
to be broken into
(Piel)
to cleave, cut to pieces, rend open
to break through, break down
(Pual)
to be ripped open, be torn open
to be rent
to be broken into
(Hiphil)
to break into
to break through
(Hophal) to be broken into (Hithpael) to burst (themselves) open, cleave asunder

Used 52 times ... breached 3, break 4, break forth 1, break through 1, breaks forth 1, breaks open 1, broke open 1, broke through 2, broken 3, burst 2, burst open 1, cleaved 1, dashed to pieces 1, divide 1, divided 4, forth 1, hatch 2, hews 1, invaded 1, make for ourselves a breach 1, rip 1, ripped 1, ripped open 2, shook 1, split 7, split open 1, splits 1, tear 1, tore 2, torn 2

What do I get from this. When God talks about something being joined or put together he uses, Daw-Bak. The writes of King James used the word cleave which yes has two meanings in our languages. I believe based on the Hebrew looking at NIV and NAS, united or joined seems to be a better fit.

But I appreciate cleave (KJV) being used in this since though. It is a more dramatic word, and brings to mind a picture of one person holding fast to the other so as not to fall or be devided.

www.biblegateway.net was used for the word study.....