View All Biblical Expressions

Bone and flesh / flesh and bone

Here’s what it means

The people shared close family identity, common descent, or covenant solidarity.

Why the Bible says it this way

An idiom is a familiar phrase whose meaning comes from the whole expression, not from reading each word by itself.

A helpful detail: In Genesis 2 the bodily relationship is also literal. In political speech the same wording establishes kinship loyalty.

Where it appears