When William Jennings Bryan went to the father of the young woman whom he loved to ask her hand in marriage, he remembered that the father was a strong religious believer, so he quoted a proverb of Solomon from the Bible: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing.” But the father surprised him by responding with a quote from St. Paul, “He who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.” The young man was at a loss for a reply for a moment, but then he came up with this: since Solomon had seven hundred wives and Paul had none, Solomon ought to be a better judge concerning marriage.

Today’s First Lesson deals with the creation of woman and the institution of marriage. One infinitely wiser than Solomon, the Lord God himself, is the chief actor in this dra…