It all started when the first human on earth decided to name his wife after a hazardous chemical reaction. After having just been introduced to the only other human being on earth, he says, "She shall be called ishshah - woman, because she was taken out of ish - man." Ish and ishshah. I assume that though they have a certain ring to them, these won't be topping your list of names for future kids. Even so, they paint a picture about marriage that answers many of our modern questions. To start, both words are derived from the root word and Hebrew character esh, which mean fire. This means the original word picture we have for the relationship between a man and a woman is an all-consuming, tireless in nature, potentially hazard-creating fire. And though this picture lends itself to the modern concept of heated romance or passionate love, the Bible consistently points to a different purpose of fire. Fire happens to be one of the Bible's primary metaphors for purification and personal development.
~Tyler Ward, "Marriage Rebranded"
We don't have any Hershey's kisses to help us celebrate this year, but after thirty years of smooching we're still telling the story and celebrating the passionate and purifying fire of our relationship.
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