Ephesians 5:28
in Ephesians 5In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself:
KJV
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
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This verse in Ephesians 5
Commentary
15 notes on this verseAs their own bodies - For the woman is, properly speaking, a part of the man; for God made man male and female, and the woman was taken out of his side; therefore is she flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone; and therefore, he that loveth his wife loveth himself, for they two are one flesh. The apostle, in all these verses, refers to the creation and original state of the first human pair.
This site's exposition
husbands ought to love their wives
on Ephesians 5:28-30
Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies, for no one ever hated his own body. The same two verbs, he nourishes and cherishes it, describe what Christ does for the church.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The ruling power is therefore the head. And if "the Lord is head of the man, and the man is head of the woman," the man, "being the image and glory of God, is lord of the woman." Wherefore also in the Epistle to the Ephesians it is written, "Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the Church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Husbands, love your wives, as also Christ loved the Church. So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies: he that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh."
The example proceeds to wives from the church and to husbands from Christ.… He urges the husbands on the basis of something inferior, namely, their own body, not only from the superior, that is, their Lord.
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsConstitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 6 · Written before 380.
proposed
Ye wives, be subject to your own husbands, and have them in esteem, and serve them with fear and love, as holy Sarah honoured Abraham. For she could not endure to call him by his name, but called him lord, when she said, "My lord is old." In like manner, ye husbands, love your own wives as your own members, as partners in life, and fellow-helpers for the procreation of children. For says He, "Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her conversation be to thee as a loving hind, and a pleasant foal; let her alone guide thee, and be with thee at all times: for if thou beest every way encompassed with her friendship, thou wilt be happy in her society." Love them therefore as your own members, as your very bodies; for so it is written, "The Lord has testified between thee and between the wife of thy youth; and she is thy partner, and another has not made her: and she is the remains of thy spirit;" and, "Take heed to your spirit, and do not forsake the wife of thy youth."
"Even so ought husbands to love their own wives," saith he, "as their own bodies." What, again, means this? To how much greater a similitude, and stronger example has he come; and not only so, but also to one how much nearer and clearer, and to a fresh obligation. For that other one was of no very constraining force, for He was Christ, and was God, and gave Himself. He now manages his argument on a different ground, saying, "so ought men"; because the thing is not a favor, but a debt. Then, "as their own bodies." And why?
A commentator
CyprianPseudo-Cyprian Of the Discipline and Advantage of Chastity · Written before 258.
proposed
The precepts of chastity, brethren, are ancient. Wherefore do I say ancient? Because they were ordained at the same time as men themselves. For both her own husband belongs to the woman, for the reason that besides him she may know no other; and the woman is given to the man for the purpose that, when that which had been his own had been yielded to him, he should seek for nothing belonging to another.
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
Chapter I.-Passages of Holy Scripture Compared. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church."
The Medieval Church2 voices
From the above he draws the conclusion he intended by affirming: So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. Above he urged husbands to love their wives; he appealed to Christ and to the example of Christ's love for the church …
Not as a more important and most necessary example does he now point to this (for it is clear that the relationship of Christ to the Church is far more important than this example), but as one that is nearer and more at hand. Precisely …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
As their own bodies - That is, as themselves. He that loveth his wife loveth himself - Which is not a sin, but an indisputable duty.
The wife being made one with her husband (not in a natural, but in a civil and in a relative sense), this is an argument why he should love her with as cordial and as ardent an affection as that which he loves himself.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Translate, "So ought husbands also (thus the oldest manuscripts read) to love their own (compare Note, see on Eph 5:22) wives as their own bodies." He that loveth his wife loveth himself--So there is the same love and the same union of body between Christ and the Church (Eph 5:30, 32).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies - Because they are one flesh; Eph 5:31. This is the subject on which Paul had been speaking, and from which he had been diverted by the allusion to the glorified church. The doctrine here is, that a husband should have the same care for the comfort of his wife which he has for himself. He should regard her as one with himself; and as he protects his own body from cold and hunger, and, when sick and suffering, endeavors to restore it to health, so he should regard and treat her. He that loveth his wife loveth himself - (1) Because she is one with him, and their interests are identified. (2) Because, by this, he really promotes his own welfare, as much as he does when he takes care of his own body. A man’s kindness to his wife will be more than repaid by the happiness which she imparts; and all the real solicitude which he shows to make her happy, will come to more than it costs. If a man wishes to promote his own happiness in the most effectual way, he had better begin by showing kindness to his wife.
The words behind it
20 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οὕτως | houtos | So | G3779 → | 208 times |
| ὀφείλουσιν | opheilousin | ought | G3784 → | |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄνδρες | andres | husbands | G435 → | 216 times |
| ἀγαπᾶν | agapan | to love | G25 → | 143 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἑαυτῶν | he'auton | their own | G1438 → | 322 times |
| γυναῖκας | gunaikas | wives | G1135 → | 211 times |
| ὡς | hos | as | G5613 → | 500 times |
| τὰ | ta | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἑαυτῶν | he'auton | their own | G1438 → | 322 times |
| σώματα. | somata | bodies. | G4983 → | 142 times |
| ὁ | ho | The [one] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀγαπῶν | agapon | loving | G25 → | 143 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἑαυτοῦ | he'autou | his own | G1438 → | 322 times |
| γυναῖκα | gunaika | wife | G1135 → | 211 times |
| ἑαυτὸν | he'auton | himself | G1438 → | 322 times |
| ἀγαπᾷ· | agapa | loves; | G25 → | 143 times |
οὕτωςSo
houtosG3779 →208 times
ὀφείλουσινought
opheilousinG3784 →
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ἄνδρεςhusbands
andresG435 →216 times
ἀγαπᾶνto love
agapanG25 →143 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
ἑαυτῶνtheir own
he'autonG1438 →322 times
γυναῖκαςwives
gunaikasG1135 →211 times
ὡςas
hosG5613 →500 times
τὰthe
taG3588 →19766 times
ἑαυτῶνtheir own
he'autonG1438 →322 times
σώματα.bodies.
somataG4983 →142 times
ὁThe [one]
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἀγαπῶνloving
agaponG25 →143 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
ἑαυτοῦhis own
he'autouG1438 →322 times
γυναῖκαwife
gunaikaG1135 →211 times
ἑαυτὸνhimself
he'autonG1438 →322 times
ἀγαπᾷ·loves;
agapaG25 →143 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
it leads to
- Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
- Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
- Ephesians 5:2
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- Colossians 3:19
Through
Matthew 19:5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
it leads to
- Genesis 2:21–24
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
- 1 Corinthians 7:4
The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- Genesis 2:21–24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About Ephesians
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 6; Augustine of Hippo, On Continence 23; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 4; Cyprian, Pseudo-Cyprian Of the Discipline and Advantage of Chastity; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Ephesians 20; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Methodius of Olympus, Methodius Discourse III. Thaleia; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Ephesians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Ephesians.