Ephesians 5
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · AD 60 – AD 62 · The early church · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
33 verses · 540 words · ~3 min read · ~4 min listen
Imitators of God
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, 2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
3But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Children of Light
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, 9for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. 10Test and prove what pleases the Lord.
11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. 14So it is said:
15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lordʼs will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wives and Husbands
21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her 26to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
28In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. 30For we are members of His body.
31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Footnotes (5)
- a v2 NE and WH Christ loved you
- b v13 SBL begins verse 14 after visible,
- c v21 Or in the fear of Christ.
- d v30 BYZ and TR include—of His flesh and of His bones.
- e v31 Genesis 2:24(see also LXX)
Study notes on this chapter · 4
From the beginning: male and female, one flesh
Asked about divorce, Jesus goes back past Moses' legislation to creation, quoting Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 to ground marriage in God's design. Paul later quotes Genesis 2:24 too and calls it a great mystery that refers to Christ and the church.
When: Creation accounts in Genesis; Jesus' teaching, c. AD 30; Ephesians, c. AD 60.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Sacrifices as shadows of the good things to come
The law's repeated sacrifices could not perfect the worshippers, says Hebrews; they were a shadow, and offered a yearly reminder of sin. Christ's single offering accomplishes what they pointed to. Paul similarly calls Christ a fragrant offering and sacrifice.
When: Leviticus (Sinai era); Hebrews, before AD 70 (most likely); Ephesians, c. AD 60.
Ways people read this (2)
- Sacrifices genuinely dealt with ritual purity and covenant relationship, and pointed beyond themselves.
- Traditions differ on how Christ's sacrifice is explained (substitution, victory, participation and so on), but all point to Hebrews 10.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Love strong as death
The Song celebrates mutual, exclusive love with garden and vineyard imagery, ending: love is as strong as death, its flashes the very flame of the LORD. Jewish tradition reads it as God's love for Israel; Christian tradition as Christ's for the church — while the plain sense honors married love.
When: Attributed to Solomon; the closing poem, Song 8:6-7.
Ways people read this (2)
- Allegorical: God's love for his people.
- Plain sense: a celebration of human married love.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The bridegroom and his people
Hosea, Isaiah and Ezekiel describe God as husband and Israel as his bride. Jesus calls himself the bridegroom, John the Baptist describes himself as the bridegroom's friend, Paul compares Christ and the church to husband and wife, and Revelation describes the marriage of the Lamb.
When: Hosea, c. 750 BC; Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; Ephesians, c. AD 60.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.