^5:25Husbands, love your³³ wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her ^5:26to sanctify her by cleansing her³⁴ with the washing of the water by the word, ^5:27so that he³⁵ may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.³⁶^5:28In the same way³⁷ husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ^5:29For no one has ever hated his own body³⁸ but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, ^5:30for we are members of his body.³⁹^5:31For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become⁴⁰ one flesh.⁴¹^5:32This mystery is great—but I am actually⁴² speaking with reference to Christ and the church. ^5:33Nevertheless,⁴³ each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself,⁴⁴ and the wife must⁴⁵ respect⁴⁶ her husband.

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Footnotes

33 The Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun ( ).
34 The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.
35 The use of the pronoun αὐτός (autos) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.
36 Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”
37 Grk “So also.”
38 Grk “flesh.”
39 Most Western witnesses, as well as the majority of Byzantine and a few others (א2 D F G Ψ 0278 0285vid 𝔐 lat), add the following words to the end of the verse: ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστέων αὐτοῦ (ek tēs sarkos autou kai ek tōn osteōn autou, “of his body and of his bones”). This is a (slightly modified) quotation from Gen 2:23a (). The Alexandrian text is solidly behind the shorter reading (𝔓46 א* A B 048 33 81 1739* 1881 ). Although it is possible that an early scribe’s eye skipped over the final αὐτοῦ, there is a much greater likelihood that a scribe added the Genesis quotation in order to fill out and make explicit the author’s incomplete reference to Gen 2:23. Further, on intrinsic grounds, it seems unlikely that the author would refer to the physical nature of creation when speaking of the “body of Christ” which is spiritual or mystical. Hence, as is often the case with OT quotations, the scribal clarification missed the point the author was making; the shorter reading stands as original.
40 Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”
41 A quotation from Gen 2:24.
42 The term “actually” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to bring out the heightened sense of the statement.
43 The translation of πλήν (plēn) is somewhat difficult in this context, though the overall thrust of the argument is clear. It could be an adversative idea such as “but,” “nevertheless,” or “however” (see , , ), or it could simply be intended to round out and bring to conclusion the author’s discussion. In this latter case it could be translated with the use of “now” (so A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [], ).
44 Grk “Nevertheless, you also, one by one, each his own wife so let him love as himself.” This statement is cumbersome and was cleaned up to reflect better English style.
45 The ἵνα (hina) clause was taken as imperatival, i.e., “let the wife respect.…”
46 The Greek verb φοβέομαι (phobeomai) here has been translated “respect” and the noun form of the word, i.e., φόβος (phobos), has been translated as “reverence” in 5:21.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, since we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

NLTNew Living Translation

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body.

As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her; in order that he might sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; in order that he might present to himself the church glorious, not having a spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she may be holy and blameless. Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.) Only you also, each one of you, must thus love his own wife as himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

KJV 1900King James Version

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So 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; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 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. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

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