Ephesians 5:30

Footnotes

1. 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.