actions of the husband/bridegroom. In the Old Testament Yahweh tenderly allures Israel. In the New Testament the “one flesh union” is associated with the sacrificial love of Christ and the husband with the church and the wife, respectively. Ephesians adds an additional dimension in that Paul says that such intimacy directly corresponds to the husband’s fulfillment of his position as “head.” But it is also accomplished through a reversal of the world’s expectations of this duty, a reversal that is