King James Version
Ephesians 5
33 verses with commentary
Walking in Love and Light
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:1 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
V.
(1, 2) These verses are an expansion and enforcement of the last verse of Ephesians 4. There the forgiveness of “God in Christ” is set forth in one pregnant phrase. Here the two parts of this idea are divided; and there is put before us, first, the free universal love of God as our Father, and next, the self-sacrificing love of Christ, as the Son of God and man.
(1) **Followers of God.**—The ph...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. baptized into Christ--**(Ro 6:3).
**have put on Christ--**Ye did, in that very act of being baptized into Christ, put on, or clothe yourselves with, Christ: so the Greek expresses. Christ is to you the toga virilis (the Roman garment of the full-grown man, assumed when ceasing to be a child) [Bengel]. Gataker defines a Christian, "One who has put on Christ." The argument is, By baptism ye ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:2 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **As Christ also hath loved us.**—To this idea of the “imitation of God,” essential to all true religion, St. Paul now adds an exhortation to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, in that especial exhibition of love by suffering and self-sacrifice, which is impossible to the Godhead in itself, but which belongs to the incarnate Son of God, and was the ultimate purpose of His incarnation...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
28. There is in this sonship by faith in Christ, no class privileged above another, as the Jews under the law had been above the Gentiles (Ro 10:12; 1Co 12:13; Col 3:11).
**bond nor free--**Christ alike belongs to both by faith; whence he puts "bond" before "free." Compare Note, see on 1Co 7:21, 22; Ep 6:8.
**neither male nor female--**rather, as Greek, "there is not male and female." There is...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:3 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3*b*) Ephesians 5:3-14 warn, with even greater fulness and emphasis, against the sins of impurity and lust, as incompatible with membership of the kingdom of heaven, as works of darkness, impossible to those who are children of light.
(3) **But fornication, and all uncleanness, or Christian light covetousness.**—“Fornication” is closely joined (as in 2Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Colossians...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. and heirs--**The oldest manuscripts omit "and." Christ is "Abraham's seed" (Ga 3:16): ye are "one in Christ" (Ga 3:28), and one with Christ, as having "put on Christ" (Ga 3:27); therefore YE are "Abraham's seed," which is tantamount to saying (whence the "and" is omitted), ye are "heirs according to the promise" (not "by the law," Ga 3:18); for it was to Abraham's seed that the inheritance w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:4 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting.**—The word “filthiness” (unlike the “filthy communication” of the parallel passage in Colossians 3:8) is in itself a general word. But the connection with the words following, and the distinction from those going before, appear to show that St. Paul here uses it for “filthy talking.” He is passing from impurity of the inward soul to impur...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →For this ye know , that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:5 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **For this ye know.**—The true reading of the original is curiously emphatic. It runs thus: *For this ye know, knowing* . . . But, as it uses two different words, in the former clause properly “ye know” and the latter “learning to know,” the sense seems to be: “For this ye know, learning it afresh so as to know it better.” Whatever else is doubtful, this is certain; yet it admits of an ever gr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. disobedience: or, unbelief
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:6 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Let no man deceive you with vain words.**—It seems likely that St. Paul has in view, not mere worldly condonation of evil or low heathen morality, but some anticipation of that Antinomian form of Gnosticism which held that the things done in the body, being evil only by the irresistible, inevitable gravitation of matter to evil, could not touch the soul. We know that in the Colossian Church ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:7 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inq...
Read full commentary →For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:8 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.**—This expression is unique, and far more emphatic than the more common phrases of “being,” or “walking,” “in darkness” and “in light.” (See Romans 2:9; Colossians 1:2; 1Thessalonians 5:4; 1John 1:6-7; 1John 2:9-10.) For here the outward element of light or darkness is said to pervade the inner nature of the soul. (1) Christ is th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inq...
Read full commentary →(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:9 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **For the fruit . . .**—The true reading is, *of the Light, *for which the easier phrase, “the fruit of the Spirit,” has been substituted, to the great detriment of the force and coherency of the whole passage. Light has its fruits; darkness (see Ephesians 5:11) is “unfruitful.” The metaphor is striking, but literally correct, inasmuch as light is the necessary condition of that vegetative lif...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inq...
Read full commentary →Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:10 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.**—So in Romans 12:2, the “proving what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,” is the fruit of transformation “in the renewing of the mind.” “To prove” is to try in each case, by the full light of God, what is accordant to His will; it is a work partly of thought, partly of practical experience; and it always implies a searching examina...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inq...
Read full commentary →And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:11 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.**—To “have no fellowship” with such works is not to refuse to take part in them (for this surely might be taken for granted), but to keep no terms with them, to have no sympathy or indulgence or excuse for them. So the word is used, in Philippians 4:14, of “communicating with my affliction;” and in Revelation 18:4, of “being partaker...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4 Ga 4:1-31. The Same Subject Continued: Illustration of Our Subjection to the Law Only till Christ Came, from the Subjection of an Heir to His Guardian till He Is of Age. Peter's Good Will to the Galatians Should Lead Them to the Same Good Will to Him as They Had at First Shown. Their Desire to Be under the Law Shown by the Allegory of Isaac and Ishmael to Be Inconsistent with Their Gospe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inq...
Read full commentary →For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:12 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **It is a shame even to speak . . .**—Comp. Ephesians 5:3. Sin may be plainly indicated, and perhaps most effectually branded, without polluting the tongue by describing its actual developments. The need of St. Paul’s caution is only too obvious when we read some satires and denunciations against sin, or some manuals of self-examination.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8-11. Appeal to them not to turn back from their privileges as free sons, to legal bondage again.
**then--**when ye were "servants" (Ga 4:7).
**ye knew not God--**not opposed to Ro 1:21. The heathen originally knew God, as Ro 1:21 states, but did not choose to retain God in their knowledge, and so corrupted the original truth. They might still have known Him, in a measure, from His works, but ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-12**
The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inq...
Read full commentary →But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. reproved: or, discovered
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:13 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.**—This should properly be rendered, *But all things, when reproved, are illuminated by the light.* The translation “are made manifest” is indeed fully in accordance with the common usage of the word. But the whole context shows that St. Paul is here using it in what is indeed its more proper etymological sense, for “are illumi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8-11. Appeal to them not to turn back from their privileges as free sons, to legal bondage again.
**then--**when ye were "servants" (Ga 4:7).
**ye knew not God--**not opposed to Ro 1:21. The heathen originally knew God, as Ro 1:21 states, but did not choose to retain God in their knowledge, and so corrupted the original truth. They might still have known Him, in a measure, from His works, but ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-15**
The gospel is a doctrine according to godliness, 1Ti 6:3, and is so far from giving the least countenance to sin, that it lays us under the strongest obligation to avoid and subdue it. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. If Christians, who should help one another, and rejoice one another, quarrel,...
Read full commentary →Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. he: or, it
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:14 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Wherefore he** (or, *it*) **saith.**—This phrase is used (as also in James 4:6) in Ephesians 4:8 to introduce a scriptural quotation; and the most natural completion of the elliptical expression is by the supply of the nominative, “God,” or “the scripture,” from the ordinary phrase of quotation or citation. But no scriptural passage can be adduced which, with the fullest allowance for the a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8-11. Appeal to them not to turn back from their privileges as free sons, to legal bondage again.
**then--**when ye were "servants" (Ga 4:7).
**ye knew not God--**not opposed to Ro 1:21. The heathen originally knew God, as Ro 1:21 states, but did not choose to retain God in their knowledge, and so corrupted the original truth. They might still have known Him, in a measure, from His works, but ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-15**
The gospel is a doctrine according to godliness, 1Ti 6:3, and is so far from giving the least countenance to sin, that it lays us under the strongest obligation to avoid and subdue it. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. If Christians, who should help one another, and rejoice one another, quarrel,...
Read full commentary →Filled with the Spirit
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:15 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **See then that ye walk** (properly, *how ye walk*) **circumspectly.**—The word rendered “circumspectly” is properly *strictly, *or *accurately*—generally used of intellectual accuracy or thoroughness (as in Matthew 2:8; Luke 1:3; Acts 18:25; Acts 18:28; 1Thessalonians 5:2); only here and in Acts 26:5 (“the straitest sect of our religion”) of moral strictness. The idea, therefore, is not of l...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8-11. Appeal to them not to turn back from their privileges as free sons, to legal bondage again.
**then--**when ye were "servants" (Ga 4:7).
**ye knew not God--**not opposed to Ro 1:21. The heathen originally knew God, as Ro 1:21 states, but did not choose to retain God in their knowledge, and so corrupted the original truth. They might still have known Him, in a measure, from His works, but ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 13-15**
The gospel is a doctrine according to godliness, 1Ti 6:3, and is so far from giving the least countenance to sin, that it lays us under the strongest obligation to avoid and subdue it. The apostle urges that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. If Christians, who should help one another, and rejoice one another, quarrel,...
Read full commentary →Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:16 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Redeeming the time.**—Or rather, *the opportunity, *whenever it arises. The meaning of this phrase (used also in Colossians 4:5) is clearly illustrated by its use (although in a bad sense) in Daniel 2:8, “I know that you would gain the time”—*i.e., *catch the opportunity to escape from difficulty. To “redeem” is “to buy up for oneself”—not having essentially the idea of ransom or redemption...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. be as I am--**"As I have in my life among you cast off Jewish habits, so do ye; for I am become as ye are," namely, in the non-observance of legal ordinances. "The fact of my laying them aside among Gentiles, shows that I regard them as not at all contributing to justification or sanctification. Do you regard them in the same light, and act accordingly." His observing the law among the Jews ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:17 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Be ye not unwise.**—The word here is stronger than in Ephesians 5:15; it is properly *senseless, *used of “the fool” (in Luke 11:40; Luke 12:20; 1Corinthians 15:36; 2Corinthians 11:16; 2Corinthians 11:19; 2Corinthians 12:6; 2Corinthians 12:11). By it St. Paul emphasises his previous warning; then he adds the explanation that to be “wise” is to “understand what the will of the Lord is”—to kn...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. how through infirmity--**rather, as Greek, "Ye know that because of an infirmity of my flesh I preached," &c. He implies that bodily sickness, having detained him among them, contrary to his original intentions, was the occasion of his preaching the Gospel to them.
**at the first--**literally, "at the former time"; implying that at the time of writing he had been twice in Galatia. See ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:18 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.**—From the general idea of reckless levity, St. Paul passes on to the special sin of drunkenness, as not (like gluttony) primarily a gratification of the appetite, but as a reckless pursuit of excitement at all costs—glorified as an excitement of emotion, and even of wit and intellect, in such contemporary writers as Horace, and actually confused, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. my temptation--**The oldest manuscripts read, "your temptation." My infirmity, which was, or might have been, a "temptation," or trial, to you, ye despised not, that is, ye were not tempted by it to despise me and my message. Perhaps, however, it is better to punctuate and explain as Lachmann, connecting it with Ga 4:13, "And (ye know) your temptation (that is, the temptation to which ye wer...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:19 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.**—The same words are found in Colossians 3:16, with a notable difference of application. There the idea is of teaching: “teaching and admonishing one another;” here, simply of a natural vent for emotion, especially of thanksgiving, although probably here also “to yourselves” means “to one another,” and refers, perhaps, chiefly ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. Where, &c.--**Of what value was your congratulation (so the Greek for "blessedness" expresses) of yourselves, on account of your having among you me, the messenger of the Gospel, considering how entirely you have veered about since? Once you counted yourselves blessed in being favored with my ministry.
**ye would have plucked out your own eyes--**one of the dearest members of the body-...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:20 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Giving thanks always for all things.**—This temper of universal and pervading thankfulness is dwelt upon in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians (1Thessalonians 5:18) as indissolubly united with unceasing joy and prayer (“Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.”) Since thanksgiving is for what God has given us, and prayer for what we still need, both must be uni...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. Translate, "Am I then become your enemy (an enemy in your eyes) by telling you the truth" (Ga 2:5, 14)? He plainly did not incur their enmity at his first visit, and the words here imply that he had since then, and before his now writing, incurred it: so that the occasion of his telling them the unwelcome truth, must have been at his second visit (Ac 18:23, see my Introduction). The fool and s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:21 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.**—In grammatical construction this clause is connected with the preceding verses; in point of idea it leads on to the next section, which treats of the three-fold submission of wives to husbands, children to parents, slaves to masters. There is, however, a certain connection of idea with the preceding section also, and especially with...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. They--**your flatterers: in contrast to Paul himself, who tells them the truth.
**zealously--**zeal in proselytism was characteristic especially of the Jews, and so of Judaizers (Ga 1:14; Mt 23:15; Ro 10:2).
**affect you--**that is, court you (2Co 11:2).
**not well--**not in a good way, or for a good end. Neither the cause of their zealous courting of you, nor the manner, is what it ou...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Wives and Husbands
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:22 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
[**5.****Practical Exhortation continued** (Ephesians 5:22 to Ephesians 6:9).
(4)THE BEARING OF THE TRUTH OF UNITY ON THE THREE GREAT RELATIONS OF LIFE.
(*a*)*Between husbands and wives*—a relation which is a type of the unity between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:22-33).
(*b*)* Between parents and children*—a relation hallowed as existing “in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1-4).
(*c*)*Between master...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. good to be zealously affected--**rather, to correspond to "zealously court" in Ga 4:18, "to be zealously courted." I do not find fault with them for zealously courting you, nor with you for being zealously courted: provided it be "in a good cause" (translate so), "it is a good thing" (1Co 9:20-23). My reason for saying the "not well" (Ga 4:17; the Greek is the same as that for "good," and "i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:23 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.**—It is instructive to compare this with the partly similar passage in 1Corinthians 11:3. There “the head of the woman is the man,” as here; but “the head of every man (individually) is Christ,” considered in His human nature; and finally, “the Head of Christ,” as the Son of Man, “is God.” There, accordingly,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. My little children--**(1Ti 1:18; 2Ti 2:1; 1Jo 2:1). My relation to you is not merely that of one zealously courting you (Ga 4:17, 18), but that of a father to his children (1Co 4:15).
**I travail in birth--**that is, like a mother in pain till the birth of her child.
**again--**a second time. The former time was when I was "present with you" (Ga 4:18; compare Note, see on Ga 4:13).
**C...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:24 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
20. Translate as Greek, "I could wish." If circumstances permitted (which they do not), I would gladly be with you [M. Stuart].
**now--**as I was twice already. Speaking face to face is so much more effective towards loving persuasion than writing (2Jo 12; 3Jo 13, 14).
**change my voice--**as a mother (Ga 4:19): adapting my tone of voice to what I saw in person your case might need. This is po...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:25 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church.**—The love of Christ for His Church is such that He counts Himself incomplete without her (Ephesians 1:23), and raises her to be one with Himself; that He bears with her weakness and frailty; that He draws her on by the cords of love; and that He gives up Himself for her. Only so far as the husband shows the like love in perfe...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. desire--**of your own accord madly courting that which must condemn and ruin you.
**do ye not hear--**do ye not consider the mystic sense of Moses' words? [Grotius]. The law itself sends you away from itself to Christ [Estius]. After having sufficiently maintained his point by argument, the apostle confirms and illustrates it by an inspired allegorical exposition of historical facts, conta...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:26 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **That he might sanctify and cleanse it . . .**—The true rendering is, *that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it in the laver of the water in *[*the*]* Word.* The reference in “the laver of the water” to baptism, is even more unquestionable than in “the laver of regeneration” of Titus 3:5. Hence we must conclude that the phrase “in the Word” is in some way connected with that sacrament. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
22. (Ge 16:3-16; 21:2).
**Abraham--**whose sons ye wish to be (compare Ro 9:7-9).
**a bond maid ... a free woman--**rather, as Greek, "the bond maid ... the free woman."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-26**
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves u...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:27 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **That he might present it to himself.**—The original is more emphatic—*that He might Himself present it to Himself.* This presentation belonged usually to the “paranymph,” or “friend of the bridegroom, to whom St. John Baptist compares himself in John 3:29 (where see Note); St. Paul himself assumes that office in 2Corinthians 11:2, “I have espoused (or rather, *betrothed*) you to one husband...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. after the flesh--**born according to the usual course of nature: in contrast to Isaac, who was born "by virtue of the promise" (so the Greek), as the efficient cause of Sarah's becoming pregnant out of the course of nature (Ro 4:19). Abraham was to lay aside all confidence in the flesh (after which Ishmael was born), and to live by faith alone in the promise (according to which Isaac was mir...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:28 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **So ought men to love their wives . . .**—From this glorious digression; applying only to the divine Antitype, St. Paul comes back to the one point, in which the type may imitate it—that is, a deep and unfailing love. “So” refers to the previous verse, describing the love of Christ, not to the “as” following; otherwise the want of connection would be strangely abrupt. Moreover, from this ide...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. are an allegory--**rather, "are allegorical," that is, have another besides the literal meaning.
**these are the two covenants--**"these [women] are (that is, mean; omit 'the' with all the oldest manuscripts) two covenants." As among the Jews the bondage of the mother determined that of the child, the children of the free covenant of promise, answering to Sarah, are free; the children of t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:29 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **His own flesh**—*i.e., *as above (Ephesians 5:28), *his own body.* There are two parts of the natural care for our own bodies; first, “to nourish” (properly, *to rear them up from childhood, *as in Ephesians 6:4), and then “to cherish” (literally, *to keep them warm*)*, *to provide all they need for health, and comfort, and life. In all that corresponds to both, the husband is to show love ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. Translate, "For this word, Hagar, is (imports) Mount Sinai in Arabia (that is, among the Arabians--**in the Arabian tongue)." So Chrysostom explains. Haraut, the traveller, says that to this day the Arabians call Sinai, "Hadschar," that is, Hagar, meaning a rock or stone. Hagar twice fled into the desert of Arabia (Ge 16:1-16; 21:9-21): from her the mountain and city took its name, and the p...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:30 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
26. This verse stands instead of the sentence which we should expect, to correspond to Ga 4:24, "One from Mount Sinai," namely, the other covenant from the heavenly mount above, which is (answers in the allegory to) Sarah.
**Jerusalem ... above--**(He 12:22), "the heavenly Jerusalem." "New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God" (Re 3:12; 21:2). Here "the Messianic theocracy, whi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:31 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **For this cause.**—In spite of much authority, it seems far simpler to consider the words “Even as the Lord . . . His bones” as parenthetical, and refer back to Ephesians 5:28-29. In exactly the same way our Lord quotes the same verse of Genesis (Genesis 2:24) to show the indissoluble character of the marriage tie. Here the similarity of connection with that of the original passage is even s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
27. (Is 54:1).
**thou barren--**Jerusalem above: the spiritual Church of the Gospel, the fruit of "the promise," answering to Sarah, who bore not "after the flesh": as contrasted with the law, answering to Hagar, who was fruitful in the ordinary course of nature. Isaiah speaks primarily of Israel's restoration after her long-continued calamities; but his language is framed by the Holy Spirit so ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:32 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **This is a great mystery.**—Rather, *This mystery is a great one.* The words apply to the type, as well as to the Antitype. (1) The indissoluble and paramount sacredness of marriage, as all history shows, is “a mystery”—that is (see Ephesians 1:9), a secret of God’s law, fully revealed in Christ alone. For in heathen, and, to some extent, even in Jewish thought, marriage was a contract far l...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. we--**The oldest manuscripts and versions are divided between "we" and "ye." "We" better accords with Ga 4:26, "mother of us."
**children of promise--**not children after the flesh, but through the promise (Ga 4:23, 29, 31). "We are" so, and ought to wish to continue so.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>[Verse 5:33 text would be quoted here]</strong> This verse in Ephesians chapter 5 addresses theological theme. Key Greek terms include to be determined. <br><br>The theological focus is doctrinal emphasis, demonstrating Paul's emphasis on the cosmic Christ and the church as His body/bride/temple. The phrase emphasizes union with Christ as the foundation of all spiritual blessings.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Nevertheless.**—Although, *i.e., *the primary and perfect application is to Christ alone, let the teaching be so far applied to marriage as that practically “the husband love his wife as himself,” and “the wife reverence (properly, *fear*) the husband.” This return to homely, practical duty after high and mysterious teaching is characteristic of St. Paul. (See, for example, 1Corinthians 15:...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. persecuted--**Ishmael "mocked" Isaac, which contained in it the germ and spirit of persecution (Ge 21:9). His mocking was probably directed against Isaac's piety and faith in God's promises. Being the older by natural birth, he haughtily prided himself above him that was born by promise: as Cain hated Abel's piety.
**him ... born after the Spirit--**The language, though referring primarily...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
An earnest exhortation to stand fast in the liberty of the gospel.(1-12)
To take heed of indulging a sinful temper.(13-15)
And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.
(16-26)
**Verses 1-6**
Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let ...
Read full commentary →