Ephesians 5:29-33

5:29 For no one has ever hated his own body ¹  but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, 5:30 for we are members of his body. ²  5:31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become ³  one flesh. ⁴  5:32 This mystery is great – but I am actually ⁵  speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 5:33 Nevertheless, ⁶  each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, ⁷  and the wife must ⁸  respect ⁹  her husband.

¹ tn Grk “flesh.”

² tc Most Western witnesses, as well as the majority of Byzantine mss and a few others (א² D F G Ψ 0278 0285^vid Ï lat), add the following words to the end of the verse: ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστέων αὐτοῦ (ek th" sarko" autou kai ek twn ostewn autou, “of his body and of his bones”). This is a (slightly modified) quotation from Gen 2:23a (LXX). The Alexandrian text is solidly behind the shorter reading (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B 048 33 81 1739* 1881 pc). 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.

³ tn Grk “the two shall be as one flesh.”

⁴ sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.

⁵ tn 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.

⁶ tn The translation of πλήν (plhn) 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 NIV, NASB, NRSV), 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 [WBC], 384).

⁷ tn 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.

⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause was taken as imperatival, i.e., “let the wife respect….”

⁹ tn The Greek verb φοβέομαι (fobeomai) here has been translated “respect” and the noun form of the word, i.e., φόβος (fobos), has been translated as “reverence” in 5:21.