Chapter Five

Continuation of general teachings (1–21). Teachings to wives and husbands (22–33)

Eph 5:1-21. At the end of the 4th chapter the Apostle sufficiently clarified what he understands by “righteousness,” to which he called his readers (Eph 4:24). Now he gives teachings concerning “holiness” (see that same verse). Namely, he cautions his readers against being drawn into vices contrary to Christian holiness (Eph 5:1-10), and then invites them to expose these vices (Eph 5:11-14), demanding that Christians themselves do not give cause for offense through their conduct (Eph 5:15-17). The Apostle concludes his teachings on Christian purity with an invitation to his readers to be filled with the Spirit of God (Eph 5:18-21).

Ephesians 5:1. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; Ephesians 5:2. and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. These two verses represent a conclusion to Eph 4:32. In relation to one another among Christians should reign love and all-forgiveness. The example for them should be, first, God Himself, who forgives us our transgressions (see Matt 5:45 and Matt 6:13-14), and then — the Lord Jesus Christ, who out of love for us offered himself as “an offering” (prosphoran), namely as a sacrificial bloody offering (thysían) in order to atone for our sins before God (an indication of the redemptive significance of Christ’s death, see Heb 10:10). — “As a fragrant aroma.” Christ’s sacrifice was completely pleasing to God (see Lev 1:9).

Ephesians 5:3. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Ephesians 5:4. and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. “Immorality” — the most widespread vice in paganism. “Must not even be named.” Not only should these vices not exist, but Christians should not even speak about them among themselves, lest they lead someone into bad thoughts. — “Filthiness....” These are sins of the tongue. Regarding “coarse joking” (properly: fitting behavior — eutrapelía) our Slavonic translation gives a very specific meaning. It is “mockery” or mockery, that is, according to us, ridicule of sacred things. (The Slavonic expression “koshhun” comes from the ancient word “koshshey,” which meant a young man of good family. Such young men served at the courts of ancient great princes and, obviously, in conversations among themselves were not constrained by standards of propriety....). Even the Roman writer Plautus noted a tendency among the Ephesians toward indecent jokes, and therefore the Apostle quite rightly draws the attention of his readers to this vice. — “Giving of thanks” — for all that believers have received in Christ (see Eph 2:11 et seq.).

Ephesians 5:5. For know this with certainty, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous one, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience; One must take into account the circumstance that these vices lead to very sad consequences: those who succumb to them will not receive the Kingdom of Heaven (see 1 Cor 6:9) 17. — “Of Christ and God.” Christ is here placed on the same level as God and thus the idea of his consubstantiality with the Father is given.

Ephesians 5:7. therefore, do not be partners with them. Ephesians 5:8. for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light Ephesians 5:9. (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth). The Apostle draws from what has been said the conclusion that Christians should not participate in those deeds that are characteristic of these sons of disobedience. Earlier, when they were, one might say, “darkness” or living in moral darkness, such deeds were possible among them, but now they must live as “children of light,” because they have become light or bearers of the light of the Gospel and purity (see 2 Cor 6:14-15). They stand under the influence of the Spirit of God, and this must be expressed in certain “fruits,” which Christians should bear. Such fruits are “all goodness,” that is, generally good, virtuous life, “righteousness,” or justice in relation to people, and “truth,” that is, the absence of everything false, of which there was so much in the life of pagans.

Ephesians 5:10. Prove what is pleasing to God, Furthermore, Christians must in all circumstances represent to themselves how God Himself relates to one or another of their deeds, ask themselves what God wants from them.

Ephesians 5:11. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; The Apostle returns to the teaching begun in Eph 5:7. He urges his readers not to have fellowship with the deeds of darkness. He calls these deeds “unfruitful” because “darkness” is generally such a condition in which plants cannot bear fruit: only sunlight gives trees the strength to produce fruit. And indeed, wicked deeds lead people only to destruction and death (see Rom 6:21-23). But Christians in relation to such deeds should not limit themselves only to avoiding them: they should also “expose” them by word (elenkhein — see 1 Tim 5:20). Some interpreters understand by “exposure” exposure through one’s life, but such an interpretation cannot be accepted, because exposure through life is already implied in the words: “do not participate in deeds”.... Moreover, the verb elenkhein is usually used in the meaning of verbal rebuke 18.

Ephesians 5:12. For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. Wicked deeds must be exposed because they are indeed so terrible that it is shameful even to speak of them; especially is this to be said of those covered by a veil of secrecy 19.

Ephesians 5:13. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. The benefit of exposure consists in that “everything exposed,” that is, being exposed in the light of Christian truth (“by the light”) becomes evident in its nature — in this case this is said of the vices of paganism, which stand out more sharply in their ugliness before the light of Christian morality. — “For everything visible....” that is, such is the general law of existence: everything that can be seen appears “light” or light, uncovered (“light” — here in the general meaning of this word, that is, something illuminated).

Ephesians 5:14. Therefore it is said: “Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Because exposure is beneficial, God addresses the sinner dwelling in spiritual sleepiness, as if in a state of death, with a call: “Awake” (instead of: “it says,” as in the Russian translation, it should be read: “he says” — in Greek legei). The source of these words is unknown. It is best to accept the supposition that they constitute a fragment from some Christian hymn, which contains certain echoes from the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 52:1 — “Awake,” Isa 26:19: “the dead will rise” and Isa 60:1: “Your light will come.”).

Ephesians 5:15. Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, Ephesians 5:16. making the most of your time, because the days are evil. In exposing others, Christians themselves are already necessarily obliged to watch over themselves. “Be careful how you walk....” More precisely: “be careful how carefully you walk” (carefulness is necessary). — “Making the most of your time” — more precisely: “buying time, acquiring it as your own.” By this the Apostle teaches believers to use every moment of time, as if purchased with money, for doing good deeds. The unwise person does not value time, thinking it is worthless, but the wise one understands all its value. And what urges him to this is the consideration that “the days are evil,” that is, our time is such that it requires the exertion of all our strength, the use of all our time in order to be able to do something truly beneficial.

Ephesians 5:17. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is. “So then” — more precisely: “for this reason,” that is, for the reason that you must be wise (Eph 5:15). — “Do not be foolish” — that is, do not show yourself to be such: the expression: mé ginesthe does not here give the thought that the Ephesian Christians were actually foolish. A person is foolish when he does not make proper use of his reason, and such Christians certainly were not, although they could become such. “Understand,” that is, try to determine in each case what God’s will is (according to other readings — the will of the Lord, that is, Christ’s).

Ephesians 5:18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, In order to clearly understand the demands of God’s will, it is necessary to eliminate everything that prevents a person from concentrating on himself. Here, first of all, such an obstacle is the passion for wine. Instead of, like pagans, becoming drunk with wine, in which the origin of “dissipation” or all kinds of lack of restraint (asotía) lies, Christians should “be filled with the Spirit,” that is, achieve fullness through the Spirit of God (en pneumáti). The Apostle seems to wish to say that Christians will have the desired fullness of joy, but they will receive this joy only by yielding themselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:19. speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; How can this fullness of true Christian spiritual joy be achieved? First, by turning to one another (the Russian translation incorrectly says: “edifying yourselves”) in various forms of Christian poetry: “psalms” — most likely, New Testament ones which the Christians of that time composed (see 1 Cor 14:26), “hymns” or hymns — also New Testament ones, and “spiritual songs” or, more precisely, odes, which are called “spiritual” because of their origin from the Holy Spirit (an example of such — 1 Cor 13) 21. Second, such a state is achieved by singing praises to the Lord Jesus Christ in one’s heart, and finally, third, by the constant offering of thanksgiving to God in the name of Christ. The last, that is, thanksgiving, is especially beneficial because the one who gives thanks, remembering the benefits of Christ, is held, so to speak, in that realm in which Christ Himself dwells.

Ephesians 5:21. submitting to one another in the fear of God. This verse represents a transition to the following exhortations addressed to wives, husbands, and other members of the Christian family. Eph 5:22-33. The Apostle prescribes to wives that they should obey their husbands, and to husbands he commands to love their wives to the point of willingness to lay down their lives for them, just as Christ gave himself up to death for the salvation of people. In doing so, the Apostle sets forth the teaching on Christian marriage as an image of the single, indissoluble union of Christ with the Church.

Ephesians 5:22. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord, “As to the Lord,” that is, your submission should be such as if it were submission to Christ himself, that is, such sincere submission, such complete submission.

Ephesians 5:23. for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. The basis for such submission is that the husband is the “Head of the wife” (see 1 Cor 11:8), having as his model Christ himself in his relation to the Church. — “He himself being...” that is, Christ is called the Head of the Church because He is its Savior (“of the body,” that is, of the Church).

Ephesians 5:24. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. “But as the church....” that is: but from this it follows (allá) that as the church.... “In everything” — of course, in what does not violate the requirements of Christian morality. — With regard to what the Apostle said about the relation of wife to husband, some theologians say that Paul’s ethics is not applicable to the needs of the present time. Everything that the Apostle said, they claim, was said with regard to the near approach of the end of the world and is not calculated for a prolonged existence of the Christian Church. Now the conditions of life are completely different from what existed in the time of the Apostles, and in particular, the position of women has undergone a fundamental change.... But such reasoning cannot be accepted. The ethics of the Apostle Paul has as its foundation the teaching of Christ, which for us Christians in all religious and moral questions remains the highest authority, all the more so since Christ in his life realized those moral demands that he proposes to all his followers. Furthermore. The ethics of the Apostle Paul is an organic expression of the Christian faith as it was proclaimed by Christ and the Apostles, and if this faith is preserved among modern Christianity, then with it the Apostolic morality must also be preserved.... Furthermore. Apostolic ethics is applicable to all times and circumstances because it is not a casuistic moral code that aims to regulate individual moral acts, but expresses only universal, great moral basic thoughts and principles, the application of which in individual cases is left to man himself and is possible under the most diverse circumstances. Finally, history teaches us that any deviation from the basic principles of New Testament ethics has been accompanied by dangerous consequences both for individuals and for society as a whole. Thus, it is necessary to acknowledge that New Testament morality in general and in particular the ethics of the Apostle Paul has an abiding, permanent significance in the life of Christians of all times. In particular, there is no reason to be troubled by the fact that the Apostle Paul here requires the submission of the wife to the husband, which contradicts modern teaching about female emancipation and equality of woman and man. First of all, it must be understood that the Apostle, and Christianity generally, does not wish to degrade woman. Christianity, on the contrary, freed woman from the servile position in which she found herself in the pre-Christian world, and recognized her religious and moral equality with man. If the Apostle subjects the woman to the man in the conditions of domestic life, he does this in accordance with God’s creative establishment, according to which both sexes have their own special advantages and limits of activity. The advantage of the husband is physical strength, intelligence, and will power; the advantage of the woman is inclination to practical pursuits, sensitivity, and energy of passivity. In accordance with this, it would be a complete injustice if the same obligations that apply to a man were to be imposed on a woman, and if she were to be granted the same rights that can only be granted to those bearing certain obligations, that is, to men: rights must always correspond to obligations, and where obligations are not fulfilled, rights cannot be granted. It follows that by divine ordinance the husband has preeminence in family life, because this preeminence is, properly speaking, a collection of certain obligations that are beyond the capacity of a wife. Moreover, the Apostle addresses himself to Christian wives who understand that their submission to their husbands is not something forced upon them, but is required of them because they see in the husband a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself invisibly and mysteriously present in the family (Eph 5:21). Since the wife obeys her husband “in the Lord,” — the question of women’s rights as a wife loses all its sharpness for her.

Ephesians 5:25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, Ephesians 5:26. so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word; Ephesians 5:27. that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. But if the husband is the Head of the wife and the wife is obliged to obey him, then — from here begins the exhortation to husbands — and husbands must proportionate their demands on wives with love. They must love their wives and love them just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. Thus the Apostle teaches husbands to self-sacrifice for the true benefit of their wives. But immediately, to avoid any misunderstanding and misinterpretation to which the Apostle’s requirement could be subjected from the side of wives, the Apostle indicates the limits which should determine this self-sacrifice of the husband. Christ, he says, through his self-sacrifice wished to sanctify the Church, having first cleansed it by “the washing of water” or the ablution received in the sacrament of baptism, “by the word,” that is, by means of the sacred formula pronounced in baptism: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Chrysostom, Theodoret). The final goal that Christ had in view was to make the Church pure and blameless and to place her beside himself as a bride on the day of his second coming, although she already now appears as such a bride to those capable of seeing her greatness (Rev 19:7). This means that the love of a husband for his wife should reach self-sacrifice only where it is a question of the true good of the wife: in all other cases, when a wife’s demands for the husband’s self-denial do not have such a basis, it would obviously be strange to require the husband to necessarily sacrifice himself for the wife.

Ephesians 5:28. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. Ephesians 5:29. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord cares for the Church, Ephesians 5:30. because we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. Here is a new explanation for why husbands should love their wives: wives constitute their husbands’ own bodies and form, by their origin, so to speak, an integral part of their own persons. But if this is so, then the wife can be called the “flesh” of her husband, and “flesh” everyone naturally and necessarily loves: no one will cause harm to his own organism by denying it necessary care (“nourishes and cherishes it”). So also Christ nourishes the Church as the bread of life (John 6:48) and cherishes her as a good shepherd his sheep. After all, we — the Apostle adds — are truly members of the body of Christ, originating from his flesh and from his bones, just as Eve originated from Adam’s rib. However, according to the explanation of St. John Chrysostom, the expression: “from his flesh” (“and from his bones”) simply indicates that we truly originated from Christ as from a new ancestor. One can add that we have Christ within us, carry, so to speak, in our new existence his kind and essence (Ewald).

Ephesians 5:31. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Ephesians 5:32. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Since the wife is the husband’s own body, it is natural or with a view to this — as it is said in the book of Genesis (Gen 2:24) — a “man,” that is, a husband, “will leave” or should leave, in accordance with God’s ordinance, his “father and mother” so as to devote himself entirely to his wife and to his family in general. This “mystery” of marriage, the union between man and woman, is extremely important, “great”: it is indeed difficult to understand how such an attraction was established between husband and wife. But the Apostle Paul does not wish to enter into a detailed exposition of it, but dwells only on the similarity of this mystery to the mystery of the relation of Christ to the Church. These relations resemble precisely the relations of husband to wife 22.

Ephesians 5:33. Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. “Nevertheless” — in Greek plén properly means: “however,” “but,” but also has the meaning of a simple transitional conjunction: “but.” “And” here instead of “so” and therefore we can put the conjunction “but.” The Apostle is so permeated with the thought of the importance of the mystery of marriage and the obligations connected with marriage of the husband that he considers it necessary to say it once more at the conclusion of his discourse on marriage. — “Must respect.” Here is not meant slavish fear, fear of punishment, but the fear that we feel when we think how not to offend a beloved person through our action. It is the same as voluntary submission 23. * * * Notes Sometimes among us is expressed the view that many vices are an inevitable consequence of cultural growth and should not be imputed as a fault to those infected with them. The Apostle, on the contrary, precisely defines all vices as a sinful phenomenon, which should not exist in Christian society, no matter what level of culture it reaches. Otherwise, Christians, who take so lightly the existence of vicious people in their midst, fall under the same condemnation as those people. In our time there exists a view according to which no one has the right to judge the moral character of one’s neighbor. Many say that morality is a personal matter of each, a private matter into which no one has the right and basis to interfere. Some lovers of drinking excessively even directly call it uninvited and unlawful interference in their affairs when a church pastor, for example, persuades them of the harm of excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages.... The Apostle takes a completely different view of the matter. In his conviction, in Christian society there is nothing “private” — everything has the closest connection with the whole. And therefore Christians are obliged to care for the moral condition of their neighbor and to influence him in certain cases through words of rebuke. Indeed, if one member of the body suffers, then all the other members suffer with him (1 Cor 12:26), and exactly the same happens in church society. The Apostle here wishes to say that everything vicious should not be the subject of conversation in Christian society. By this he condemns an entire cycle of contemporary literary works of fiction which choose as their subject various immoral phenomena of contemporary life. From the midst of Christian society must be driven out all, for example, novels that awaken unhealthy sensuality and teach the reader to take lightly the most immoral way of life. Although the Apostle does not forbid the use of wine in general (he says only that Christians should not get drunk), nevertheless he makes it clear that wine leads to all sorts of excesses and that, consequently, for many it is very dangerous, especially — let us add — because it is rare for anyone to determine for himself the “measure” of wine consumption at which wine would not produce sad consequences for him. “Fire is introduced into the blood even by a small quantity of wine” (Bishop Theophane). In the early Christian Church much was sung, as can be concluded from numerous passages of Christian hymns found, for example, in the epistles of the Apostle Paul. Pliny in his letter to Trajan says that Christians gather before sunrise and mutually sing a song to Christ as to God (Bogdashevsky, p. 623). Such hymn-singing was very helpful in maintaining Christian joy in the souls of people persecuted by the pagan government. There is no doubt that in our day as well good singing of religious and patriotic as well as other secular songs would serve well in the matter of the moral education of our people, in accordance with the saying: “where there is singing, there you can remain calm — evil people do not sing.” Thus, here is revealed the teaching on the marriage union. If we accept the thought that the Apostle here has in mind only marriages concluded in Christianity, then we can say that he here calls marriage a “mystery” in the sense of a church institution. But if we see here a definition of marriage in general and in particular concluded even in paganism, then we must understand the Apostle’s words as an expression of reverence before the greatness of the mystery which every marriage union represents, in whatever faith it is presumed. For the latter, it seems, speaks and the understanding that John Chrysostom held with regard to this passage. He says: “truly this is a great mystery, containing some ineffable wisdom” (see in Bogdashevsky, p. 643). That the verb “to fear” (phobéisthai) has here indeed such a meaning and not at all denote the position of the wife as a servant in the house of the husband is evident already from all that has been said above about the significance of marriage. Moreover, in classical Greek the verb phobéisthai sometimes has the meaning “to respect,” “to honor.” Thus, Plato says that we must phobéisthai to sóma — respect, honor the body (see in Ewald, p. 243).