RSV ~ Ephesians 5 Notes

Eph 5:1 | ISB Notes

imitators of God: A challenge to love as God loves and to forgive as God has forgiven us (Mt 5:44-48; Lk 6:36; CCC 1694).

Eph 5:2 | ISB Notes

gave himself up: Jesus died as a priest who made his life a willing sacrifice. Paul explains this in cultic terms drawn from the OT.

• Just as the priests of biblical history burned animals upon altars as a pleasing aroma to the Lord (Gen 8:20-21; Ex 29:18), so Jesus offered himself on the Cross as an ascending sacrifice of love to the Father (Heb 7:26-27; 10:8-10). We share in Christ’s priestly ministry by offering to the Father acceptable sacrifices of our time, talents, and treasures in the liturgy of everyday life (Rom 12:1; 2 Cor 2:15) (CCC 614).

Eph 5:3 | ISB Notes

immorality: The Greek expression refers to fornication or sexual misconduct. Christians are forbidden to practice, think about, speak about, or even joke about such obscenities (5:4, 12). Christ has erected a high standard of chastity that restricts all sexual activity to the private quarters of lawful marriage (Heb 13:4).

Eph 5:5 | ISB Notes

an idolater: Any time we love and desire the world more than we love God, we make it an idol (Mt 6:24). The equation between covetousness and idolatry is also made in Col 3:5.

has any inheritance: Sins of impurity are so grave that sexual offenders risk forfeiting heaven altogether. So unless the transgressor repents, he will perish with his illicit pleasures when “the wrath of God comes” at the Last Judgment (5:6). Notice that Paul is warning believers of this danger, implying that salvation, once attained, can still be lost (CCC 1861, 2351-59).

Eph 5:14 | ISB Notes

Awake, O sleeper: Possibly an excerpt from an ancient baptismal hymn. It resonates with the surrounding themes of light, symbolic of purity and truth, and darkness, symbolic of sin and ignorance (5:7-13). The summons to arise from the dead is a call to break away from the sinful world and live as children of light (5:7-8; 2 Cor 6:14) (CCC 1695).

Eph 5:16 | ISB Notes

making the most: Paul urges us to make prudent use of our time by seizing every opportunity to do good. Although we cannot lengthen time or add to our span of life, we can discipline ourselves to use our time more wisely and to fill it more fully (Col 4:5).

Eph 5:18 | ISB Notes

do not get drunk: Christians are called to live sober and respectable lives. For drunkenness opens the door to all kinds of dissipation (Prov 20:1), but sobriety enables us to live under the influence of the Spirit (Rom 8:5-11). Note that Paul advocates temperance and not strict abstinence from alcohol (1 Tim 5:23; CCC 1809).

• The command is taken from the Greek version of Prov 23:31.

Eph 5:21 | ISB Notes

subject to one another: This verse marks a transition into Paul’s teaching on family life.

He calls for mutual submission within the network of relationships that follow: husbands and wives (5:22-25), parents and children (6:1-4), slaves and masters (6:5-9). The submission Paul enjoins in these various circumstances is reciprocal although not strictly identical, for the commands given to husbands, fathers, and masters are different from those given to wives, children, and slaves. For similar household codes, see Col 3:18-4:1 and 1 Pet 2:13-3:12 (CCC 1642).

Eph 5:22-33 | ISB Notes

Paul views Christian marriage through the lens of Christ’s covenant love for the Church. This analogy of faith highlights (1) the indissolubility of Christian marriage, since Christ will never withdraw from the Church or disown her, (2) the sacramentality of Christian marriage, since marital love is a living sign of Christ’s love for the Church, and (3) the reciprocity of Christian marriage, since the Church submits to Christ’s leadership even as Christ the bridegroom acquiesces to the prayers of his beloved bride.

• The marital union between Christ and the Church in the New Covenant (2 Cor 11:2; Rev 19:7-9) recalls the marriage covenant between Yahweh and Israel in the Old Covenant (Is 54:5-8; Hos 2:16-20) (CCC 1612, 1641).

Eph 5:22 | ISB Notes

Wives, be subject: The Greek implies her submission is free and voluntary, not degrading, servile, or coercive (Col 3:18; Tit 2:5; 1 Pet 3:1). Since a wife entrusts herself to her husband as part of her devotion to the Lord, her submission cannot be unconditional, especially if her husband commands what God expressly forbids (Acts 5:29). Though ancient society often viewed wives as the property of their husbands, Paul sees marriage as a loving partnership between spouses of equal dignity (Gal 3:28).

Eph 5:25 | ISB Notes

Husbands, love: The husband’s mission is to build up his marriage and family, not to dominate or demean them for selfish ends. His model is Christ, whose love was put into action by sacrifice. Again, Paul confronts prevailing customs, where husbands often reigned like tyrants over their household (Col 3:19; 1 Pet 3:7).

Eph 5:26 | ISB Notes

washing of water: A reference to Baptism, which cleanses the soul of sin and beautifies it with grace (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor 6:11; Tit 3:5). The accompanying word refers to the baptismal formula spoken as the sacrament is administered (Mt 28:19) or possibly to the cleansing power of the gospel (Jn 15:3). According to Jewish marital custom, brides were presented to their bridegrooms after bathing and adorning themselves (CCC 1228).

• Paul’s comments recall the symbolic imagery of Ezek 16:8-14, where Yahweh entered a covenant of marriage with Jerusalem after bathing her in water and clothing her with beautiful garments. In the new economy, Christ weds the Church to himself after cleansing her in Baptism and clothing her with the fine linen of righteous deeds (Rev 19:78) (CCC 1617).

Eph 5:27 | ISB Notes

without spot or wrinkle: Evokes the image of a garment that is clean and pressed.

Eph 5:29 | ISB Notes

nourishes: The concern of a husband to meet his physical needs should likewise bring him to cherish his wife.

• The close connection drawn between a man’s flesh and a man’s wife stems from Genesis, where the Lord used Adam’s own flesh and bone to form his bride, Eve (Gen 2:21-23).

• Paul’s allusion to Adam and Eve implies a greater truth about Christ. He, too, fashions his bride, the Church, by giving her the sacramental substance of his own flesh and blood in the Eucharist. This is what makes the Church his own flesh (CCC 757, 1003). See note on Jn 19:34.

Eph 5:31 | ISB Notes

two shall become one: A citation from Gen 2:24.

• Genesis recounts the institution of marriage, between the first couple, Adam and Eve. Despite God’s intention that this covenant be a permanent, fruitful, and exclusive bond of companionship, numerous deviations from the divine plan have marred its beauty over the centuries (e.g., polygamy, divorce, adultery, concubinage). Christ came to redeem marriage from these aberrations, restore its original dignity, and enrich it with sacramental grace (Mt 19:3-9) (CCC 1605, 1615-16).

Eph 5:32 | ISB Notes

mystery: Marriage is an earthly image of the heavenly union between Christ and the Church. This spiritual symbolism was hidden from the beginning in the marital covenant and is now manifest in the New Covenant. Saint Jerome rendered the Greek word for “mystery” as sacramentum (sacrament) in the original Latin Vulgate (CCC 774-76).

See word study: Mystery at Eph 3:3.