Ephesians 5:14
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Study Note
Study Note
'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you' — this appears to be a fragment of early Christian baptismal poetry, introduced with 'therefore it says' (dio legei), though its source in Scripture or early liturgy remains debated. The imagery of awakening from sleep and rising from the dead echoes the baptismal theology of Romans 6:3–5 and Colossians 2:12–13, where baptism is sacramentally identified with death and resurrection. The phrase 'Christ shall give you light' (epiphausei soi ho Christos) may echo Isaiah 60:1–2 ('arise, shine, for your light has come') and frames conversion as illumination by the divine presence. In Ephesians 5's paraenetic context, the verse marks the transition from darkness to light as the paradigmatic boundary between pagan past and Christian present.
Other Translations
Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
wherefore he saith, `Arouse thyself, thou who art sleeping, and arise out of the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.'
For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.
Cross References
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth …
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; …
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in …
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that …
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand …
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon …