Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Study Note
Study Note
Paul's instruction to husbands to 'love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it' introduces a christological analogy that fundamentally redefines the cultural expectations of husbands in first-century Roman-Greek domestic life. In Greco-Roman household codes (haustafeln), the husband's authority was assumed and the wife's subordination enjoined; Paul's unique contribution is to model marital headship on Christ's self-giving rather than on social dominance. The use of agapaō rather than eros or philia for marital love elevates the standard to covenantal, sacrificial commitment rather than affectionate attachment or erotic desire. The passage is central to contemporary Christian debates about gender, mutual submission (v. 21), and the relationship between christological pattern and household ethics.
Other Translations
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;
The husbands! love your own wives, as also the Christ did love the assembly, and did give himself for it,
Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it;
Cross References
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be …
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for …
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which …
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, …
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which …
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will …
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and …