American Standard Version
Ephesians 5:32
32This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.
Ephesians 5:32 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
- New International Version (NIV)This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
- English Standard Version (ESV)This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
- New King James Version (NKJV)This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Context of Ephesians 5:32
30because we are members of his body. 31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church. 33Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear her husband.
Read all of Ephesians 5Ephesians 5:32 word by word
τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν, ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Ephesians 5:32
- Ephesians 6:19and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
- Colossians 2:2that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, even Christ,
- 1 Timothy 3:8Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
- Psalms 45:9Kings’ daughters are among thy honorable women: At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
- Isaiah 54:5For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
- Isaiah 62:4Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah; for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
- John 3:29He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is made full.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Revelation 19:7Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
- Revelation 21:2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Commentaries on Ephesians 5:32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 32This is a great mystery - · This mystery is great. Sacramentum hoc magnum est; this sacrament is great. - Vulgate. And on the evidence of this version the Church of Rome has made matrimony a sacrament, which, as they use it, is no meaning of the original. By mystery, here, we may understand a natural thing by which some spiritual matter is signified, which signification the Spirit of God alone can give. So, here, the creation and union of Adam and Eve…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 32This is a great mystery - The Latin Vulgate translates this, “sacramentum hoc magnum est” - “this is a great sacrament” - and this is the proof, I suppose, and the only proof adduced by the papists that marriage is a “sacrament.” But the original here conveys no such idea. The word “mystery” - ́ mustērion- means something which is concealed, hidden, before unknown; something into which one must be “initiated” or instructed before he can understand it. It…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-33Verses 22-33 The duty of wives is, submission to their husbands in the Lord, which includes honouring and obeying them, from a principle of love to them. The duty of husbands is to love their wives. The love of Christ to the church is an example, which is sincere, pure, and constant, notwithstanding her failures. Christ gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify it in this world, and glorify it in the next, that he might bestow on all his members…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 32This mystery is profound: Both the unity of husband and wife and the unity of Christ and the church are a great mystery(see study note on 1:8–10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3232. Rather, "This mystery is a great one." This profound truth, beyond man's power of discovering, but now revealed, namely, of the spiritual union of Christ and the Church, represented by the marriage union, is a great one, of deep import. See on Ep 5:30. So "mystery" is used of a divine truth not to be discovered save by revelation of God (Ro 11:25; 1Co 15:51). The Vulgate wrongly translates, "This is a great sacrament," which is made the plea by the…Read the comment
Topics related to Ephesians 5:32
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ephesians 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries