Ephesians 5:32

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

30We are like the parts of Christ's body. 31The Bible says this: ‘When a man marries, he leaves his father and his mother. Instead, God joins the man and his wife together. The two people become like one body.’ This is God's secret and it is difficult to understand. But I am saying that it teaches us about Christ and the church. 33But each one of you husbands should understand this: love your own wife as you love yourself. And every wife among you must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:32 word by word

τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν, ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• a greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• mysteryὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• mysteryμυστήριονmustērion · mysteryG3466
• butδέde · thenG1161
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• speakλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• concerningεἰςeis · towardG1519
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the churchἐκκλησίαekklēsia · assemblyG1577

Cross-references for Ephesians 5:32

• Ephesians 6:19Please pray for me, too. Pray that God will give me the right message to speak. Pray that I will not be afraid to tell people about God's good news. Pray that I can explain God's secret to them.
• Colossians 2:2I want all the believers to become strong in their spirits. I want them to help each other because they love one another. Then God will bless them very much, because they understand God's secret message very well. They will be completely sure of it. And they will know Christ himself, who is God's secret.
• 1 Timothy 3:8In the same way, deacons must live good lives, so that people respect them. They must not be hypocrites. They must not drink too much wine. They must not want to get a lot of money for themselves.
• Psalms 45:9The daughters of kings are among your visitors. Your royal bride stands at your right hand. She is wearing gold from Ophir.
• Isaiah 54:5Now your Maker is your husband. His name is the Lord Almighty. Israel's Holy God is your Redeemer. He is called, ‘The God who rules the whole earth’.
• Isaiah 62:4They will no longer call you by the name ‘Alone’. They will not call your land ‘Empty place’. Instead, they will call you ‘The one that makes God happy’. The name of your land will be ‘Married’. Yes, the Lord will be very happy with you. Your land will be his bride.
• John 3:29When a man marries a wife, she belongs to him. The man's special friend listens carefully. He wants to know when the man will arrive. That friend is very happy when he hears the man's voice. I am like that friend, so I am completely happy now.
• 2 Corinthians 11:2God wants to keep you for himself. And that is what I want too. I have brought you to Christ, like a pure bride who marries one husband. I want you to be pure and to belong only to him.
• Revelation 19:7We must shout with joy because we are so happy! We will say that God is great! The time has come for the Lamb's wedding party. His bride has prepared herself.
• Revelation 21:2I saw God's own holy city, called the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was very beautiful, like a bride who is wearing beautiful clothes, ready to meet 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

• Church
• Fellowship
• Husband
• Marriage
• Righteous

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Arise
• Awake
• Dear
• Ephesians, Epistle to
• Fellowship
• Flesh
• Fruit
• Light

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