Ephesians 5:28 Commentary and Bible Study

Just as Christ washes and cleanses his bride, the church, to prepare her to be his wife, so ought men to love their wives. But now a new thought is introduced which further strengthens the obligation on husbands. They are to love their wives as their own bodies. That is a degree of love which is completely outside of the ordinary. The relation between husband and wife is the closest possible relationship between human beings on earth. We must note that this is not just a useful and powerful simile – ‘Husbands, love your wives as if they were your own bodies’ – it is a command based on reality: ‘They really are your own bodies.’ It is a truth, says the apostle, that he who loves his wife loves himself, for the closeness of the relationship between them means that she has become a part of him. In a moment he will tell us the basis of this truth of one flesh, but first he explains how it should affect the husband’s behaviour towards their wives. Assuming the truth that husband and wife have become one flesh and that therefore the husband rightly regards the wife as his own body and joined to himself, Paul reasons that this new relationship means that it would be unnatural for a husband not to love his wife, for he would never treat his own body in that way. Just as a person – any sensible person – will attend to his own bodily needs, so he has to think of his wife as if she is his own body, an extension of himself, because in a sense she is, says the apostle.