Efésios 5

BLIVRE · Chapter 5/6

1Portanto, sede imitadores de Deus, como filhos amados;

2e andai em amor, como também Cristo nos amou, e se entregou por nós como oferta e sacrifício de cheiro suave a Deus.

3Mas o pecado sexual, e toda impureza ou cobiça, nem mesmo se nomeie entre vós, como convém a santos;

4nem imoralidades, nem palavras tolas, nem escárnios, que não convêm; em vez disso, atos de gratidão.

5Pois sabeis disto, que nenhum pecador no sexo, ou impuro, ou ganancioso, que é idólatra, tem herança no reino de Cristo e de Deus.

6Ninguém vos engane com palavras vazias; pois por essas coisas a ira de Deus vem sobre os filhos da desobediência.

7Portanto não sejais parceiros deles.

8Pois antes vós éreis trevas, mas agora [sois] luz no Senhor; andai como filhos da luz

9(porque o fruto do Espírito[consiste] em toda bondade, justiça, e verdade),

10buscando descobrir o que agrada ao Senhor.

11E não participeis das obras infrutíferas das trevas, pelo contrário, reprovai-as.

12pois é vergonhoso até dizer o que eles fazem em segredo.

13Mas todas essas coisas, quando são reprovadas, tornam-se visíveis pela luz, porque tudo o que se se torna visível é luz.

14Por isso se diz: Desperta tu, que dormes, e levanta-te dos mortos, e Cristo te iluminará.

15Portanto vede cuidadosamente como vos conduzis, não como tolos, mas sim como sábios;

16aproveitai o tempo, porque os dias são maus.

17Por isso, não sejais imprudentes, mas entendei qual é a vontade do Senhor.

18E não fiqueis bêbados com vinho, em que há devassidão, mas enchei-vos do Espírito;

19falando entre vós com salmos, hinos e cânticos espirituais; cantando e louvando ao Senhor no vosso coração;

20agradecendo sempre por tudo a Deus, o Pai, no nome do nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo;

21sujeitando-vos uns aos outros no temor a Deus.

22Mulheres, sujeitai-vos aos vossos próprios maridos, assim como ao Senhor;

23porque o marido é o cabeça da mulher, como também Cristo é o cabeça da Igreja, e ele é o salvador do corpo.

24Mas, assim como a Igreja está sujeita a Cristo, assim também as mulheres [estejam] em tudo sujeitas aos seus próprios maridos.

25Maridos, amai as vossas próprias esposas, assim como também Cristo amou a Igreja, e se entregou por ela;

26a fim de a santificar, havendo [a] purificado com a lavagem com água, pela palavra,

27a fim de apresentar a si mesmo uma igreja gloriosa, sem mancha, nem ruga, nem algo semelhante; mas sim, santa e irrepreensível.

28Assim os maridos devem amar as suas próprias esposas como os seus próprios corpos. Quem ama a sua esposa, ama a si mesmo;

29pois ninguém jamais odiou a sua própria carne; mas a alimenta e sustenta, assim como também o Senhor à Igreja.

30pois somos membros de seu corpo, da sua carne, e dos seus ossos.

31Por isso o homem deixará oseu pai e [a sua] mãe, e se ajuntará com a sua mulher; e os dois serão uma [só] carne.

32Esse é um grande mistério, mas estou dizendo quanto a Cristo e à Igreja.

33Assim também vós, cada um individualmente, ame a sua própria esposa como a si mesmo, e a mulher respeite o marido.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul exhorts the Ephesians to imitate God by living in love and purity, avoiding behaviors typical of spiritual darkness, and to be filled with the Spirit rather than getting drunk. He then instructs them on the relationship between husbands and wives, comparing it to the relationship between Christ and the church.

Explanation

The first part of the chapter continues the practical ethical instructions, contrasting life “as children of light” with behaviors of immorality and greed associated with “darkness.” The instruction to be “filled with the Spirit” (v.18), in contrast to drunkenness, suggests a life governed by a positive spiritual influence, expressed through communal praise and gratitude. The section on marriage, though it reflects patriarchal social structures common at the time, is radical at its core: it requires husbands to love their wives “as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” — an extraordinarily high standard of sacrificial love by first-century cultural norms, when husbands were rarely called to such a level of self-giving. The application today focuses on the central principle of mutual love, sacrifice, and respect within marriage, in light of the relationship between Christ and his church.

Fun facts

  • The quotation from Genesis 2:24 about a man leaving his father and mother and being joined to his wife, becoming “one flesh” (v.31), is applied by Paul as a profound analogy (“this is a great mystery,” v.32) for the union between Christ and the church.
  • The custom of singing 'psalms and hymns and spiritual songs' (v.19) mentioned here is one of the earliest references to organized congregational music in the early Christian communities.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Efésios 5:1Paul asks the Ephesians to imitate the very character of God, as a child naturally imitates its parents, linking this request to the sacrificial love of Christ described in the next verse.
  2. Efésios 5:2‘An offering and a sacrifice... for a sweetsmelling savour’ uses the language of Temple sacrifices, where the rising smoke was described as pleasing to God. Paul applies this expression to Christ’s giving of Himself on the cross.
  3. Efésios 5:3Paul asks that certain sins not even be mentioned among Christians as though normal: sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness, behaviors common in the pagan cults and customs of the time.
  4. Efésios 5:4Paul extends the list to speech: no filthy language or crude jokes, proposing instead a habit of giving thanks.
  5. Efésios 5:5Paul drives home a serious point: whoever practices these sins, with covetousness treated as a form of idolatry, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
  6. Efésios 5:6Paul warns against talk that tries to soften or justify these behaviors, cautioning that they bring the wrath of God upon those who practice them without a care.
  7. Efésios 5:7Paul asks that the Ephesians not associate, not become partners, with people who live out the kind of behavior described in the previous verses.
  8. Efésios 5:8Paul uses the image of light and darkness to describe the change of life: once darkness, now light, which requires living according to this new identity.
  9. Efésios 5:9Paul pauses to explain in a parenthesis: the result of living as “children of light” is a fruit made up of goodness, righteousness, and truth.
  10. Efésios 5:10Paul sums up the practical test of this life of light: continually discerning what truly pleases the Lord, instead of following automatic habits.
  11. Efésios 5:11Paul asks Christians not to take part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead to expose those practices as wrong.
  12. Efésios 5:12Paul remarks that certain things done in secret by those who live in darkness are so shameful that it is embarrassing even to speak of them in detail.
  13. Efésios 5:13Paul describes the effect of light on what is hidden: once exposed, it becomes visible and clear, revealing what it truly is.
  14. Efésios 5:14Paul quotes what appears to be a fragment of an ancient Christian hymn, a call to “awake” and rise, promising that Christ will give light to whoever answers that call.
  15. Efésios 5:15Paul calls for attention to one’s way of life, contrasting those who act without thinking (“fools”) with those who make decisions wisely.
  16. Efésios 5:16Paul asks them to make the most of the time available, “redeeming the time,” an expression that suggests seizing every opportunity, especially since they live in an evil age.
  17. Efésios 5:17Paul links practical wisdom to truly understanding what God wants, avoiding acting foolishly out of mere habit or impulse.
  18. Efésios 5:18Paul contrasts being drunk with wine, associated with the unrestrained festivities of the pagan cults of the time, with being filled with the Holy Spirit, both described as a kind of being “taken over” by something, but with opposite effects.
  19. Efésios 5:19Paul describes a concrete way of living filled with the Spirit, mentioned in the previous verse: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with the heart to the Lord.
  20. Efésios 5:20Paul continues describing this Spirit-filled life: constant thankfulness to God the Father for everything, done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  21. Efésios 5:21Paul introduces the principle that opens the entire following section on marriage, parents, and servants: mutual submission among Christians, motivated by reverence for God, not imposed from the top down.
  22. Efésios 5:22This passage about wives submitting to their husbands is another one that divides interpreters today. In context, it follows directly from the previous verse, which calls for mutual submission among all Christians, and it uses the relationship between Christ and the church as its model.
  23. Efésios 5:23Paul justifies the instruction of the previous verse by comparing the relationship between husband and wife to the relationship between Christ and the church, with Christ also described as the savior of the body.
  24. Efésios 5:24Paul applies the comparison directly: just as the church submits to Christ, he asks wives to submit to their own husbands in everything, within the social context of the first century.
  25. Efésios 5:25Paul asks husbands for a love that gives itself even to the point of sacrifice, modeled on Christ’s love for the church, an unusual demand for the time, when Roman custom gave a husband authority over his wife without requiring this kind of reciprocal self-giving.
  26. Efésios 5:26Paul describes the purpose of Christ’s love for the church: to sanctify her, cleansing her, using the image of the ritual washing accompanied by the word preached.
  27. Efésios 5:27Paul continues the image: the final goal is to present the church to Himself, radiant and without flaw, like a bride perfectly prepared.
  28. Efésios 5:28Paul applies the same logic of sacrificial love to husbands: love your wife as you love your own body, because caring for her is, in a sense, caring for yourself.
  29. Efésios 5:29Paul reinforces the argument with a simple observation: no one ever hated his own body; everyone nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
  30. Efésios 5:30Paul justifies the previous comparison: Christians are described as members of Christ’s own body, of His flesh and of His bones, a deep connection, not just a loose figure of speech.
  31. Efésios 5:31Paul quotes the text from Genesis about marriage — a man leaving father and mother to be joined to his wife, the two becoming “one flesh” — setting up the ground to call this a mystery in the next verse.
  32. Efésios 5:32Paul cites the Genesis text about a man leaving father and mother to be joined to his wife, and calls this “a great mystery,” applying the image of marriage to the relationship between Christ and the church.
  33. Efésios 5:33Paul sums up the whole section in one closing sentence: each husband should love his own wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband, closing the teaching on marriage.

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