CHAPTER V. _Christians should imitate their heavenly Father, and walk in_ _love, after the example of Christ_, 1, 2. _They should avoid all uncleanness, impurity, covetousness, and_ _foolish jesting, and idolatry, because these things exclude_ _from the kingdom of God_, 3-7. _The Ephesians wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ephesians 5:2. _AND WALK IN LOVE_] Let every act of life be dictated by love to God and man. _AS CHRIST - HATH LOVED US_] Laying down your lives for your brethren if necessary; counting nothing too difficult to be done in order to promote their eternal salvation. _HATH GIVEN HIMSELF FOR US_]... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ephesians 5:3. _BUT FORNICATION_] It is probable that the _three_ terms used here by the apostle refer to different species of the same thing. The word _fornication_, πορνεια, may imply not only _fornication_ but _adultery_ also, as it frequently does; _uncleanness,_ ακαθαρσια may refer to al... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ephesians 5:4. _NEITHER FILTHINESS_] αισχροτης. Any thing base or vile in words or acts. _FOOLISH TALKING_] μωρολογια. Scurrility, buffoonery, ridicule, or what tends to expose another to contempt. _NOR JESTING_] ευτραπελια. Artfully turned discourses or words, from ευ, _well_ or _easily_, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ephesians 5:5. _FOR THIS YE KNOW_] Ye must be convinced of the dangerous and ruinous tendency of such a spirit and conduct, when ye know that persons of this character can never inherit the kingdom of God. Ephesians 5:3, Ephesians 5:3; and see the observations on the _Greek article_ at the end... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ephesians 5:6. _LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU_] Suffer no man to persuade you that any of these things are innocent, or that they are unavoidable frailties of human nature; they are all _sins_ and _abominations_ in the sight of God; those who practise them are _children of disobedience_; and on accou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _BE NOT YE THEREFORE PARTAKERS WITH THEM_] Do not act as your fellow citizens do; nor suffer their philosophy, to it in _vain words_, κενοις λογοις, with _empty_ and illusive _doctrines_, to lead you astray from the path of truth. That there was much need for such directions and cautions... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _FOR YE WERE SOMETIMES_ (ΠΟΤΕ, _FORMERLY_) _DARKNESS_] While ye lived in darkness, ye lived in these crimes. _BUT NOW_ are ye _light in the Lord_] When ye were in heathenish _darkness_ ye served divers lusts and pleasures, but now ye have the _light_-the wisdom and teaching which come from... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _FOR THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT_] Instead of _Spirit_, πνευματος, ABD*EFG, the _Syriac, Coptic, Sahidic, AEthiopic,_ _Armenian, Vulgate_, and _Itala_, together with several of the _fathers_, read φωτος, _light_, which is supposed by most critics to be the _true_ reading, because there is no m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _PROVING WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE_] By walking in the light-under the influence of the Divine Spirit, according to the dictates of the Gospel, ye shall be able to _try_, and bring to _full_ _proof_, that by which God is best pleased. Ye shall be able to please him well in all things.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _HAVE NO FELLOWSHIP_] Have no religious connection whatever with heathens or their worship. _UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS_] Probably alluding to the _mysteries_ among the heathens, and the different lustrations and rites through which the _initiated_ went in the caves and dark recesses w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _FOR IT IS A SHAME EVEN TO SPEAK_] This no doubt refers to the _Eleusinian_ and _Bacchanalian_ mysteries, which were performed in the night and darkness, and were known to be so impure and abominable, especially the _latter_, that the Roman senate banished them both from Rome and Italy. Ho... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _BUT ALL THINGS THAT ARE REPROVED_] Dr. Macknight paraphrases this verse as follows: "_Now all these reprovable_ _actions_, ελεγχομενα, which are practised in celebrating these mysteries, _are made manifest_ as sinful _by the Gospel_; and, seeing _every thing which discovers the true natur... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _WHEREFORE HE SAITH_] It is a matter of doubt and controversy whence this saying is derived. Some think it taken from Isaiah 26:19: _Thy dead men shall live; with my dead body shall they arise; Awake_ _and sing, ye that dwell in the dust_, c. Others think that it is taken from Isaiah 60:1... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY_] Our word _circumspect_, from the Latin _circirmspicio_, signifies to look round about on all hands; to be every way watchful, wary, and cautious, in order to avoid danger, discern enemies before they come too nigh, and secure a man's interest by every possible and la... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _REDEEMING THE TIME_] Εξαγοραζομενοι τον καιρον· Buying up those moments which others seem to throw away; steadily improving every present moment, that ye may, in some measure, _regain_ the time ye have _lost_. Let _time_ be your chief commodity; deal in that alone; buy it all up, and use... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _WHEREFORE BE YE NOT UNWISE_] Μη γινεσθε αφρονες· _Do_ _not become madmen_. Here is a most evident allusion to the _orgies_ _of Bacchus_, in which his votaries acted like madmen; running about, tossing their heads from shoulder to shoulder, appearing to be in every sense completely frantic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _BE NOT DRUNK WITH WINE, WHEREIN IS EXCESS_] This is a farther allusion to the _Bacchanalian mysteries_; in them his votaries got drunk, and ran into all manner of excesses. _Plato_, though he forbade _drunkenness_ in general, yet allowed that the people should get drunk in the solemnities... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _SPEAKING TO YOURSELVES IN PSALMS_] We can scarcely say what is the exact difference between these three expressions. _Psalms_, ψαλμοι, may probably mean those of David. _HYMNS_] υμνοις. Extemporaneous effusions in praise of God, uttered under the influence of the Divine Spirit, or a sens... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _GIVING THANKS ALWAYS_] God is continually loading you with his benefits; you _deserve_ nothing of his kindness; therefore give him thanks for his unmerited bounties. _GOD AND THE FATHER_] That is: God, who is your Father, and the Father of mercies. See the observations on the _Greek arti... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 21. _SUBMITTING - ONE TO ANOTHER_] Let no man be so tenacious of his own will or his opinion in matters indifferent, as to disturb the peace of the Church; in all such matters _give_ _way_ to each other, and let _love_ rule. _IN THE FEAR OF GOD._] Setting him always before your eyes, and cons... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _WIVES, SUBMIT YOURSELVES UNTO YOUR OWN HUSBANDS_] As the _Lord_, viz. _Christ_, is the _head_ or governor of the _Church_, and the head of the man, so is the man the _head_ or _governor_ of the _woman_. This is God's ordinance, and should not be transgressed. The husband should not be a _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _FOR THE HUSBAND IS THE HEAD OF THE WIFE_] This is the reason which the apostle gives for his injunctions. See above. _HE IS THE SAVIOUR OF THE BODY._] As Christ exercises authority over the Church so as to _save_ and _protect_ it, so let the husband exercise authority over his wife by _p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _IN EVERY THING._] That is, every _lawful thing_; for it is not intimated that they should obey their husbands in any thing _criminal_, or in any thing detrimental to the _interests of their_ _souls_. The husband may be profligate, and may wish his wife to become such also; he may be an en... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES_] Here is a grand rule, according to which every husband is called to act: _Love your wife_ _as Christ loved the Church_. But _how_ did Christ love the Church? _He gave himself for it_-he laid down his life for it. So then husbands should, if necessary, lay down... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _THAT HE MIGHT SANCTIFY AND CLEANSE IT_] The Church is represented as the _spouse of Christ_, as the woman is the _spouse_ of the man; and, to prepare this Church for himself, he _washes,_ _cleanses_, and _sanctifies_ it. There is certainly an allusion here to the ancient method of _purif... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _THAT HE MIGHT PRESENT IT TO HIMSELF_] It was usual to bring the royal bride to the king in the most _sumptuous apparel_; and is there not here an allusion to Psalms 45:13; Psalms 45:14: _The king's daughter_ (Pharaoh's) is _all glorious within, her_ _clothing is of wrought gold; she shall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _AS THEIR OWN BODIES_] For the woman is, properly speaking, a _part_ of the man; for God made man _male and female_, and the woman was taken out of his side; therefore is she _flesh of his_ _flesh, and bone of his bone_; and therefore, he that loveth his wife loveth himself, for they two a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _NO MAN EVER YET HATED HIS OWN FLESH_] And this is a natural reason why he should love his wife, and nourish and cherish her.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _WE ARE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY_] He has partaken of _our_ nature, as we have partaken of the nature of _Adam_. And as he is the head of the Church and the Saviour of this _body_; so we, being members of the Church, are members of his mystical body. That is, we are united to him by one Spirit... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _SHALL BE JOINED UNTO HIS WIFE_] προσκολληθησεται. He shall be _glued_ or _cemented_ to her; and, as a _well-glued_ board will sooner _break_ in the _whole wood_ than in the _glued joint_, so death alone can _part_ the husband and wife; and nothing but _death_ should dissolve their _affect... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _THIS IS A GREAT MYSTERY_] τομυστηριον τουτο μεγα εστιν. _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. B... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ephesians 5:33. _NEVERTHELESS_] πλην. _Moreover_, or _therefore_, on the consideration of God's design in the institution of marriage, let every one of you love his wife as himself, because she is both _naturally_ and by a _Divine ordinance_ a part of himself. _THAT SHE REVERENCE_ HER _HUSBAN... [ Continue Reading ]