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Eph.5:1. So, imitate God, like beloved children, Just as the Lord loved you, so love your brother and imitate God as much as possible. And here you cannot refuse poverty and say: if I let you go, I will suffer a loss; but forgive the sinner freely and without cost, and you have already received a great benefit, that is, you have begun to imitate God. Then he points to another, more noble reason. “Like children,” he says, “beloved,” that is, you have another need to imitate your Father. And since not all children imitate their father, he added: “beloved”; because such imitate their fathers. Eph.5:2. and live in love, just as Christ loved us 12 and gave himself for us 13 as an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet savour. This is the basis of everything: because when there is love, then there will be no shouting, no rage, no slander, but all this will be destroyed. That's why he put the most important thing at the end. It also teaches us that from which we became children of God, namely: from love. Therefore, we must take care of her as a source of divine adoption. Just as we, having benefited from some medicine in illness, respect even the very name of this medicine, so we should value love, because as a result of it the Lord gave Himself for us. But He gave Himself for his enemies, and you will forgive your friends. Therefore, you will then truly imitate Christ when you do good to your enemies. For then only the word “how” will retain its meaning. To die for enemies is a sacrifice and “a sweet aroma,” which is what Christ became when he accepted death for us, our enemies. This is what it means to imitate God. Eph.5:3. But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness should not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Having spoken about the severe passion - anger, he moved on to the lesser evil - lust, like the legislator, saying: “Thou shalt not kill,” which refers to anger, then decreed: “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” which refers to lust. For just as bitterness, shouting and slander are manifestations of anger, so fornication, uncleanness and covetousness come from lust: for for the same reason they loved money and the body. So, even if you don’t even talk about it, be completely pure, because words pave the way to deeds. Therefore, if you are holy, let your tongue also be holy. Adds the following. Eph.5:4. Also, foul language and idle talk and ridicule are not becoming for you, but, on the contrary, thanksgiving; How he rejected the cry, the support of anger; so now he eliminates “foul language and idle talk” as a support for fornication. Avoid, he says, joking and shameful speech, and you will extinguish the flame of fornication. Then, in order not to seem heavy and stern, stopping the inclination to joke, he added the reason for this, saying: “not befitting you,” that is, it does not suit you at all. Just as a shoemaker will not undertake to do anything that is not related to his craft, so a Christian, being a saint, should not say anything inconsistent with holiness, because it is useless and indecent to us. But if you wish to say anything, then let every word you say be thanksgiving. And if you become accustomed to thanksgiving, you will remember who you were and what you have become, and you will grieve over your crime and marvel at Him who has honored you with such benefits, and you will find it inconvenient to say anything else. For the present time is not a time of laughter and jokes, but of sorrow and struggle. The enemy walks around, gnashing his teeth at you, and you are amused and joking? It is difficult for you to overcome him even when you fight him bravely, isn’t it much more so when you indulge in fun? What is a joker? This is a frivolous person, doing everything like an actor, constantly changing his speech; and this is a property of a mind that is fickle and alien to those who serve the Stone. Eph.5:5. for know that no one is fornicator, or unclean, or covetous; whoever is an idolater has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Eph.5:6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, There were probably some among the Ephesians who said that God, wanting to frighten, forbade these minor sins. What is bad in a word, so that the fool who uttered it would be guilty of Gehenna? And how is a covetous person an idolater? It is to them that the apostle alludes here. This is also evident from the addition: “let no one deceive you with empty words.” For words are vain; they give temporary pleasure, but turn out to be unsuitable for action; to lavish such words is deception. And understand from this that the covetous is an idolater: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Indeed, the covetous man has retreated from God and serves gold; How then is he not an idolater after this? And if he says that he did not set up idols, what of this? For even the more educated Hellenes said that they worship not idols, but Aphrodite and Ares, and these are passions. But the covetous man does not slaughter sheep, but he slaughters people and reasonable souls. The Hellene worshiped the creatures of God, but the covetous worships his own ghost. It was not God who created covetousness, but our gluttony. And I think Paul said this, borrowing from David, but in a different way. While he said: “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold” (Ps. 113:12), Paul, in his great wisdom, changed this, calling silver and gold idols. So, he who serves silver and gold is, without a doubt, an idolater. for for this reason the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience; Either because of fornication, uncleanness and idolatry, or because of such speeches of deceivers. He calls “sons” of “resistance” those who are very disobedient, who do not believe God and who spread such opinions. Eph.5:7. therefore, do not be their accomplices. Eph.5:8. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: But, he says, don’t communicate with them. Then he reminds them of their former depravity, saying: consider what you were and what you have become, namely: out of darkness into light. Before, both in teaching and in life, you were truly darkness, but now you are light, because you have come to know God and are doing works of light. But this happened to you not because of your virtue, but “in the Lord,” that is, by divine grace. So you must have no fellowship with the sons of disobedience, upon whom wrath is coming. Once upon a time you too were such and worthy of anger, but now you are no longer so. Therefore, do not return again to darkness. act like children of light, That is, decently and as becomes one who walks in the light. Moreover, he commands us to be a light for others. For the son of light, of course, is light himself. Eph.5:9. because the fruit of the Spirit consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. As if explaining to us who is a child of light, he says: the one who has the fruit of the Spirit. For the Spirit produces fruits, not those that we spoke about earlier, but opposite to them: “goodness”, which is opposite to irritation and anger, truth, which is opposite to covetousness, and truth, which is opposite to the false pleasure of uncleanness. And he talks about “all kindness” - about kindness to everyone, not only to friends, but even to enemies. Eph.5:10. Test what pleases God Testing is the work of those who are perfect and able to judge. Therefore, only an imperfect and ignorant understanding tends to choose what is displeasing to the Lord, such as the above-mentioned passions. Eph.5:11. and do not participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but also reprove. Eph.5:12. For what they do in secret is shameful to even talk about. The works of darkness and sin are fruitless, because they bring nothing less than death and shame. So, one should not take part in such matters, but, on the contrary, reprove, that is, instruct those who do such things. How does it say elsewhere: “do not judge”? This is said instead of: “do not judge.” Reproof is another thing, and condemnation is another: the first serves for correction, and the second for ridicule and punishment. And besides, “do not judge” speaks of the most insignificant sins. Therefore he adds: “Why are you looking at the speck in your brother’s eye?” (Matthew 7:3). Paul also hints at some indecent acts that found a place in Ephesus. Eph.5:13. Everything that is revealed is made manifest by the light, Having said that you are light, and light reveals what is hidden in darkness, he adds: therefore, if you are virtuous, then the evil ones will not be able to hide. For just as by the light of a lamp a thief would not enter, so by the light of your virtue those too will be caught, especially if they are exposed by your instructive speeches. for everything that becomes visible is light. Just as a wound, when closed, does not allow any healing, so does sin. When it is revealed, it becomes light, not the sin itself, but the one doing it. For when, having been convicted, he brings repentance and receives forgiveness, will not darkness be removed from him? Or he says that your life, when it is open, is light, because no one hides his shameless faith and activity. And the secret is hidden because it is worthy of darkness; This is what needs to be brought out and exposed. Eph.5:14. Therefore it is said: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” He calls a person living in sins sleeping and dead. For he is stinking, like a dead man, and inactive, like a sleeper, and dreams, and imagines ghostly things. When someone awakens from sin, then Christ will illuminate him, that is, he will shine for him, like the sun for those who awaken from sleep. While he is in sin, he hates the light and does not come to it. And he says this not only about unbelievers, but also about believers. You can also find the difference between the sleeping and the dead. Many who do evil, but do not approve of what they do, could be called sleeping. They wake up easily. And the expression “rise up” refers to them. And others, who both do evil and justify it, could be called dead, since it is more difficult to call them to good. However, the word also calls to them to rebel: for they should not despair about the possibility of changing nature. Eph.5:15. See therefore that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise, Again he warns against bitterness and anger, as if telling them: you are sheep among wolves, many are angry against you, even your own family, be careful, do not give anyone a reason for hostility; Apart from faith, let no one accuse you of anything else, but show respect and all obedience where there is no harm to faith, and be like doves. For this is wisdom or prudence, to keep ourselves pure and not to take revenge on anyone. Eph.5:16. valuing time He does not teach us cunning, but since, he says, time is not yours and you are strangers, strangers and strangers, then do not seek honor and glory, nor revenge, but endure everything and thereby atone for time; give everything whatever is asked of you. Just as a rich man, seeing those attacking him with the aim of taking his life, gives everything and saves himself, so you give everything in order to save the main thing, that is, faith. It is not the essence of days that he condemns, for the essence of the day is light, of course, and the hours, but what is evil in them? But for this reason, it seems, he blames the days for what happens in them. As we usually say: I spent a bad day, of course, because of what happened during it, and what happens from wicked people, and not from God. So, the days are called evil because of the predominance of the dominance of evil people. Eph.5:17. So, do not be unreasonable, but know what the will of God is. Since, he says, bad people predominate these days, then you, like the wise, try not to give them any reason against you: for this is the will of God, to keep yourself pure, preserving your faith. Eph.5:18. And don't get drunk on wine, And it also curbs anger, because excess in wine makes one angry and impudent. And what condemns immoderation is clear: after all, he did not say: do not drink, but: “do not get drunk.” But drunkenness comes from immoderation, since moderate consumption of wine brings both health (as the Apostle himself says in his letter to Timothy - 1 Tim. 5:23), and joy, as David testifies (Ps. 103:15). And Scripture also says (Prov. 31:6): “Give wine to the sorrowful in soul,” that is, joy for those in sorrow. For it softens grief and melancholy. Therefore, God created our bodies to be moderate, so that they would be content with little and strive for a different life. from which comes debauchery (άσωτια); That is, excessive use. For drunkenness does not bring health, but destroys not only the body, but also the soul. This means άσωτια - waste of health. Or the word άσωτια in its common usage here means carnal intemperance. For from drunkenness comes depravity. Eph.5:19. speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, Do you want to have fun, he says? Avoid filling yourself with wine, but fill yourself with the Holy Spirit. And you will achieve this if you learn psalmody. For those who sing psalms are filled with the Holy Spirit, just as those who sing satanic songs are filled with the unclean spirit. To sing psalms in the heart means to sing intelligently and without distraction. For he who sings psalms in his heart is the one who listens to what he sings. And notice, after he has cleansed the soul from bitterness and other passions, then he convinces us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will not only come, but fill our hearts. And with the existence of such light in us, every other virtue will be easy and easy to perform. Eph.5:20. giving thanks always for everything to God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Always”: not only in peace, but also in sadness, and not only for the good, but also for the unfortunate, for what we know and for what we do not know. Because everything serves for our good, although we are not aware of it. And we must thank the Father in “the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, and turning to Him as the mediator of both good deeds and thanksgiving itself. Eph.5:21. submitting to one another in the fear of God. Here again is love, for from it flows obedience to each other: not according to worldly or human calculations, but in “fear,” he says, “of God.” For those who obey one another for the sake of God will never fall into temptation and will not be separated, having such a strong connection. Eph.5:22. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, It is not in vain that Paul puts great care into marriage, for God took special care of it from the beginning. For with Adam he united his sister, no, - more - daughter, but what am I saying? his own flesh. Then, with the proliferation of the family, he expanded the boundaries of marriage so as not to enclose love within the narrow boundaries of only family relationships. And our life rests on marriage. Therefore, he says: “Wives, obey your husbands.” For if a marriage is characterized by harmony, then the children will be raised well, and the servants will do their duty, and everything that concerns neighbors and friends will be good. Serve as the Lord. How is it written in another place: unless a man separates from his wife, and the wife from her husband, he cannot follow Me (Luke 14:26)? After all, if one must serve as the Lord, how can he say that one must separate for the sake of the Lord? Because the word “how” does not everywhere mean perfect equality. Or: “obey”, knowing that you serve God, that is, if not for your husband actually, but at least for the Lord. For if the one who resists the highest authority resists the command of the Lord, how much more does the one who resists her husband. On the contrary, she who submits to her husband obeys the Lord. Eph.5:23. because the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Savior of the body. He represents the reason that wives should obey, and he believes that the basis and reason for love is that the husband occupies the place of a steward and trustee (for he is the head, according to him, and the savior), and the wife is the place of a subordinate (for she is the body). Just as Christ, being the head of the Church, cares for and protects it, so the husband is the guardian of his body, that is, his wife. How then should the body not obey the head who cares for and protects it? Eph.5:24. But just as the Church submits to Christ, so do wives to their husbands in everything. From here you will understand more clearly what he said above: “submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” Since wives must submit to their husbands, as the Church does to Christ, and the Church and wives constitute the Church, then, as to Christ, a wife must submit to her husband. How? Does one always command to obey? Really even when the husband is inclined to disbelief? But Paul is now not talking about unfaithful husbands, but about faithful ones, about whom, without a doubt, he wrote. Eph.5:25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, You saw how Paul compelled his wife to obey you as much as the Church obeys Christ; listen to how the other side forces you to love her and not treat her despotically. Love her! To what extent? Just like Christ the Church. Take care of her, just as Christ takes care of the Church. If you had to suffer and even die for her, do not refuse. For you, as already united with her by love, will do this; and He did this when she was in enmity towards Him and was an adulteress. And just as He returned the one who had evaded Him to Himself not through threats and violence, so you yourself, if you noticed that your wife was moving away from you and looking for revelry, try to attract her to yourself with greater love and care. And if you suffered something for her sake, do not reproach her; because Christ does not reproach the Church. Eph.5:26. to sanctify it, cleansing it with the washing of water through the word; So, she was vicious, unclean and without form, but He did not disdain her, so do not disdain your wife, even if she were ugly and worthless. And that the Church was ugly, listen: “you were once darkness,” and what is blacker than darkness? They served malice and envy, and what could be more unclean? Disobedient, unreasonable and even blasphemous, and what could be more vile than that? And yet He gave Himself for her, as if she were beautiful and wonderful. And he cleansed him with the “bath of water,” that is, with baptism. "Through the Word". Which one? In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Eph.5:27. in order to present it to Himself as a glorious Church. Not just pure, but “glorious”! And since Christ is the source of all good things for the Church, so be the same for your wife; and just as He communicated spiritual beauty to the Church, so you should strive for this, and not for physical beauty. And if you look for spiritual beauty in your wife, you will soon create it in her, ordering her and making her glorious in spirit both for yourself and for God. not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. These words indicate spiritual passions. Defilements are recent passions that are easy to wash away, which caused dishonor; vices are passions that have become old with time; it is they that make people unclean and are difficult to wash away. But the divine bath cleansed it all and made it holy and immaculate. Eph.5:28. This is how husbands should love their wives as they love their bodies: He now points to this not as a more important and necessary example (for it is clear that Christ’s relationship to the Church is much more important than this example), but as a closer and more accessible one. Precisely so that someone would not say that He was God and betrayed Himself, he shows us this necessity in a different way. “We must,” he says, love, that is, not mercy - this is a matter, but duty and necessity, because your wife is your body. So, he led the example of Christ not only to the fact that one should love, but also to the point of ordering well. “So that she may be,” he says, “holy and blameless.” The example of the body was set in relation only to love. he who loves his wife loves himself. Eph.5:29. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, just as the Lord does the Church. Everyone, he says, takes intense and most careful care of his body, and so do you in relation to your wife. And again he cites Christ as an example, showing that Christ also loved us as His own flesh. Eph.5:30. because we are members of His body, That is, we have a great affinity with Him. from His flesh and from His bones. For He came from our substance, just as Eve came from Adam. And just as there is such great closeness there, so it is with us. And on the other hand, we are “of His flesh and of His bones,” because just as He was born of the Spirit without cohabitation, so we are in the font; and because having accepted the sacraments, from that moment we are divinely recreated. In short, he says that we have the highest intimacy with Him. For He is both visibly our companion through flesh and blood, and invisibly, the source of our spiritual rebirth, just as Adam is the source of Eve’s creation. Eph.5:31. Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Here is another example, namely: when someone, leaving his parents, unites with her. And he did not say: he will live with her, but: “he will cleave,” indicating an inextricable unity. And the words “one flesh” are understood simply, as the great John Chrysostom says: there will be one flesh; but they can also mean something else, namely: there will be two for the production of one flesh, that is, a child. Eph.5:32. This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and the Church. That is, Moses pointed out something great and wonderful. And truly it is a mystery to leave those who gave birth, worked for him and did good, and cleave to one whom he has never seen and who has not even begun to do good. Indeed, this is a great mystery, if only this is understood about Christ, as a prophetic word about Him. For He also left the Father, not in the sense of changing place, but condescending to perceive the flesh, and came to the bride, who did not know Him at all, and became one with her in spirit. For “he who is united to the Lord is one spirit (with the Lord)” (1 Cor. 6:17). How then can we condemn marriage when Paul brings it into the image of the mystery of Christ and calls it a mystery? Eph.5:33. So let each of you love his wife as himself; However, he says, although I have stated this allegorically, it is said for the sake of the wife, and the allegory does not destroy the indication contained in the letter of the husband’s relationship to his wife. For everyone should love and cherish his wife as himself. And don’t tell me that your wife has this or that shortcoming, because there are many shortcomings in your body, for example, a dislocated arm, a lame leg, a damaged eye - but you do not cut them off, and you deign to take care of even more. and let the wife be afraid of her husband. Since equality produces disorder, therefore he introduces fear, so that there is only one boss - the husband. Fear here refers to special respect and restraint - fear befitting the free, and not slavish. In such fear, love will find support for itself and, in turn, will support it. And the wife will love her husband as a part of the body - the head, and fear him, that is, honor him as the head. Well, what if the wife is not afraid? You still love and do your own thing, and in the same way the wife, even if she is not loved, still let her have fear. And note that he spoke in detail about the fact that a husband should love his wife, but he does not talk about fear, because he wants the first to prevail, namely love. And the wife, as it is said, should be afraid with fear that comes from love, not arousing trembling and fear, from which hatred rather stems; but in such a way as not to contradict, not to rebel and not to seek primacy. For, although there is one flesh, it has power and is equal in this regard; but the wife is the second power, the husband is of greater importance. At the blzh. Theophylact "you", instead of "us". “For us” is omitted from the blj. Theophylact You might be interested in: