Ephesians 5 — Liberation and Inclusion Translation

Vélez Johnson, Brandon C.

¹ Therefore, become people who imitate God, like beloved children, ² and walk with love, just like Christ also loved us and handed himself over^a for us, an offering and sacrifice^b to God for a sweet fragrance. ³ So sexual exploitation^c and all uncleanness or greed must not even be identifiable among you—as is important for the sacred— ⁴ also remove obscenity^d and harassment^e or demeaning joking, which is out of line, but practice gratitude instead. ⁵ Understand this, you who have knowledge: everyone who is sexually unethical^f or unclean or greedy (which means they practice idolatry) has no inheritance in the Reign of Christ and God.

⁶ Let no one deceive^g you with empty words, because these things are the cause of God’s anger toward those who refuse to be persuaded.^h ⁷ Therefore, do not become co-participants with them ⁸ since you used to be darkness, but now are light with the Lord; walk like children of light ⁹ (the fruit of the light consists of every beneficial thing and justice and truth), ¹⁰ seeking to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Do not be co-participants in the fruitless actions of the darkness, but even expose them instead. ¹² It feels shameful even to speak of the thingsⁱ they are doing with secrecy, ¹³ but everything exposed by the light becomes visible ¹⁴ since everything that becomes visible is light. That’s why it says, “Wake up, you who are asleep!^j Get up from among the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”^k ¹⁵ Therefore, watch attentively how you walk, not like the unwise but like the wise, ¹⁶ making the moment count, since the days are full of oppression.^l ¹⁷ because of this, do not be oblivious;^m instead, make the connection about what the Lord’s desires are.

¹⁸ ⁿ Don’t be drunk with wine, which is accompanied by negligence;^o instead, be filled with the Life-breath, ¹⁹ speaking to each other with psalms and songs of praise and songs in harmony with the Life-breath, singing and playing instruments with your heart^p to the Lord, ²⁰ always expressing gratitude for everything to the God and Father of—and as a representative^q of—our lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ As you are cooperating^r with each other, taking Christ seriously,^s ²² wives do so with your husbands like with the lord, ²³ since a husband is head of the wife like Christ is also the Head of the Assembly—he is the caregiver^t for the Body. ²⁴ On the other hand, like the Assembly cooperates with Christ, wives do the same with husbands regarding everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love^u your wives, just as Christ also loved the Assembly and handed himself over on its behalf ²⁶ so that it would be made sacred, cleansing it by washing it with water in connection with what was spoken, ²⁷ so that he could present the Assembly along with himself being highly esteemed,^v not having a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but rather so that it may be sacred and without blemish.^w ²⁸ In the same way, husbands owe their wives love like they show to their own bodies. Whoever loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ No one ever treated their own body^x maliciously; instead, they nurture it and take care of it tenderly, just as Christ also does for the Assembly ³⁰ since we are the parts of his Body. ³¹ “That is why a person will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two become one body.^y ³² This mystery is big (Now I am speaking about Christ and the Assembly). ³³ Nevertheless, each and every one of you: love^z your wife like yourself so that the wife would take her husband seriously.^aa

Footnotes

a This is the word in Matthew used for ‘turn in’ or ‘hand over’ in the sense of someone putting someone in an authority’s custody referring to Jesus being betrayed by Judah and arrested by the chief priests and handed over to Pilate.
b Meaning ‘the thing sacrificed,’ not ‘the act of sacrificing.’
c Traditionally, ‘sexual immorality.’ Admittedly, ‘exploitation’ may be too narrow of a translation here, which is part of the benefit of using ‘immorality’: it’s vague. Unfortunately, it has been abused and weaponized to be able to include anything related to sex that makes people with power uncomfortable. There’s a good case to be made that in the mind of a 1st century Jew, it would point to the sexual instruction contained in Leviticus 17-20. The reasoning for this has to do with the connection of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:20-21, which included a prohibition of against “things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.” It’s interesting with regard to Matthew 15:10-20 to note that three of the four prohibitions in Acts 15 include what people should not eat; the other is ‘sexual immorality.’ Another reason to lean toward ‘exploitation’ is that porneia shares a root with perneimi, which means ‘to sell.’ Porne is the word for a female sex worker, which in the cultural context would always have been someone exploited and failed by the patriarchal society.
d ‘Obscenity’ is an accurate word here, but the sense of it is something like ‘sexual grossness.’
e Literally, ‘Foolish speech.’ Taking the context of all of scripture and this passage in particular, ‘foolish speech’ isn’t just about not understanding things well. It’s about being obnoxious in your ignorance, causing hardship by it.
f This word is the masculine pornos. Usually, when descriptive words are masculine, it is translated in a neutral way, applying to everyone. However, the feminine version is often used, porne, and the abstract noun porneia, is also often used. Based on the less common usage of this word and the context of this chapter as a whole, it seems to be speaking directly to men in particular. Also, the best way to translate it is somewhat unclear. It has to do with sexual behavior, and there is an argument that it has to do with exploitation. It clearly has to do in this context with how the person treats others, so at the least, it’s not just about failing abstain from consensual but unsanctioned sex and necessarily is about not harming, exploiting, or abusing someone sexually in some way.
g 3rd person mandative
h See Ephesians 2:2
i The word ‘feels’ has been used for clarity. The preceding mandate to “expose them instead” means it cannot be truly shameful to speak of it since it has been commanded to do so.
j In the Greek of the period, sleeping is a euphemism for being dead, and it is used frequently throughout the Bible. ‘Wake up’ is frequently used to refer to coming back to life from death or ‘from the dead.’
k This seems to be a medley of quotes combined into one. Probably from Isaiah 26:19; 51:17; 52:1; and 60:1.
l Or ‘characterized by hardship.’ Traditionally, ‘evil.’
m Traditionally, ‘foolish.’ Literally, ‘thoughtless.’ Another possible translation could be ‘apathetic’ or ‘avoidant’ in the sense of refusing to think about it.
n While English translations start a new paragraph at either verse 21 or 22, the grammar of the Greek sentence begins at verse 18. It is an initial imperative followed by several participles that modify that initial imperative. Dividing the paragraph at either verse 21 or 22 splits the text right in the middle of a thought based on the Greek structure.
o Perhaps, ‘complacency.’ The word is asotia, which is related to soteros, or ‘rescue,’ ‘protection,’ ‘salvation,’ ‘healing,’ ‘preservation.’ This word is the opposite of those things, or the state characterized in that way. The lexicons list ‘an abandoned, dissolute life’ and ‘profligacy, prodigality’ and ‘unsavedness’ and ‘debauchery.’ Those are fairly interpretive with dogmatic assumptions rather than actual definitions of the Greek word. ‘Lack of maintenance or pursuit of well-being’ seems to be the general sense of the word.
p ‘Heart’ is singular while ‘your’ is plural. ‘Heart’ represents motivation or desire, not simply all emotion as it does in American culture.
q Literally, ‘and in the name of’
r Traditionally, ‘submit.’ According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, hupotasso is “A Greek military term meaning ‘to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader’. In non-military use, it was ‘a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden’.
s Literally, ‘fear’ and traditionally, ‘respect’ or ‘reverence.’ The phrase is phobos of Christ, which could mean serious regard for Christ or Christ’s serious regard. Either is linguistically valid and the context supports both. The reason the mutual direction matters is that hypotassomenoi (‘cooperating’) is masculine, which in Greek can indicate either that it is addressed only to men or that it is addressed to everyone. Since the following verses address both husbands and wives, the masculine participle is most likely inclusive, and if so, then both husbands and wives are being called to take Christ seriously as the basis for how they treat each other. The similes that follow (husbands compared to Christ, wives to the Assembly) are then ways of spelling out what that looks like concretely: Christ takes people seriously with love, and both parties are called to follow that pattern in their respective circumstances. ‘Reverence’ and ‘respect’ imply something more like admiration, and this context is discussing a posture that leads directly to actions toward others, not just inner esteem for someone. In determining what English captures phobos here, the broader Pauline usage is decisive: 1 Corinthians 2:3 (Paul’s own posture approaching the Corinthians), 2 Corinthians 7:15 (the Corinthians’ reception of Titus), Philippians 2:12 (members of the community working out their salvation), and Ephesians 6:5 below all use phobos vocabulary to name cognitive recognition that stakes are high, that something consequential is happening and warrants being taken seriously. They do not involve than subordinate posture toward a superior, with the possible exception of Ephesians 6:5. Here, it establishes that same posture for mutual cooperation within the household, characterized by Christ-shaped recognition of what is at stake, not by domestic hierarchy. See also verse 33, where the same phobos vocabulary recurs as the wife’s ongoing, active response to her husband’s cruciform love.
t Traditionally, ‘savior.’ It is the Greek word soter. It’s use only five verses after asotia must not be ignored (see footnote in Ephesians 5:18 on the word ‘neglect.’) This is clearly being used on contrast with that word. The role of a soter could be to save or rescue from danger, or it could be to preserve or protect from harm, including harm from a sickness or any other threat to the person. When the threat is not specified, translating it into English must also be broad or risk missing the contextual meaning by narrowing inadvertently in the wrong direction. The context here is clearly about taking care of the body.
u Agapao (‘love’) may or may not include an emotional component; it does not address that aspect of what the English word ‘love’ can mean. Instead, it is about a sense of commitment to whomever is loved, dedication to pursuing the benefit of whomever is loved.
v Traditionally, ‘glorious.’ Listed meanings are ‘honored,’ ‘notable,’ ‘gorgeous,’ ‘held in good or in great esteem,’ ‘of high repute.’
w Reference to the requirements for sacrificial offerings in the Torah.
x Traditionally, ‘flesh.’ This is sarx, the ‘stuff of the body’ rather than soma, the ‘body as a whole unit.’ The other instances of ‘body’ so far in Ephesians 5 have all been soma.
y This is a quotation of Genesis 2:24. Jesus also quoted the same verse in Matthew 19:5. In that instance, sarx was translated as ‘family,’ is also a valid use of sarx in the sense of someone’s “flesh and blood” meaning they are of the same family. With the context of the preceding progression of thought in Ephesians 5, ‘body’ was the most appropriate way to connect it to the context, though it does still include the idea of ‘family.’
z This again is a 3rd person mandative verb form, which does not exist in English. It is giving a directive to men in general, not limited to the specific audience being addressed.
aa Traditionally, ‘revere’ or ‘respect’ in this passage. The verb here is phobetai, a subjunctive form of phobeo (traditionally “fear” in many instances). The present tense of the subjunctive is significant: it indicates not a one-time response or settled state but an ongoing, active, and enduring orientation. The wife is not being asked to arrive at a posture of deference and remain there; she is being asked to keep taking her husband seriously, continuously and actively, in the same way that Paul continuously carried the weight of his apostolic task (1 Cor 2:3) and the Corinthians continuously engaged the consequential work of reconciliation (2 Cor 7:15). The word hina comes before the word phobetai, which does not indicate a command. Instead it presents the wife’s phobos as the purpose or result of the husband’s cruciform love, which has sometimes been read as asking cruciform love to produce hierarchical deference. That reading is in tension with the broader New Testament: Christ’s self-giving love does not produce subordination or fear in its recipients (see 1 John 4:18, “perfect love casts out fear,” explicitly the fear that has to do with punishment). Christ’s love produces beloved disciples who join him in his mission. The semantic range of phobos in Koine Greek is broader than English “fear” and includes contexts where it names serious recognition of stakes rather than terror or deference. Two passages in Paul’s letters are particularly helpful for understanding what phobos means in a relational context like this one. In 2 Corinthians 7:15, Paul reports Titus’s account of how the Corinthians received him when he visited during a period of fraught reconciliation: they received him “with phobos kai tromos.” The Corinthians were not subordinate to Titus; he was Paul’s emissary, carrying a difficult message into a community where the relationship with Paul hung in the balance. The phobos here names the Corinthians’ recognition that the encounter was consequential: they didn’t dismiss Titus, didn’t receive him casually, didn’t take the reconciliation lightly. They engaged seriously with what was at stake. Paul reports this positively as part of how he knows the relationship is being restored. In 1 Corinthians 2:3, Paul uses the same doubled phrase of his own posture approaching the Corinthians to plant the church: he came “in weakness and in phobos and in much tromos.” The apostle is not subordinate to the community he is founding. The phobos names Paul’s recognition that the work he was undertaking was consequential. The phrase describes the weight Paul carried as he did the work, not ‘reverence’ toward a superior. Across these uses, phobos names serious recognition of stakes in relational encounters where something is genuinely on the line. Someone loves seriously; someone else receives that love with the recognition that it is serious. Someone brings a consequential message; someone else receives it with the recognition that it is consequential. That is what the hina clause here is claiming cruciform love produces. The husband’s self-giving love is meaningful and powerful, modeled on Christ’s self-giving; the proper response to that love is to receive it seriously and respond with intentionality. The wife takes her husband seriously in the sense that she recognizes the weight of what he is offering and responds to it with the attention the gift deserves. This is the same way the Corinthians took Titus seriously and Paul took his apostolic task seriously. It is not deference, not reverence, not fear. It is the recognition that something consequential is happening and responding to it as such, and the present subjunctive form of the word makes clear that this recognition is not a destination but a practice.

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