Ephesians 5

Ephesians 5:1

Be ye therefore as diligent to render yourselves the pictures and resemblances of God, which hath thus vouchsafed to be your Father, as any children are by nature in the lineaments of the face, or by institution in the qualities of the mind, like to their natural parents.

Ephesians 5:2

And continue constant to death in the profession of the Christian faith, (see note [b] Rev. ii,) thereby imitating the love of Christ to us, who, that he might confirm and seal the truth of his preaching, for which he was sent by God, offered up his own life, was willingly content to die; which death of his, as it was for our sakes, so was it most acceptable to God, and so cannot be better compared than to a meat-offering or drink-offering, which being offered

[a] offering] The difference of προσφορὰ, offering, and θυσία, sacrifice, is ordinarily observable: see Heb. x, where, instead of θυσία and προσφορὰ, sacrifice and offering, ver. 5, is ὁλοκούτωμα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας, burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin, ver. 6, where, as θυσία, sacrifice, is certainly expressed by ὁλοκούτωμα, the bodies of beasts wholly burnt upon the altar, (of which therefore no part came to the priest, Heb. xiii. 11,) so the προσφορὰ, oblation, is the מִנְחָה or meat-offering, the flour and oil, Lev. ii. 2, of which part was burnt with fire, and the remnant was Aaron’s and his sons, ver. 3. And as of the former of these, when it was offered by Noah, Gen. viii. 20, it is said that the Lord smelled a sweet savour, ver. 21, and that as a token that his wrath was pacified, as it follows, the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more, &c.; so Lev. ii. 2, the other is said to be an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto the Lord. And accordingly here to the mention of offering and sacrifice, meat-offering and burnt-offering, is added, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, for a smell of sweet savour, which notes this death of Christ, which is expressed by it, to be a means appointed by God for the averting his wrath from us, for the appeasing and reconciling him to us, as those sacrifices were wont to do, and an engagement to us to live such lives as may be acceptable to God, contrary to the noisome lusts, ver. 3.

Ephesians 5:3

And for the Gnostic noisome foul practices, unlawful, unnatural, riotous lusts, let them never get the least admission among you, but be utterly detested by you, according to that obligation that lies on you as Christians, in opposition to the heathens:

Ephesians 5:4

And so all unclean gestures and obscene talking, or unsavoury jests to cause laughter, which are all unbeseming a Christian; but purity, chasteness, graciousness of language, opposite to the filthiness before, or else blessing and praising of God, a far fitter subject for our rejoicing.

[b] foolish talking] That μωρολογία signifies foolish speaking, and that εὐτραπελία signifies the same, only with this addition of designing it as jest, to move laughter, (and therefore εὐτράπελος is ordinarily interpreted γελοιώδης, and γελωτοποιός, a ridiculous person, or one that causeth laughter,) there is no question. But that the text may here reasonably be thought to confine them both to obscene and filthy discourse, may also appear, not only by the company that they are set with, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate lust, filthiness, but especially by the reason

[c] giving of thanks] What εὐχαριστία here signifies may be matter of some question. It signifies ordinarily thanksgiving; and that belonging especially to God, (from whom all mercies are received, and to whom all thanks are due,) may be meant here by the word, though no mention of God be added to it: and so the context may well bear. Let there be no unclean scurrilous jests used among you, but rather, giving of thanks, that is, Let the Christian’s way of mirth be far from that of obscene wit; the recounting the mercies of God in Christ, calling you from darkness to his marvellous light, will far better become a Christian; and to this purpose see ver. 20. But yet it may be observed what notion there is of χάρις (of which this word is compounded) several times in the epistles, for piety, Christian virtue in general. Thus, ch. iv. 29, where the corrupt communication is forbidden, and instead of it the good commanded, for profitable instruction or edification, this is designed, ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσι, that it may give grace, that is, afford spiritual advantage in increase of piety in the hearers. So Col. iv. 6. Let your speech be always ἐν χάριτι, with grace, that is, gracious, pious, seasoned with salt, contrary to the putrid, corrupt, mentioned to the Ephesians. So Col. iii. 16. ἐν χάριτι ᾧδοντες, with grace singing, that is, after the manner of pious gracious persons in a Christian manner: and so it is also Eph. v. 19, in the reading of the king’s MS. And agreeably to this notion of χάρις we have γυνὴ εὐχάριστος, a gracious pious woman, Prov. xi. 16. And so perhaps εὐχαριστία may signify in this

HAMMOND ANNOTT. VOL. II. P

Ephesians 5:5

For by the Christian doctrine ye are assured, that he that is guilty of any unlawful, especially unnatural, inordinate lust, (see note [f] Rom. i,) those sins which were used in the mysteries of the heathens, is an absolute Gentile person, hath no portion in the church of God under Christ, nor inheritance in heaven: (see note on 1 Cor. v. 1.)

Ephesians 5:6

Let no man flatter you that these are tolerable for a Christian, for they are the very sins for which God hath so plagued the heathens, as he did Sodom, &c.

Ephesians 5:7

Do not ye then join in their sins, that ye may not in their punishments.

Ephesians 5:8

For though ye were formerly heathens, yet now ye are become Christians, and that lays an obligation on you, and all such as you, to live like Christians,

Ephesians 5:9

(For that Spirit that God hath sent among us in the preaching of the gospel, being the Spirit of God, must bring forth all kindness, justice, fidelity, and such like, (Gal. v. 22.)

Ephesians 5:10

Searching and approving, and accordingly practising whatsoever you shall find acceptable to God: (see note [f] Rom. ii.)

Ephesians 5:11

And go not ye to their heathen mysteries; comply not with their close, dark, abominable practices; but oppose, and help to bring them to light, that they

²inordinate desire: see note [h] Rom. i. ³And filthiness, and foolish speaking, or jesting, which are things unseemly; but rather graciousness. ⁴Or, light: for the King’s MS. reads φωτός: see vv. 8. 11. ⁵examining, δοκιμάζοντες. ⁶discover them, ἐλέγχεται.

HAMMOND, VOL. II. R

Ephesians 5:12

For those secret practices are such that they dare not appear in the light, and therefore are by the devil, who prescribes them as parts of his worship, appointed to be used in close recesses, which are called their mysteries, as the highest, but indeed the vilest part of their religion: (see note [c] Rev. xvii.)

Ephesians 5:13

But Christianity is a means to discover and display these abominable cheats and villainies, as light is the direct means to discover what darkness hath hid, and to make them renounce and forsake it when they see it is seen and abhorred by men.

Ephesians 5:14

According to that saying of Isaiah, ch. lx. 1, Arise, be enlightened, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee; that is, this Christian estate is a lightsome condition, and engages every man that expects to have his part in it to get out of all these horrible dark secrecies, which are put to shame and discomfited by the light.

Ephesians 5:15

See therefore and consider how ye may walk most exactly and inoffensively; to which end ye will need great circumspection, as being placed in the midst of such temptations and dangers, by one or other ready to be ensnared on every side. If your circumspection be not intense enough, ye will be ensnared as fools in their lusts and compliances, which bring such carnal temptations along with them; and if ye be over earnest in admonishing them, and vehement unseasonably, ye will exasperate and incur the danger, Matt. vii. 6, of being rent by the swine.

[d’ that] The word πῶς generally in the New Testament is not to be rendered that, but how, especially when it follows βλέπετε· so Luke viii. 18. βλέπετε πῶς ἀκούετε, take heed how you hear, and 1 Cor. iii. 10. βλεπίζω πῶς ἐποικοδομῇ, Let him take heed how he superstruct. And so it is here to modify the accurate walking, and accordingly it is answered with ὡς, as, that they behave themselves warily between the two dangers of being corrupted on one side, and devoured on the other; in the first not ὡς ἄσοφοι, as easy, seducible people, in the second ὡς σοφοί, as wise, prudent men, that can manage their affairs to the best advantage, and not run hazards to no advantage.

Ephesians 5:16

And therefore, as you must be sure to preserve the innocence of the dove, so ye have need of prudence and wariness, and wisdom of behaviour, because the world is at this time full of corruption and of contumacy, and persecuting of all good and orthodox Christians.

[e] redeeming the time] Ἐξαγοράζεσθαι τὸν καιρὸν, though it have a sense very unlike the English words redeeming the time, yet cannot well be literally rendered otherwise than either so, or buying out, or gaining the time. Theodotion useth it in the active, ἐξαγοράζοντες καιρὸν, Dan. ii. 8, by that rendering the Chaldee עֲרַנָּא אֲנָתָן וּבָנָן, and there the Vulgar have redimitis tempus, and we, gaining or buying the season, referring particularly to the delays that they sought to make, thereby to save themselves from danger. The full meaning of the phrase in that place is, to use caution and cunning and dexterity, whether by delays or any other means, for the saving of themselves from that danger that was threatened them, ver. 5. And it seems to be a proverbial speech, which the use had made to signify more than the very literal of the words imported; and you may find it used in authors in the same or like words. So in Plutarch, who sets it down for an apophthegm of Scipio, Ὁρῶν γὰρ τὴν ἀπόνοιαν τῶν πολεμίων, ἔλεγεν ὠνείσθαι τοῦ χρόνου τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, τὸν γὰρ ἀγαθὸν στρατηγὸν, ὥσπερ ἰατρὸν, ἐσχάτης δεῖσθαι τῆς διὰ τοῦ σιδήρου θεραπείας, “Seeing the madness of the enemies, he bid them buy the safety of the time, that is, avoid fighting with them at that season, for that it was with commanders as with physicians, who used not the sword or lance but in extreme cures.” Thus St. Chrysostom² interprets it by the contrariety to κινδύνους περιττοῖς ὑπομένειν, καὶ κέρδος οὐκ ἔχοντας, “undergoing superfluous dangers, and such as bring no gain:” and again, he explains this exhortation by paying tribute, &c, and never opposing them in any thing, but in preaching the gospel, “Ἐν οἷς μὴ βλάπτουσι, μηδεμίαν αὐτοῖς δίδοτε λαβήν, “in things wherein they hurt not, give them no occasion.” Διὰ τὸ κήρυγμα μόνον ἔσται σοὶ πόλεμος, μηδεμίαν ἑτέραν ἀρχὴν ὁ πόλεμος λαμβανίτω, “The very preaching the gospel shall bring their rage upon you, let it not take other beginning.” Thus in Nazianzen’s Στηλιτευτ. α’. p. 14. of Julian, ὁ μὲν ἐξωνούμενος τὸν καιρὸν, καὶ κρύπτων ἐν ἐπιεικείας πλάσματι τὸ κακοηθὲς, where buying out of time is a proverbial expression for carrying himself cunningly, dexterously “concealing (what he had not a mind to discover) his ill disposition under a disguise of gentleness.” And proportionably it is so here, to use all prudent artificial devices to preserve them from the evil times then present, times of high corruption, and so of danger to their souls, wherein the carnal heathen sensualities (to which they had such temptation, and which were used in their

² Tom. 4. p. 148. l. 12. ³ p. 146. l. 33.

Ephesians 5:17

And therefore see that ye be not corrupted by their insinuations, but let the knowledge of your Christian duty so fortify you, that ye be not befooled or ensnared by them.

Ephesians 5:18

And do not ye, like those heathens in their bacchanals, inflame yourselves with wine, to which all manner of inordinate lust is consequent, (and then

[f] excess] The word ἀσωτία signifies generally being given up to all wickedness, particularly luxury, meaning by that, not only excess of drinking or eating, or wasting an estate, but especially giving himself up to riotous enormous lusts: thus Hesychius renders ἀσώτως by αἰσχρῶς, ἀπλήστως, filthiness, insatiableness; and so when of the prodigal, Luke xv, it is said that the means of spending his patrimony was his living, ἀσώτως, ver. 13, that is interpreted, ver. 30, by καταφαγὼν τὸν βίον μετὰ πορνῶν, devouring his livelihood with harlots. And then we may discern the meaning of this phrase ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία, speaking of drunkenness and filling themselves with wine, in which, saith he, there is (not excess, as that signifies immoderate drinking, for that was contained before in drunkenness, or being filled with wine, and to say that in drunkenness or in wine were immoderate drinking would not be so commodious, but) unclean inordinate behaviour, all kind of veuery and enormous lusts: so Theophylact, Ἀσωτίαν ἀκολασίαν φησίν, ἐκ γὰρ τῆς μίθης ἀκολασία τύκεται. “It signifies incontinent lust, for that is begotten by drunkenness:” and so it is true, not only in common observation, that inflaming themselves with wine betrays men to all uncleanness, but particularly in the heathen Bacchanals, (to which he seems to refer, by opposing to them the being filled with the Spirit, and expressing that in Psalms, &c., the Christian way of rejoicing, contrary to their prophesying, Wisd. xiv. 28, or their mad howlings in their Orgia,) where, after their drinking, uncleanness was wont to succeed, as in the Israelites’ idol-feasts, after their sitting down to eat and drink, it is added, they rose up παίζειν, to sport or mock, which that it belongs to this of uncleanness, see note [c] on 1 Cor. x. And so this is a seasonable exhortation to the Christians at Ephesus, living among the heathens, and in danger to be seduced by the Gnostics to the idol-feasts, that instead of the Bacchanals, and unclean consequents of them, which

P 2

Ephesians 5:19

And let all your mirth and jollity be expressed in the several kinds of hymns, &c. that are used among Christians, after a pious manner, singing, and inwardly in your hearts rendering praises to God, and not finding out such gross carnal ways of expressing your joys as the heathens use;

Ephesians 5:20

Upon all occasions acknowledging the great and fatherly mercies of God to you, through our Lord Jesus Christ;

Ephesians 5:21

Yielding obedience to those to whom it is due, in subordination to God, obeying their lawful commands upon God’s command to honour them, but yet not doing any thing in obedience to them which is forbidden by that superior law of God.

Ephesians 5:22

All wives must be subject to their husbands by virtue of the Christian law, which in this and other things doth no way disannul, but rather confirm God’s first institution.

Ephesians 5:23

And the same obligation that lies on the church to obey Christ, viz. because he is the head of it, lies on the wife to obey the husband, who is the head of the wife, 1 Cor. xi. 13, by the law of creation, which is in force among all nations; and as Christ did for his church, so it is the office of the husband, as of the head, to take care for, and secure and defend the body which belongs to it, that is, to do all that he can for the good of the wife.

Ephesians 5:24

And this subjection of the wife to the husband is not restrained to some sorts of things, but extended unlimitedly to all, where there is not a prohibition of some superior law, (see ver. 21,) as the church is to be regulated by Christ, and those whom he hath placed over it, in all things.

Ephesians 5:25

And, by the same rule of analogy with Christ, the husbands are obliged to express that care of their wives, that love to their good, as Christ had to the good of his church, which is his wife, (for whom he laid down his life,)

Ephesians 5:26

That he might purify it from all sin, and to that end appointed baptism, therein obliging us to forsake the devil, &c., and covenanting to give us

Ephesians 5:27

And all this, that as a wife he may set it out in beauty and comeliness, as a garment come new out of the fuller’s hand, purged from spots, stretched from wrinkles, the former newly contracted, the latter by long time of custom and habit; the former more easy, the latter hard to be removed; and so not having any of the base pollutions before mentioned, ver. 5, but that it may be perfectly clean without ever a blemish in it.

Ephesians 5:28

And this love of the husband to the wife must be as to a part of himself; (for so Eve was taken out of Adam;)

Ephesians 5:29

A fourth sin is that of filthiness, from which ye ought to be so far removed, that not so much as your tongue should admit any impure word; and therefore be sure that no unclean discourse (so far from useful, that it is poisonous and infectious, as putrid, rotten meats) be indulged to among you, but instead of it, that which is wholesome, profitable, instructive in those things that are necessary for a Christian to know, that it may bring advantage to them that hear you, and increase of piety: (see note [c] ch. v.)

And not to love a man’s self, and every part of that, is unnatural; and therefore every sensible man will love his wife as part of himself, and endeavour her good, as Christ doth the church’s, with all the zeal imaginable.

Ephesians 5:30

And repel not by your noisome conversation the holy Spirit of God, by which you are marked, and sealed, and set by as wares that are by Christ purchased to be used in his service, a church of pure Christians: (see note [d] ch. i.)

CHAP. V. BE ye therefore 1 followers of God, as dear children;

(For he is the head of the church, and we are members of him.)

Ephesians 5:31

And this is the reason of that precept in the first creation, that a man shall at marriage put off all other nearest relations, so far as to prefer this newly contracted relation before them all, of two to make up one common person, Gen. ii. 24.

Ephesians 5:32

This place of Genesis is spoken literally of marriage, but it hath also a divine, secret, mystical sense in it, to denote first the forming of the church, after the manner of Eve out of Adam’s side. Adam was alone, God casts him into a dead sleep, then takes a bone out of his side, and makes a woman meet for him, and she is the mother of all living. So Christ being the second Adam, and alone also, he is cast into a dead sleep on the cross, and then out of his side the church is formed; and she becomes his spouse, and so the mother of all living, in the spiritual sense: (see Prosper de Prædiction, lib. 1. cap. 1.) Secondly, the conjunction consequent to this marriage between Christ and his church, who are literally one flesh, by Christ’s assuming our nature upon him, and mystically one body, by the strict union which