# Commentary on Ephesians - Author: [Jerome](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/jerome/) - Latin title: *Commentariorum in epistulam ad Ephesios libri tres* - Date: ca. 386 (probable) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, vol. 26 (Paris) (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/ - Passages: 9 ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:22-23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-22 - Source: PL 26:530c–531 b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome explains the wife's subjection to her husband by the image of Christ and the church, warns that a union not made according to Christ's precepts is adultery rather than marriage, and gives an allegorical reading of body and mind. ### Latin text Mulieres viris suis subditoe sint sicut Domino : quoniam vir caput est mulieris, sicut et Christus caput Ecclesioe. Hoc quod in Latinis exemplaribus additum est, subditoe sint, in Graecis codicibus non habetur : siquidem ad superiora refertur, et subauditur : Subjecti invicem in timore Christi, ut άπό χοινοΰ resonet subjectos, et mulieres viris suis sicut Domino. Sed hoc magis in Graeco intelligitur, quam in Latino. Quomodo itaque Christo subjecta est Ecclesia : sic subjecta sit uxor viro suo. Quem enim habet principatum et subjectionem Christus et Ecclesia, huic eidem ordini maritus et uxor astringitur. Sed videndum, ut quomodo in Christo, et in Ecclesia sancta conjunctio est : ita et in viro et in muliere sancta sit copula. Sicut autem non omnis congregatio haereticorum Christi Ecclesia dici potest, nec caput eorum Christus est : sic non omne matrimonium quod non viro suo secundum Christi praecepta conjungitur, rite Conjugium appellari potest, sed magis adulterium. Alias autem subjicitur uxor viro ut domino : quia ad ipsum conversio ejus est, et ipse illius dominabitur (Gen. iii). Nam et Sara dominum vocabat Abraham (Gen. xviii). Quae spontanea servitus, quanto magis fuerit voluntate subjecta, tanto esse incipit coaequalia : quinimmo, obsequiis suis in servitutem redigere dominantem. Quidam hunc locum secundum anagogen ita interpretantur, ut dicant uxorem in corpore, virum accipi in animo. Et sicut Christo subjecta est Ecclesia : ita corpora subjici debere sensui, et in unum spiritum redigi, si Domino fuerint copulata. Qui enim adhoeret Domino, unus spiritus est (I Cor. vi, 17). Ipse est Salvator corporis. Quoniam propinquior atque inferior est a substantia Christi natura Ecclesiae, propterea eam corpus Christi aestimo nominatam : cujus corporis Salvator est Christus Jesus, id est, Verbum, sapientia, caeteraeque virtutes in quibus intelligitur Filius Dei. Quaere curiosius, sicubi in divinis voluminibus potueris invenire, vocabulum carnis pro Ecclesia positum. Si quidem nunc nequaquam caro, sed corpus Christi appellatur Ecclesia. Porro manifestum quod quidquid caro est, consequenter et corpus sit : non autem quidquid corpus, hoc consequenter et caro. ### English translation (Claude) “Wives, let them be subject to their husbands as to the Lord; for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church.” The words added in the Latin copies, “let them be subject,” are not found in the Greek manuscripts; for the phrase is referred to what goes before, and is understood: “being subject to one another in the fear of Christ,” so that “subject” sounds in common for both, and “wives to their husbands as to the Lord.” But this is understood better in Greek than in Latin. As, then, the church is subject to Christ, so let the wife be subject to her husband. For the same order of rule and subjection that Christ and the church have binds husband and wife. But we must see that, as in Christ and the church the union is holy, so too between husband and wife the bond be holy. And just as not every congregation of heretics can be called the church of Christ, nor is Christ their head, so not every marriage in which a woman is not joined to her husband according to Christ's precepts can rightly be called a marriage, but rather adultery. Elsewhere the wife is subject to the husband as to a lord, because “her turning is to him, and he shall rule over her.” For Sarah too called Abraham lord. This voluntary servitude, the more willingly it has been subject, the more it begins to be equal; indeed, by its compliance it brings the one who rules into servitude. Some interpret this place by anagogy, saying that the wife is understood as the body and the husband as the mind; and that as the church is subject to Christ, so bodies ought to be subject to the understanding and be brought into one spirit, if they have been joined to the Lord; “for he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” “He is the Saviour of the body.” Since the nature of the church is nearer to, and lower than, the substance of Christ, I think that for this reason it was named the body of Christ, of which body Christ Jesus is the Saviour, that is, the Word, the Wisdom, and the other powers in which the Son of God is understood. Search more carefully whether you can find anywhere in the divine books the word “flesh” used for the church. For here the church is by no means called flesh, but the body of Christ. And it is plain that whatever is flesh is consequently also body, but not whatever is body is consequently also flesh. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:21–23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:16: quotation, high confidence - Gen 18:12: allusion, high confidence - 1 Pet 3:6: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Jerome says that, as a heretical assembly is not the church, so a marriage not made according to Christ's precepts is not rightly called marriage but adultery; translated as written. Quotations: Eph 5:21–23; Gen 3:16; Gen 18:12 (1 Pet 3:6); 1 Cor 6:17. The Greek phrase “ἀπὸ κοινοῦ” (in common) is garbled in the digital text and translated by sense. A stray page number (655) was removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.22 (PL 26:530c–531 b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-24 - Source: PL 26:531b–532 a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome urges that marriage modelled on Christ and the church be holy and free of bodily passion, setting the Ephesians' higher teaching above the concession of marital relations given to the Corinthians. ### Latin text Sed ut [Al. sicut] Ecclesia subjecta est Christo : ita et mulieres viris suis in omnibus. Ecclesia Christi gloriosa est, non habens maculam neque rugam, aut quid istiusmodi. Qui ergo peccator est, et aliqua sorde maculatus, de Ecclesia Christi non potest appellari, nec Christo subjectus dici. Possibile autem est, ut quomodo Ecclesia quae prius rugam habuerat et maculam, in juventutem et munditiam postea restituta est, ita et peccator currat ad medicum (quia non habent opus sani medico (Luc. V), sed male habentes) et curentur vulnera ipsius, et fiat de Ecclesia quae corpus est Christi. Satis quoque eleganter, et caute ad Ephesios loquens ait. Ut Ecclesia subjecta est Christo : ita et uxores viris suis. Si enim ita uxor subjicienda viro est, ut Christo Ecclesia, inter virum et uxorem erit sancta conjunctio, et numquam corporis servient passionibus. Quod si nobis aliquis illud quod ad Corinthios scribitur opposuerit : virum uxori debitum reddere, et uxorem viro (I Cor. vii), animadvertat magnam inter Corinthios et, Ephesios esse distantiam. Illis quasi parvulis atque lactentibus scribitur, in quibus erant dissensiones et schismata, et audiebatur fornicatio qualis ne inter gentes quidem : et propterea eis conceditur, ut post orationem ad idipsum redeant, ne tententur a Satana : licet et ibi in consequentibus, non juxta voluntatem, sed juxta συγγνώμην se eis dicat ignoscere. Ephesii vero, apud quos fecit triennium, et omnia eis Christi aperuit sacramenta, aliter erudiuntur : et habet unusquisque arbitrii liberam potestatem, vel Corinthios sequi, vel Ephesios : et salvari aut servitute Corinthii, aut Ephesii libertate. Voe, inquit Salvator, proegnantibus, et laetantibus in die illa (Luc. xxxi, 25), hoc est, judicii, quae utique proprie opera nuptiarum sunt. Unde omni labore nitendum, ut magis Ephesios quam Corinthios aemulemur : nec deprehendamur quasi in diluvio ementes, et vendentes, nubentes et matrimonio copulati; sed accinctis lumbis lucernas teneamus in manibus (Matth. xxiv). ### English translation (Claude) “But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives to their husbands in everything.” The church of Christ is glorious, having no spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind. So one who is a sinner, and stained with some filth, cannot be called of Christ's church, nor be said to be subject to Christ. But it is possible that, as the church which before had a wrinkle and a spot was afterwards restored to youth and purity, so the sinner too may run to the physician (because “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”), and his wounds be healed, and he become one of the church which is the body of Christ. Quite elegantly and carefully, too, speaking to the Ephesians, he says, “As the church is subject to Christ, so also wives to their husbands.” For if the wife is to be subject to the husband as the church to Christ, there will be a holy union between husband and wife, and they will never be slaves to the passions of the body. And if anyone objects to us what is written to the Corinthians, that the husband should render his due to the wife and the wife to the husband, let him note that there is a great difference between the Corinthians and the Ephesians. To the former it is written as to little ones still nursing, among whom there were dissensions and schisms, and sexual immorality was heard of of a kind not even among the Gentiles; and therefore it is granted them to come together again after prayer, lest they be tempted by Satan; although there too, in what follows, he says that he pardons them not according to his will but by way of concession. But the Ephesians, among whom he spent three years and to whom he opened all the mysteries of Christ, are taught otherwise; and each has free power of choice, either to follow the Corinthians or the Ephesians, and to be saved either by the servitude of the Corinthian or by the freedom of the Ephesian. “Woe,” says the Saviour, “to those who are pregnant and nursing in that day,” that is, of judgment, which are properly the works of marriage. Hence one must strive with every effort to emulate the Ephesians rather than the Corinthians, and not be caught, as in the flood, buying and selling, marrying and joined in matrimony; but with loins girded let us hold lamps in our hands. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:24: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:27: allusion, high confidence - Luke 5:31: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:5–6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:1: allusion, high confidence - Acts 20:31: allusion, high confidence - Luke 21:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:38: allusion, high confidence - Luke 12:35: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Jerome reads 1 Cor 7:3–6 as a concession to the immature Corinthians, contrasted with the Ephesians; translated as written. Quotations: Eph 5:24, 27; Luke 5:31; 1 Cor 7:3, 5–6; 1 Cor 5:1; Acts 20:31; Luke 21:23 (Matt 24:19); Matt 24:38; Luke 12:35. The Greek word for “concession” (συγγνώμη) is garbled in the digital text; a stray page number (656) was removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.24 (PL 26:531b–532 a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-24). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:25-27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-25 - Source: PL 26:532a–533 a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome explains the holy love Paul enjoins on husbands, answers heretics who reject marriage, urges abstinence during pregnancy, and gives a tropological reading of soul and body. ### Latin text Viri, diligite uxores vestras, sicut et Christus dilexit Ecclesiam, et semetipsum tradidit pro ea, ut eam sanctificaret : mundans [Al. additur eam] lavacro aquoe in verbo, ut exhiberet ipse sibi gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid ejusmodi, sed ut sit sancta et immaculata. Quamvis sui invicem maritus et conjux amore teneantur (Qualis illa uxor memoratur Hasdrubalis, quae, capto viro, in patriae se jecit incendium, et caeterae quae viris mortuis supervivere noluerunt) numquam tamen dilectionem illam vir sapiens dilectioni Christi et Ecclesiae comparabit. Sanctus igitur hic intelligendus est amor, quo et Isaac dilexit uxorem suam Rebeccam (Genes. xxiv), quae interpretatur patientia : et de terra Mesopotamiae, quae saeculi hujus ex omni parte fluctibus cingitur, in terram eam repromissionis induxit, ut consolaretur pro morte matris suae. Interitum quippe Synagogae, conjunctione Ecclesiae temperavit. Ista dicentes occasionem haereticis damus qui omnes omnino nuptias repudiandas putant : et hoc vel maxime utuntur testimonio. Quibus brevibus [Al. breviter] respondendum, passiones hic et immunditiam, et luxuriari ab Apostolo inter maritum et uxorem vetari, non sanctam conjunctionem : alioquin si conjugium omnino prohibebat, quid necesse fuit dicere, uxores vestras : cum potuerit dicere : Viri, diligite mulieres, vel uxores. Vestras enim proprie matrimonium sonat. Et rursum in sequentibus : et viri debent diligere uxores suas, sicut sua corpora : et adhuc manifestius : Qui uxorem suam diligit, seipsum diligit : Nemo enim umquam suam carnem odit; sed nutrit et fovet eam : quia secundum edictum Legis antiquae, et instaurationem Evangelii, maritus et uxor una caro efficiuntur. Liberorum ergo, ut diximus, in matrimonio opera concessa sunt. Voluptates autem quae de meretricum capiuntur amplexibus, in uxore damnatae. Hoc legens omnis vir, et uxor intelligant, sibi post conceptum, magis orationi quam connubio serviendum. Et quod in animalibus et bestiis ipso naturae jure praescriptam est, ut praegnantes ad partum usque non coeant, hoc in hominibus sciant arbitrio derelictum, ut merces esset ex [Al. ea] abstinentia voluptatum. Quia vero secundum tropologiam, viros animas, et uxores corpora dixeramus, sic diligat anima carnem [Al. corpus], quomodo Christus Ecclesiam, ut semetipsam tradat pro salute ipsius, et eam sanctificet verbo doctrinae, ut exhibeat sibi eam non habentem maculam aut rugam aliquam vetustatis : maxime cum sciat illam in resurrectione salvandam, et visuram esse salutare Dei. Talis vir caput habet Christum : et cum propter salutem carnis se humilians, factus fuerit cum uxore sua una caro, retrahit eam ad spiritum, et Domino copulatus, caro esse desistit. Pulchre quoque maculam aut rugam, quia de conjugio loquebatur, de exemplo mulierum ad decorem traxit Ecclesiae. Sicut enim solent in mulierum corporibus vel sordere naevi, vel ruga contrahi, vel lentigo variari : et hoc est omne studium feminarum, ut quod foedare videtur abstergant, et exhibeant maritis corporum venustatem : ita et animae omni peccatorum sorde purgandae sunt, ut ruga veteris hominis a juventa tendatur, et renovetur in novum hominem de die in diem. ### English translation (Claude) “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself a glorious church, having no spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but that she might be holy and without blemish.” Although husband and wife are held by love for each other (such as the wife of Hasdrubal is recorded to have been, who, when her husband was captured, threw herself into the fire of her homeland, and the other women who would not survive their dead husbands), yet a wise man will never compare that love with the love of Christ and the church. Here, then, a holy love must be understood, with which Isaac too loved his wife Rebecca, whose name means patience, and brought her from the land of Mesopotamia, which is surrounded on every side by the waves of this world, into the land of promise, so that he might be consoled for the death of his mother. For he tempered the death of the Synagogue by union with the church. In saying these things we give an occasion to the heretics, who think that all marriages without exception are to be repudiated, and use this testimony above all. To them we must answer briefly that what the Apostle forbids here between husband and wife is passions and uncleanness and wantonness, not a holy union. Otherwise, if he forbade marriage altogether, what need was there to say “your wives,” when he could have said, “Husbands, love women” or “wives”? For “your” properly signifies matrimony. And again in what follows: “and husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies”; and still more plainly: “He who loves his wife loves himself; for no one ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it”; because according to the decree of the old law and the renewal of the Gospel, husband and wife become one flesh. So, as we have said, the works of children are granted in marriage; but the pleasures that are taken in the embraces of harlots are condemned in a wife. Let every husband and wife who reads this understand that after conception they should serve prayer rather than intercourse. And what is prescribed in animals and beasts by the very law of nature, that when pregnant they do not couple until they give birth, let them know that in human beings this is left to free choice, so that there might be a reward for abstaining from pleasures. But since according to the tropological sense we had said that husbands are souls and wives bodies, let the soul so love the flesh as Christ loved the church, so that it gives itself up for its salvation, and sanctifies it by the word of doctrine, so as to present it to itself without spot or any wrinkle of oldness, especially since it knows that the flesh is to be saved in the resurrection and to see the salvation of God. Such a husband has Christ as head; and when, humbling himself for the salvation of the flesh, he has become one flesh with his wife, he draws her back to the spirit, and, joined to the Lord, ceases to be flesh. And beautifully, because he was speaking of marriage, he drew the spot and the wrinkle from the example of women to the beauty of the church. For just as in women's bodies moles usually disfigure, or wrinkles gather, or freckles mottle, and this is all the study of women, to wipe away what seems to disfigure and show their husbands the beauty of their bodies, so souls too must be cleansed of every stain of sins, so that the wrinkle of the old man may be smoothed into youth and renewed into the new man day by day. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:25–29: quotation, high confidence - Gen 24:67: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:24: allusion, high confidence - Luke 3:6: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 4:22–24: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Livy, Per. 51 (Livy, History of Rome): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Hasdrubal's wife threw herself into the burning of Carthage (146 BC; Livy, Periochae 51; Polybius 38.20). Jerome rejects the heretics who condemn marriage, holding that Paul forbids only passion and uncleanness within it; translated as written. Quotations: Eph 5:25–29; Gen 24:67; Gen 2:24; Luke 3:6; Eph 4:22–24; 2 Cor 4:16. The editor's variant notes in square brackets (“[Al. …]”) are Migne's and are left out. A stray page number (657) was removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.25 (PL 26:532a–533 a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-25). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-28 - Source: PL 26:533a–533 c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome explains that since husband and wife are one flesh, a husband must care for his wife as for his own body, and gives a literal and a tropological reading. ### Latin text Ita et viri debent diligere uxores suas sicut sua corpora. Et in Genesi ex persona loquentis Adam scriptum est : Hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis, et caro ex carne mea (Gen. ii, 23). Et idipsum in Evangelio, Domino postea dicente, firmatur : Qui creavit ab initio, masculum et feminam fecit eos, et dixit : Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhoerebit uxori suoe, et erunt duo in carne una (Marc. xix, 4, 5). Cum igitur vir et uxor una caro sint : ita uxoribus ut nostris corporibus providendum. Nemo autem corpus suum turpiter amat, aut semetipsum propter coitum diligit; sed quasi vasculum animae suae fovet corpus et nutrit, ne fracto vase, id quod continebatur, effluat, et erumpat. Nec non et juxta litteram, quamdiu mulier partui servit et liberis, hanc habet ad virum differentiam, quam corpus ad animam. Sin autem Christo magis voluerit servire quam saeculo, mulier esse cessabit, et dicetur vir, quia omnes in perfectum virum cupimus occurrere. Quod si ad tropologiam et haec referimus, amabimus nostrum corpus, et corporis sensus, vilioris quidem conditionis ab animo, sed per quos ad mentem bonarum artium, et virtutum transeant disciplinae. ### English translation (Claude) “So husbands also ought to love their wives as their own bodies.” And in Genesis it is written in the person of Adam speaking: “This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” And the same is confirmed in the Gospel when the Lord later says: “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh.’” Since, then, husband and wife are one flesh, we must provide for our wives as for our own bodies. And no one loves his body shamefully, or loves himself for the sake of intercourse; but he cherishes and nourishes the body as the vessel of his soul, lest, if the vessel is broken, what it contained should flow out and burst forth. And also according to the letter, as long as a woman serves childbirth and children, she has the same difference from the man as the body has from the soul. But if she wishes to serve Christ rather than the world, she will cease to be a woman and will be called a man, because we all desire to attain to the perfect man. And if we refer these things too to tropology, we shall love our body and the senses of the body, of a lower condition indeed than the mind, but through which the disciplines of good arts and virtues pass to the mind. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:28: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:23–24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Eph 5:28; Gen 2:23–24; Matt 19:4–5 (Migne prints “Marc. xix”); Eph 4:13. A stray page number (658) was removed and split words joined; “adhoe– rebit” and “ani mam” are rejoined. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.28 (PL 26:533a–533 c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-28). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-29 - Source: PL 26:533c–534 b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome explains that husbands must provide for their wives, and allegorically that the soul must nourish the body with the sacraments toward the angelic life of the resurrection. ### Latin text Qui uxorem suam diligit, seipsum diligit : nemo enim umquam carnem suam odio habuit, sed nutrit et fovet eam, sicut et Christus Ecclesiam. Quantum ad simplicem intelligentiam pertinet, sancta inter virum et uxorem charitate praecepta, nunc jubemur ut nutriamus, et foveamus conjuges, ut scilicet eis victum atque vestitum, et ea quae sunt necessaria praebeamus. Sed opponi nobis potest, quod non sit vera sententia dicentis Apostoli : Nemo enim umquam carnem suam odit, cum morbo regio laborantes, et ptysi, et cancere, et distillationibus, mortem vitae praeferant, et sua oderint corpora. Magis itaque ad tropicam intelligentiam sermo referatur, et dicamus, quod illam carnem quae visura Sit salutare Dei, anima diligat, et nutriat et foveat, eam disciplinis erudiens, et coelesti saginans pane, et Christi sanguine irrigans, ut refecta et nitida possit libero cursu virum sequi, et nulla debilitate, et pondere [Al. nullo debilitatis pondere] praegravari. Pulchre etiam in similitudinem Christi nutrientis, et foventis Ecclesiam, et dicentis ad Jerusalem : Quoties volui congregare filios tuos sicut gallina congregat pullos suos sub alas, et noluisti? animae quoque fovent corpora sua, ut corruptivum hoc induat incorruptionem, et alarum levitate suspensum, in aerem facilius elevetur. Foveamus Igitur et viri uxores, et animae nostra corpora, ut et Uxores in Viros, et corpora redigantur in animas. Et Nequaquam sit sexuum ulla diversitas : sed quomodo apud angelos non est vir et mulier : ita et nos, qui similes angelis futuri sumus, jam nunc incipiamus esse quod nobis in coelestibus repromissum est. ### English translation (Claude) “He who loves his wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also the church.” As far as the simple understanding goes, after the precepts about holy love between husband and wife, we are now commanded to nourish and cherish our spouses, that is, to provide them with food and clothing and what is necessary. But it may be objected to us that the Apostle's saying, “For no one ever hates his own flesh,” is not a true statement, since those suffering from jaundice, consumption, cancer, and catarrhs prefer death to life and hate their own bodies. So let the saying rather be referred to a figurative understanding, and let us say that the soul loves, nourishes, and cherishes that flesh which is to see the salvation of God, instructing it with disciplines, feeding it with the heavenly bread, and watering it with the blood of Christ, so that, refreshed and sleek, it may follow its husband with free course and be weighed down by no weakness or burden. Beautifully too, in the likeness of Christ nourishing and cherishing the church, and saying to Jerusalem, “How often would I have gathered your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”, souls too cherish their bodies, so that this corruptible may put on incorruption and, borne up by the lightness of wings, be raised more easily into the air. Let us, then, both husbands cherish their wives and souls our bodies, so that wives may be brought over into husbands and bodies into souls; and let there be no difference of sex at all, but as among the angels there is neither male nor female, so we too, who are to be like the angels, may begin even now to be what is promised us in the heavens. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:28–29: quotation, high confidence - Luke 3:6: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 23:37: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:53: allusion, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:17: echo, low confidence - Matt 22:30: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Eph 5:28–29; Luke 3:6; Matt 23:37; 1 Cor 15:53; 1 Thess 4:17; Matt 22:30. Stray note letters and a page number (659) were removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.29 (PL 26:533c–534 b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-29). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-30 - Source: PL 26:534b–534 c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome explains that believers are members of Christ's body according to his assumed humanity, not his divinity, or as members of the church. ### Latin text Quoniam membra sumus corporis ejus, ex carne ejus, et ex ossibus ejus. Quia membra sumus corporis Christi, et Christus nutrit et fovet Ecclesiam : ideo et nos nutrimus, et fovemus carnem nostram, quam nemo umquam odio habuit. Membra autem sumus corporis Christi : non secundum naturam divinitatis aeternae, sed juxta id quod hominem est dignatus assumere. Quamquam et homo ipse qui assumptus est, habeat naturam nostrorum corporum, sed non habeat originem. Nos enim ex humano semine coagulamur : ille de Spiritu sancto natus est. Potest autem et aliter dici : Quoniam corpus Christi Ecclesiae est, et Ecclesia de cunctis credentibus congregatur, Paulus et Ephesii membra sunt corporis,id est, Ecclesia Christi. ### English translation (Claude) “For we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.” Because we are members of the body of Christ, and Christ nourishes and cherishes the church, therefore we too nourish and cherish our flesh, which no one ever hated. And we are members of the body of Christ, not according to the nature of the eternal divinity, but according to the man he deigned to assume. Although the man himself who was assumed has the nature of our bodies, yet he does not have their origin. For we are formed from human seed; he was born of the Holy Spirit. But it can also be said otherwise: since the body of Christ is the church's, and the church is gathered from all believers, Paul and the Ephesians are members of the body, that is, of the church of Christ. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:30: quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:35: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation: Eph 5:30. Allusion: Matt 1:20; Luke 1:35. Split words joined. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.30 (PL 26:534b–534 c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-30). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-31 - Source: PL 26:534c–535 c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome notes how Paul quotes Gen 2:24 freely, warns against seeking such quotations in the apocrypha, and explains the union of Adam and Eve as a figure of Christ and the church, against Marcion. ### Latin text Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et erunt duo in carne una. Quod frequenter annotavimus, apostolos et evangelistas non eisdem verbis usos esse. Testamenti veteris exemplis, quibus in propriis voluminibus continentur, hoc et hic probamus : siquidem testimonium istud ita in Genesi scriptum est : Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem suum et matrem suam, et adhoerebit uxori suoe, et erunt duo in carne una (Gen. ii, 24). Nunc autem Apostolus pro eo quod ibi habetur, evexcv τούτον, id est, propter hoc, posuit imi τούτον, quod Latine aliis verbis dici non potest : deinde pro patre suo et matre sua, pronomina abstulit, et patrem tantum posuit et matrem : et quod in medio dicitur, et adhoerebit uxori suoe, hic penitus praetermisit, et tantum quod. sequebatur hoc dictum, superioribus copulavit, et posuit, et erunt duo in carne una. Hoc autem totum nunc idcirco observavimus, ut etiam in caeteris locis, sicubi testimonia quasi de prophetis, et de veteri Testamento ab apostolis usurpata sunt, et in nostris codicibus non habentur, nequaquam statim ad apocryphorum ineptias, et deliramenta curramus, sed sciamus scripta quidem ea esse in veteri Testamento, sed non ita ab apostolis edita, et sensum magis usurpatum : nec facile nisi a studiosis posse ubi scripta sint, inveniri. Igitur ad exhortationem mutui affectus inter uxorem et virum, Adam et Evae sumpsit exemplum. Ut quomodo costa tollitur de Adam, et aedificatur in conjugem : et ipsa rursum conjux in unam viri carnem redigitur : quia qui uxorem diligit, seipsum diligit : sic et nos nostras amemus uxores. Idipsum autem per allegoriam in Christo interpretatur, et in Ecclesia : ut Adam Christum, et Eva praefiguraret Ecclesiam. Factus est enim novissimus Adam in spiritum vivificantem (I Cor. xv). Et quomodo de Adam et uxore ejus omne hominum nascitur genus : sic de Christo et Ecclesia omnis credentium multitudo generata est. Quae unum Ecclesiae corpus effecta, rursum in latere Christi ponitur, et costae locum replet, et unum viri corpus efficitur, ipso Domino id in Evangelio postulante : Pater, da, ut quomodo ego et tu unum sumus : sic et ipsi in nobis unum sint (Joan. xvii, 21). Interrogemus Marcionem qua consequentia locum istum qui de veteri usurpatus est Instrumento, in Christum et in Ecclesiam interpretari queat, cum juxta illum Scriptura vetus omnino non pertineat ad Christum. ### English translation (Claude) “For this reason a man shall leave father and mother, and the two shall be in one flesh.” What we have often noted, that the apostles and evangelists did not use the same words as the examples of the Old Testament contained in their own books, we prove here too; for this testimony is written in Genesis thus: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh.” But here the Apostle, in place of what is there, heneken toutou, that is, “for this reason,” put anti toutou, which cannot be said in Latin in other words; then, for “his father and his mother,” he removed the pronouns and put only “father and mother”; and what is said in the middle, “and shall cleave to his wife,” he has here omitted entirely, and joined only what followed that saying to what went before, and put, “and the two shall be in one flesh.” We have noted all this now so that, in other places too, where testimonies are used by the apostles as if from the prophets and from the Old Testament and are not found in our copies, we may by no means run at once to the follies and ravings of the apocrypha, but may know that they are indeed written in the Old Testament, though not so set out by the apostles, the sense rather having been used; and that it is not easy, except for the studious, to find where they are written. So for an exhortation to mutual affection between wife and husband he took the example of Adam and Eve: that as a rib is taken from Adam and built into a wife, and the wife herself in turn is brought back into the one flesh of the husband, because he who loves his wife loves himself, so we too should love our wives. And the same he interprets by allegory of Christ and the church, so that Adam prefigured Christ and Eve the church. For “the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” And as from Adam and his wife the whole human race is born, so from Christ and the church the whole multitude of believers has been begotten. And this multitude, made one body of the church, is placed again in Christ's side, and fills the place of the rib, and becomes the one body of the husband, as the Lord himself asks in the Gospel: “Father, grant that as I and you are one, so they too may be one in us.” Let us ask Marcion by what consistency he can interpret of Christ and the church this place taken from the Old Instrument, when according to him the old Scripture does not pertain to Christ at all. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:31: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:21–22: allusion, high confidence - Eph 5:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:45: quotation, high confidence - John 19:34: echo, medium confidence - John 17:21: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Eph 5:31; Gen 2:24 (Jerome compares the Greek ἕνεκεν τούτου with Paul's ἀντὶ τούτου; garbled in the digital text and given in transliteration); Gen 2:21–22; Eph 5:28; 1 Cor 15:45; John 19:34 (the side); John 17:21. A stray page number (660) was removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.31 (PL 26:534c–535 c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-31). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-32 - Source: PL 26:535c–536 a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome holds that only Gen 2:24, not the whole story of Adam and Eve, is a prophecy of Christ and the church, and reports Gregory of Nazianzus's view of Paul's humility in interpreting it. ### Latin text Sacramentum hoc magnum est, ego autem dico, in Christo et in Ecclesia. Non, ut plerique existimant, omnis historia quae, de Adam et de Eva in Genesi scripta est, ad Christum et ad Ecclesiam facile referri potest, sed tantummodo quod in praesenti loco ponitur, id est : Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem suum et matrem suam. et adhoerebit uxori suoe, et erunt duo in carne una. Primus enim homo, et primus vates Adam, hoc de Christo et Ecclesia prophetavit : quod reliquerit Dominus noster atque Salvator Patrem suum Deum, et matrem suam coelestem Jerusalem, et venerit ad terras propter suum corpus Ecclesiam, et de suo eam latere fabricatus sit, et propter illam Verbum caro Factum sit. Et quia non omnia aequalia sacramenta sunt, sed est aliud sacramentum majus, et aliud minus : propterea nunc dicit : Sacramentum hoc magnum est : simulque humilitatis ejus indicium est inferentis : Ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia. Gregorius Nazianzenus, vir valde eloquens, et in Scripturis apprime eruditus, cum de hoc mecum tractaret loco, solebat dicere : Vide quantum istius capituli sacramentum sit, ut Apostolus in Christo illud, et in Ecclesia interpretans, non se ita asserat, ut testimonii postulabat dignitas, expressisse : sed quodammodo dixerit : Scio quia locus iste ineffabilibus plenus sit sacramentis, et divinum cor quaerat interpretis. Ego autem pro pusillitate sensus mei, in Christo interim illud, et in Ecclesia intelligendum puto : non quo aliquid Christo et Ecclesia majus sit; sed quod totum quod de Adam et de Eva dicitur, in Christo et in Ecclesia interpretari posse, difficile sit. ### English translation (Claude) “This mystery is great; but I speak with reference to Christ and to the church.” It is not, as many think, that the whole history written in Genesis about Adam and Eve can easily be referred to Christ and the church, but only what is set down in the present place, that is: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh.” For the first man and the first prophet, Adam, prophesied this of Christ and the church: that our Lord and Saviour left his Father, God, and his mother, the heavenly Jerusalem, and came to earth for the sake of his body, the church, and fashioned her from his side, and for her sake the Word became flesh. And because not all mysteries are equal, but one mystery is greater and another less, he therefore now says, “This mystery is great”; and at the same time it is a sign of his humility that he adds, “but I speak with reference to Christ and to the church.” Gregory of Nazianzus, a very eloquent man and exceedingly learned in the Scriptures, when he discussed this place with me, used to say: “See how great the mystery of this passage is, that the Apostle, interpreting it of Christ and the church, does not claim to have expressed it as the dignity of the testimony required, but said, as it were: I know that this place is full of unspeakable mysteries and requires a divine heart in its interpreter; but I, according to the smallness of my understanding, think meanwhile that it is to be understood of Christ and the church; not that anything is greater than Christ and the church, but that it is difficult to interpret all that is said of Adam and Eve of Christ and the church.” ### Scripture references - Eph 5:32: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:26: allusion, high confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Jerome reports a conversation with Gregory of Nazianzus (his teacher at Constantinople, ca. 380–381). Quotations: Eph 5:32; Gen 2:24; Gal 4:26; John 1:14. A stray page number (661) was removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.32 (PL 26:535c–536 a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-32). ## Commentary on Ephesians 5:33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-22/#p-3-5-33 - Source: PL 26:536a–537 b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jerome explains that “love your wife as yourself” expresses confirmation, not mere likeness, and that the wife's “fear” of her husband is to be understood as reverence. ### Latin text Verumtamen et vos singuli unusquisque suam uxorem sicut se diligat. AEstimet aliquis eamdem inter maritum et uxorem juberi ab Apostolo charitatem, quae in proximum praecepta est : sic enim scriptum est : Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum (Levit. xix, 18), et nunc dicitur : Unusquisque suam uxorem sicut se diligat. Ergo eadem in proximum et in uxorem charitas erit. Quod si proximus, juxta interpretationem Salvatoris, omnis homo est homini : nulla ergo erit inter uxorem et quorumlibet hominum dilectionem differentia charitatis, quod dicere valde absurdum est. In proximo enim similitudo ponitur, ut sic eum diligas sicut te, et cupias esse salvatum. In uxore autem comparationis adverbium, sicut, non similitudinem, sed approbationem et confirmationem, cum quodam pondere sonat. Quomodo dicimus de viro : quasi vir fecit, et de Salvatore scriptum est : Vidimus gloriam ejus, quasi gloriam unigeniti (Joan. i, 14). Non quo ipse Salvator gloriam habuerit ad comparationem alterius unigeniti : ipse est enim unigenitus. Et unigenitus si et alter fuerit, unigenitus non potest appellari. Unde alterius unigeniti non indigebat exemplo : sed quasi unigenitum, hoc est, ut semetipsum decebat gloriam habere, possedit. Hoc idem et septuagesimi secundi psalmi, juxta Graecos tamen, exordium sonat : ώς άγοΰος ο Θεοί τώ Ισμαήλ τοΐς βύθβσε τη χοφ&α, quod a nostris translatum est : Quam bonus Deus Israel rectis corde (Psal. lxxii, 1)! Alioquin juxta Graecos ώς, id est, sicut, similitudinem magis videtur, quam firmitatem significare dictorum, si non ut confirmationem audieris, sed quasi [Al. tacet quasi] exemplum. Simul et hoc attendendum, quod vir diligere jubetur uxorem, mulier vero timere virum. Congruit enim viro dilectio, mulieri timor : servo vero non solum metus, sed et tremor jungitur. Unde et in consequentibus ait : Servi, obedite dominis carnalibus cum timore et tremore. Mulier autem ut timeat virum. Si in Deum metus propter timorem supplicii, non sinit eum qui metuit esse perfectum; quanto magis imperfecta erit mulier, non solum Deum, sed etiam virum metuens? Propter quod requirendum, an carnaliter uxor intelligenda sit, et uxoris timor : cum frequenter multo meliores maritis inveniantur uxores et eis imperent, et domum regant, et educent liberos, et familiae teneant disciplinam : illis luxuriantibus et per scorta currentibus. Hae viros suos utrum regnare debeant, an timere, lectoris arbitrio derelinquo. Quod si juxta allegoriam, ut supra diximus, uxor in corpore accipitur, vir in animo, nihil incongruum est timere eam ut ancillam virum, in secundo gradu et in viliori substantia constitutam. Animi quippe, ut ait Crispus, imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur. Qui vero simplicem intelligentiam mulieris sequitur et mariti, duas significantias in verbo timoris esse monstrabit. Et dicet una de qua Joannes ait : Qui timet, poenam habet, et qui timet, non est perfectus (I Joan. iv, 18). Juxta quam et servi spiritum servitutis habent in timore, quem exiguntur a Domino dicente ad eos : Et si pater sum ego, ubi est gloria mea : et si dominus sum ego, ubi est timor meus (Malach. i, 6)? Alteram vero quae apud philosophos nominatur βύλάβπα, et apud nos, licet non plene sonet, reverentia dici potest. Scit quoque et prophetes perfectorum timorem, quem qui timuerit, perfectus est, in tricesimo tertio psalmo dicens : Non est inopia timentibus eum (Psal. xxxiii, 9). Potest igitur uxori simpliciter intellectae hic imperari metus, ut timeat, hoc est, revereatur virum suum. ### English translation (Claude) “However, let each one of you also love his own wife as himself.” Someone may think that the Apostle commands between husband and wife the same love that is commanded toward one's neighbour; for so it is written, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” and now it is said, “Let each love his own wife as himself.” So the same love will be toward one's neighbour and toward one's wife. But if, according to the Saviour's interpretation, every man is neighbour to every man, there will then be no difference of love between a wife and any people at all, which is very absurd to say. For with the neighbour a likeness is set down, so that you love him as yourself and desire him to be saved. But with the wife the comparative adverb “as” sounds not likeness, but approval and confirmation, with a certain weight; as we say of a man, “he acted as a man,” and it is written of the Saviour, “We saw his glory, glory as of the only-begotten.” Not that the Saviour himself had glory by comparison with another only-begotten; for he himself is the only-begotten, and if there were another, he could not be called only-begotten. So he did not need the example of another only-begotten, but he possessed glory as the only-begotten, that is, as it befitted him to have it. The same is sounded by the opening of the seventy-second psalm, at least in the Greek: “How good is God to Israel, to the upright in heart,” which our translators rendered, “How good is the God of Israel to the upright in heart!” Otherwise, in the Greek hōs, that is, “as,” would seem to signify likeness rather than the firmness of what is said, if you do not hear it as a confirmation but as an example. At the same time we must note this too, that the husband is commanded to love his wife, but the wife to fear her husband. For love befits the husband, fear the wife; and to the slave not only dread but trembling is joined. Hence too he says in what follows: “Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling.” “And let the wife fear her husband.” If dread toward God, because of fear of punishment, does not allow the one who fears to be perfect, how much more imperfect will a woman be who fears not only God but her husband too? For this reason we must ask whether the wife and the wife's fear are to be understood carnally, since wives are often found far better than their husbands, and rule them, and govern the house, and bring up the children, and keep the discipline of the household, while the husbands live in luxury and run after harlots. Whether these women ought to rule their husbands or to fear them, I leave to the reader's judgment. But if according to allegory, as we said above, the wife is taken as the body and the husband as the mind, there is nothing unfitting in her fearing her husband as a handmaid, being placed in the second rank and in a baser substance. “For we use rather the rule of the mind, the service of the body,” as Crispus says. But one who follows the simple understanding of wife and husband will show that there are two meanings in the word “fear.” And he will say there is one of which John says: “He who fears has punishment, and he who fears is not perfect”; according to which slaves too have the spirit of slavery in fear, which is demanded of them by the Lord when he says to them: “If I am a father, where is my glory? And if I am a master, where is my fear?” But the other is what the philosophers call eulabeia, and with us, though it does not sound fully, can be called reverence. The prophet too knows the fear of the perfect, which whoever fears is perfect, saying in the thirty-third psalm: “There is no want to those who fear him.” So fear can be commanded here of the wife understood simply, that she fear, that is, revere, her husband. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:33: quotation, high confidence - Lev 19:18: quotation, high confidence - Luke 10:29–37: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Ps 73:1 (72:1 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 4:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:15: allusion, medium confidence - Mal 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 34:9 (33:10 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sallust, Cat. 1.2 (Sallust): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Crispus is Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus), Catiline 1.2. Quotations: Eph 5:33; Lev 19:18; Luke 10:29–37; John 1:14; Ps 73:1 (LXX/Vulgate 72:1; the Greek of the LXX is garbled in the digital text and translated from Jerome's Latin rendering); Eph 6:5; 1 John 4:18; Rom 8:15; Mal 1:6; Ps 34:9 (LXX/Vulgate 33:10; Jerome cites “33”). The Greek word εὐλάβεια is garbled in the digital text and transliterated by sense. A stray page number (662) was removed and OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Jerome, Eph. 3.5.33 (PL 26:536a–537 b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-ephesios/3-5-33).