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Ephesians 5:23

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

KJV

ὅτι ἀνήρ ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τῆς γυναικὸς ὡς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς κεφαλὴ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, αὐτὸς σωτὴρ τοῦ σώματος.

Greek NT

quoniam vir caput est mulieris, sicut Christus caput est Ecclesiæ : ipse, salvator corporis ejus.

Vulgate

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body.

ASV

Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

13 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

Χριστός
christos
noun · 530×
αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
γυνή
gune
noun · 219×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
κεφαλή
kephale
noun · 75×
σωτήρ
soter
noun · 24×
σῶμα
soma
noun · 141×
ἀνήρ
aner
noun · 216×
ἐκκλησία
ekklesia
noun · 114×
o
article · 19778×
ὅτι
oti
conjunction · 1299×
ὡς
os
adverb · 502×

Textual variants

1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

minor
SBLGNT: αὐτὸς | WH/Treg/NIV: αὐτὸς | RP: καὶ αὐτὸς ἐστιν
  • αὐτὸςSBLGNT
  • αὐτὸςWestcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • καὶ αὐτὸς ἐστινRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Themes

Historic Christian voices

10 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

2. Having finished therefore all the discourses concerning all these things, he next proceeds also to another accusation. And what was this? Their women used both to pray and prophesy unveiled and with their head bare, (for then women also used to prophesy;) but the men went so far as to wear long hair as having spent their time in philosophy , and covered their heads when pray…
§59What We have said concerning the "mystical Head"[108] would indeed be incomplete if We were not at least briefly to touch on this saying of the same Apostle: "Christ is the Head of the Church: He is the savior of his Body."[109] For in these words we have the final reason why the Body of the Church is given the name of Christ, namely, that Christ is the Divine Savior of this Bo…
§67Here, Venerable Brethren, We wish to speak in a very special way of our union with Christ in the Body of the Church, a thing which is, as Augustine justly remarks, sublime, mysterious and divine;[132] ut for that very reason it often happens that many misunderstand it and explain it incorrectly. It is at once evident that this union is very close. In the Sacred Scriptures it is…
§86For there are some who neglect the fact that the Apostle Paul has used metaphorical language in speaking of this doctrine, and failing to distinguish as they should the precise and proper meaning of the terms the physical body, the social body, and the Mystical Body, arrive at a distorted idea of unity. They make the Divine Redeemer and the members of the Church coalesce in one…
All who regard another head or seek another foundation than Christ are not the Church but are adversaries of God. In the faith of Christ, Christians are His members; these members cannot do anything without the head. It follows from this that all who live in the head are members and children of God, and that is the Church or communion of the saints, the bride of Christ.
Since there is always but one God, one Mediator between God and man, and one Shepherd of the whole flock, one Head of this body, one Spirit, one salvation, one faith, one Testament or covenant: it follows necessarily that there is only one Church, which we therefore call the catholic Church, because it is universal and is diffused through all parts and quarters of the world, an…
We believe that what is called, or rather is, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, containeth generally all the faithful in Christ, those who, having already departed, are in the Church Triumphant, and those still living and militant on earth, the Church Militant. And since the Church Militant is composed of men, it is subject to have those in its communion who are stumbling…

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 6:13 — Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
  • 1Cor 6:15 — Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
  • 1Cor 11:3 — But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
  • 1Cor 12:12 — For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
  • 1Cor 12:27 — Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
  • Col 1:18 — And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
  • Col 1:18 — And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
  • Eph 1:22 — And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
  • Eph 1:22 — And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
  • Eph 1:23 — Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
  • Eph 4:15 — But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
  • Eph 4:15 — But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
  • Eph 5:25 — Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
  • Hos 2:19 — And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
  • Rev 19:7 — Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
  • Rom 7:4 — Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto G
  • Titus 2:14 — Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.