SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 5:29

5:29a

Indeed: The Greek conjunction that that Berean Standard Bible has translated as Indeed is usually translated as “for” (Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, English Standard Version). It introduces something that is the basis or reason for the previous statement. What Paul said here in 5:29 was the reason for what he told husbands to do in 5:28.

Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. Translate it in a way that is natural in your language for introducing a reason or basis for what he said before.

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

I say “as their own bodies”⌋ because
-or-
The reason ⌊I say this is
-or-
Because/For ⌊we know that

no one: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as no one refers back to “husbands” in 5:28.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

no man (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
none of us (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)

hated his own body: This is literally “hated his own flesh.” See flesh, Meaning 1 in the Glossary for more information.

but he nourishes and cherishes it: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as cherishes is literally “cherishes” (Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version). It is a general term that refers to providing clothing and shelter for himself.

5:29b

just as Christ does the church: The verb does refers to “cares for” in 5:29a. Paul is making a comparison here. A man cares for his own body like Christ cares for the church.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

in the same way that Christ loves and cares for the church
-or-
as Christ takes care of his people/followers

church: The church is the group of all believers in Christ throughout the world. See how you translated church in 5:27a. See church in the Glossary for more information.

General Comment on 5:29b

Some English versions end 5:29b with a dash “—.” This is to show that the following verse, 5:30 is a comment inserted by the author. Most versions translate this verse without a dash, as the Berean Standard Bible also does. Translate it in a way that is natural in your language.

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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