statement. [v. inf. p. 91, Addit. Note.]
31.
ajnti; touvtou
...]
For this cause
, in consideration of this unique connexion of the husband and the wife,
a man shall leave
.... The words are to be understood
literally as in Gen. 2:24. At the same time the union of husband and wife points to that of Christ and the Church and suggests what Christ gave up for the accomplishment of His work.
e[sontai...eij" s. m.
] Latt.
erunt duo in carne una.
32.
to; musthvrion tou'to
...]
This revelation
of the unity of man and woman in one complex life
is of great
moment. It opens before us a vision of a higher form of existence, and enables us to feel how parts which at present are widely separated may be combined into some nobler whole without ceasing to be what they are.
But I speak looking to Christ and to the Church.
In this final union we can see that humanity reaches its consummation.
After writing the words
to; musthvrion tou'to mevga ejstivn
, St Paul seems to pause for a while and contemplate the manifold applications of the primitive ordinance (comp. 1 John 3:1); and then he marks the greatest of all.
ejgw; dev
...] Other thoughts may occur to reverent students of the Divine word,
but I
as indeed I have already shewn
speak looking to
....
levgw eij"
...] Latt.
in Christo
(
-um
)
et in ecclesia
(
-am
). The exact form of expression
eij" Cristo;n kai; eij" th;n ejkklhsivan
[if not- withstanding B and the early patristic evidence for omission of the
eij"
we accept the reading which retains it] is significant. St Paul, speaking of Christ and the Church, has regard not to their connexion only, he thinks also of each in its distinctness.
Cristovn ] It will be observed that here, as in vs. 21, St Paul uses the personal Name, not to;n cristovn .
It will be noticed that in this last image of marriage the relation of Christ to the Church is presented somewhat differently from the view given in Eph. 1:22 f. and Eph. 4:15 f. In the image of the body of which Christ is the head the Church has, so to speak, no completeness as a Church; but as the bride of Christ the Church has her own perfect beauty. Yet this is not apart from Christ: the Church is still in a true sense His body, and believers are members of it. The complex thought is summed up in earlier words of St Paul: Gal. 3:28 ei|" ejste; ejn Cristw'/ jIhsou' . There is the personality of the body ( ei|" ) and it is realised in fellowship with Christ. Here, as it appears, we attain to the final conception which we can reach of life in the unseen order: to; musthvrion tou'to mevga ejstivn .
Compare The Gospel of Creation, Epistles of St John, p. 309. It is scarcely necessary to remark that this passage does not in any way support the opinion that marriage is a sacrament, a conclusion which has been drawn from the rendering in the Vulgate Hoc sacramentum magnum est. Musthvrion is commonly rendered by sacramentum in that version.
33.
plh;n kai; uJmei'"
...]
However
, not to pursue this overwhelming subject,
do ye also severally each
in his humble position, as Christ in His majesty,
love his own wife as himself.
For
plhvn
see 1 Cor. 11:11 (
plh;n ou[te gunh; cwri;" ajndro;" ou[te ajnh;r cwri;" gunaiko;" ejn kurivw/
); Phil. 3:16; 4:14.
wJ" eJautovn
]
as himself
, not as his body or as his own flesh: the personal feeling is supreme (Eph. 5:28).
hJ de; g. i{na fob
.]
and
let
the wife
see
that she fear
....
In such fear there is nothing servile.