the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
sanctify
ἁγιάσῃhagiasē
G37
to make holy · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
it
καθαρίσαςkatharisas
G2511
to cleanse (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
washing
λουτρῷloutrō
G3067
a bath · noun — dative singular neuter
water
ὕδατοςhudatos
G5204
water (as if rainy) literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
by
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
word
ῥήματι,rhēmati
G4487
an utterance (individually · noun — dative singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed wi…
John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Ezekiel 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 17:17-19 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit o…
Titus 3:5-7 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of th…
1 Peter 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ephesians 5:21–end
Here the apostle begins his exhortation to the discharge of relative duties. As a general foundation for these duties, he lays down that rule Eph 5:21. There is a mutual submission that Christians owe one to another, condescending to bear one another's burdens: not advancing themselves above others, nor domineering over one another and giving laws to one another. Paul was an example of this truly Christian temper, for he became all things to all men. We must be of a yielding and of a submissive spirit, and ready to all the duties of the respective places and stations that God has allotted to us in the world. In the fear of God, that is, so far as is consistent with the fear of God, for his s…
sanctify--that is, consecrate her to God. Compare Joh 17:19, meaning, "I devote Myself as a holy sacrifice, that My disciples also may be devoted or consecrated as holy in (through) the truth" [NEANDER] (Heb 2:11; Heb 10:10; Heb 13:12 see on Heb 10:10).
and cleanse--rather, as Greek, "cleansing," without the "and."
with the washing of water--rather as Greek, "with," or "by the laver of the water," namely, the baptismal water. So it ought to be translated in Tit 3:5, the only other passage in the New Testament where it occurs. As the bride passed through a purifying bath before marriage, so the Church (compare Rev 21:2). He speaks of baptism according to its high ideal and design, as if t…
That he might sanctify and cleanse it - The Church is represented as the spouse of Christ, as the woman is the spouse of the man; and, to prepare this Church for himself, he washes, cleanses, and sanctifies it. There is certainly an allusion here to the ancient method of purifying women, who were appointed to be consorts to kings; twelve months, it appears, were in some instances spent in this purification: Six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors and with other things, for the purifying of women. See the case of Esther, Est 2:12; see also Psa 45:13, Psa 45:14; Eze 16:7-14.
With the washing of water - Baptism, accompanied by the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit.
B…
The Church Fathers
...the Word, leaving His Father in heaven, came down to be "joined to His wife;" and slept in the trance of His passion, and willingly suffered death for her, that He might present the Church to Himself glorious and blameless, having cleansed her by the laver, for the receiving of the spiritual and blessed seed, which is sown by Him who with whispers implants it in the depths of the mind; and is conceived and formed by the Church, as by a woman, so as to give birth and nourishment to virtue.
" What more disgraceful than immodesties? If, moreover, even from a "brother" who "walketh idly" he warns the Thessalonians to withdraw themselves, how much more withal from a fornicator! For these are the deliberate judgments of Christ, "loving the Church," who "hath delivered Him self up for her, that He may sanctify her (purifying her utterly by the layer of water) in the word, that He may present the Church to Him self glorious, not having stain or wrinkle"-of course after the laver-"but (that) she may be holy and without reproach; " thereafter, to wit, being "without wrinkle" as a virgin, "without stain" (of fornication) as a spouse, "without disgrace" (of vileness), as having been "utterly purified.
Here we take "the church" to mean every believer and everyone who has received baptism. The believer is brought to faith by the washing in water and the invocation of the Word. But how is this applied to a husband's conduct toward his wife? This is not entirely clear. One possible view is that the mystery of baptism is being rehearsed in this metaphor. On the other hand, if we refer this to the endurance of the husband, which entails his giving himself for the wife and bearing and suffering all that is hers, even sharing in all that she endures, she is being cleansed with water and the Word—that is, she is being purified in the Lord's sight when he renders her pure and by his endurance makes her ready to be sanctified by washing and the Word.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Marriage — Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Matt.…
Wife — The ordinance of marriage was sanctioned in Paradise (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6). Monogamy was the original law under which man lived, but polygamy early commenced (Gen. 4:19), and continued to prevail…
Ablution · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Atonement, The · Sanctification by — Sanctification by
Being defiled, both with original sin and actual transgressions; for God's elect, whom Christ loved and espoused from everlasting, fell in Adam with the rest of mankind; and, in their natural state, live in sin as others do; and so are under the guilt, and in the pollution of it, as others be: Christ gave himself for them, that he might deliver them out of this state; he gave himself a sacrifice for them, that he might expiate their sins and make atonement and satisfaction for them; he shed his blood that he might cleanse them from them; and he wrought out a righteousness that he might justify them from all their iniquities; and which being put upon them, makes them to appear pure and spotle…
Ephesians 5:21-27
21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
21. Subditi estote invicem in timore Christi (vel, Dei.)
22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
22. Mulieres suis maritis subditae sint tanquam Domino;
23. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the savior of the body.
23. Quoniam vir est caput uxoris, quemadmodum et Christus caput est Ecclesiae, qui idem est servator corporis.
24. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
24. Caeterum quemadmodum Ecclesia subest Christo, ita et mulieres suis maritis in omni…
washed by the cleansing of God’s word: The church has been cleansed by the message of good news. God has forgiven the sins of his people through Christ’s sacrificial death (John 15:3; cp. Titus 3:5; 1 Pet 3:21).
Sanctification · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Scriptures, The · Designed for: Sanctifying — Designed for: Sanctifying
Types · .The Bronze Laver — .The Bronze Laver
Types Of Christ · Laver of brass — Laver of brass
Union With Christ · Illustrated: Husband and wife — Illustrated: Husband and wife
Washing · 13:1; — 13:1;
Water · Described as: Cleansing — Described as: Cleansing
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
