What Does Ephesians 5:33 Mean in the King James?
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse measures a husband’s love by his regard for himself, while its word for a wife’s reverence still carries the gravity of fear.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks into marriage now through two distinct roles: a husband’s love for his wife is measured against his regard for himself, and a wife’s response is called reverence. The Greek verb for “reverence” also carries the sense of fear, giving the word a gravity that mere courtesy misses. The measure binds one spouse’s treatment of the other to the seriousness of shared life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a wife’s well-being is separate from her husband’s own: his love for her is measured by his love for himself.
THE ROOT
ἀγαπάτω
agapatō
GROWS FROM
ἀγαπ-
agap-
To love, hold dear.
The verb shares its stem with ἀγάπη (agapē, love) and ἀγαπητός (agapētos, beloved), joining the act of loving with the person held dear. Here, the measure is explicit: love for a wife is gauged “as himself,” placing her within the husband’s own measure of self-regard.
ALSO GROWS
agapē: Love
ἀγάπη
The noun form shares the stem of the verse’s verb, linking the act of love with the quality it expresses.
agapētos: Beloved; one who is loved
ἀγαπητός
This branch names the person received in love, echoing the verse’s focus on how the wife is regarded.
φοβῆται
phobētai
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
Fear, dread, or serious regard.
The KJV’s “reverence” translates a verb that also means “fear,” keeping a sharper edge than courtesy alone. This root can name fear and serious regard, so the verse speaks of a weighty response toward the husband without reducing it to manners.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: Fear, dread
φόβος
This noun makes clear that the root family retains the sense of fear within the KJV’s “reverence.”
phoberos: Fearful; awe-inspiring
φοβερός
This branch shows how the same root can describe the weight or force that evokes a serious response.
THE PATTERN
Marriage’s shared life makes one spouse’s treatment of the other reach back into the self.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.THE THREAD
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.This verse uses the same verb ἀγαπάω (agapaō, to love) as Ephesians 5:33, then names the wife as the husband’s own body. That makes “as himself” concrete: her treatment and his regard for himself are joined.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us