Efésios 5
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Efésios 5:1
When he wrote to the Corinthians, indeed, he said "be imitators" of me … for though they could not instantaneously become imitators of Christ, it was still a great thing for them if they could be imitators of the imitator. But to the Ephesians, since they are those to whom he has revealed such great mysteries, he neither says "be imitators of me" nor "be imitators of Christ" but "be imitators of God." This does not imply that it is less to be an imitator of Christ than of God, for Christ is God.… Admittedly much that God has done we humans can hardly be said to imitate. But in the way that he is merciful to all and rains on good and bad, so we may pour out mercy upon all we meet. When we do this, we shall be beloved children. We shall be imitating either Paul or, as I rather think, God himself. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:1
Efésios 5:2
Who is it that truly walks in love? The one who, for the salvation of others, contends against sin to the point of shedding blood, so as even to give up his soul for them. That is the one who walks in love, imitating Christ. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:2
Efésios 5:3
Even one who is in fact free of fornication is not holy if he remains mentally preoccupied with some uncleanness or with the avaricious pursuit of the pleasures that have once delighted him. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:3-4
Efésios 5:4
The "silly talk" to which Paul refers occurs not only among those who tell dirty jokes to get a cheap laugh. He is also referring to those who put on frivolous airs and to those who manipulate whoever they are trying to please. There is another kind of silly talk that occurs among those reckoned to be the intellectuals of the age who, when disputing on matters of natural science, imagine that they have fully comprehended the sands of the shore, the drops of ocean, the extent of heavens and the minuteness of earth.… Note that levity follows silly talk. The intent here is to speak of frivolous and inappropriate stories. The difference between silliness and levity is this: silliness has nothing in it that is wise or worthy of the human heart. Levity devolves from a clever mind and deliberately seeks out certain words, be they witty, vulgar, obscene or facetious, in a jocularity the sole aim of which is to get a laugh. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:3-4
Efésios 5:5
Are those merely guilty of silliness and inordinate levity to be kept out of the kingdom of God? Are they excluded on the same basis as those sins that he has marked off specifically? It would seem a cruel sentence not to pardon the weakness of human frailty, so that our words condemned us even when said in jest.… Yet in making this distinction [between lesser and more serious sins] we are not making excuses for silliness and levity. They do not exclude from the kingdom. But they are not negligible and remind us that just as "the Father has many mansions" and "one star differs from another in glory," so too will it be in the resurrection of the dead. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:5
Efésios 5:8
The darkness is being turned into light. There is not, as some heretics argue, a nature so alienated that it cannot receive salvation.… Those who receive salvation—the righteous—are "the light of the world." Those who refuse, the unrighteous, are in consequence called darkness.… The difference and distance between one and the other is clearly seen by their own fruits. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:8
Efésios 5:9
Christ himself is rightly called goodness, righteousness and truth. He is goodness in that he gives grace to those who believe in him, not according to their works but according to his mercy. He is himself righteousness in that he gives to each what he deserves. He is himself truth in that he is the one who knows the causes of all creatures and all things. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:9
Efésios 5:11
No one is prepared to admonish sinners except one who does not deserve to be called a hypocrite [as with the account in Lk 6:42].… Only those prophets who were themselves unpolluted by any stain of sin were in a position to upbraid others for their wrongdoing. From this we learn that the one who is in the best position to reprimand is the one who cannot himself rightly be reprimanded in turn. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:11
Efésios 5:11
Paul uses the term fruits in the case of the Spirit, works in the case of the sin nature. … In the present case he indeed is saying that the works of darkness are unfruitful. Those who do these works share an association with darkness. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:11
Efésios 5:14
The one who is content with a simple answer will say indeed that Paul must have read this phrase in some arcane prophet or in the writings called apocryphal. He then brought the text into the open, as he manifestly does in other places—not to substantiate the apocryphal texts but in the same way that he makes use of verses elsewhere from Aratus, Epimenides and Menander to substantiate what he says on other occasions.… Someone less content with this simple answer might argue that the apostle said this as an exhortation to penitence. It is as if he were assuming the voice of the Holy Spirit. For my part, scanty as my knowledge is, I have nowhere found this written after diligently scouring all the editions of the ancient Scriptures and the texts of the Hebrews themselves. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:14
Efésios 5:16
Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, has risen. Rise up from the sleep of the age. Walk cautiously and prudently. Cast off folly. Take hold of wisdom. In this way you will be able to avoid changing yourself constantly as you walk through the vicissitudes of the times. Rather you will find a unity within yourself even amid the diversity of the times. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:16
Efésios 5:19
Our hymns declare the strength and majesty of God. They express gratitude for his benefits and his deeds. Our psalms convey this gratitude also, since the word Alleluia is either prefaced or appended to them. Our psalms properly belong to the domain of ethics, teaching us what is to be done and avoided. The domain of the psalms is the body as an instrument of grace. But the domain of the spiritual canticles is the mind. As we sing spiritual canticles we hear discourses on things above, on the harmony of the world, on the subtly ordered concord of all creatures. These spiritual songs help us express our meaning more plainly for the sake of simple folk. It is more with the mind than with the voice that we sing, offer psalms and praise God. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:19
Efésios 5:20
Paul now calls us to "give thanks always and in everything." This is to be understood in a double sense, both in adversity and in good times.… In this way the mind rejoices and bursts out in gratitude to God, not only for what we think good but for what troubles us and happens against our will.… It is obvious that generally we are called to give thanks to God for the sun that rises, for the day that goes by and for the night that brings rest … for the rains that come, for the earth that brings forth fruit and for the elements in their course.… Finally, we are thankful that we are born, that we have being, that our wants are sufficiently taken care of in the world, as if we lived in the house of an extremely powerful family patriarch, knowing that whatever is in the world has been created on our account. In this way we give thanks when we are grateful for the benefits that come to us from God. All these things, however, the heathen also does, and the Jew and the publican and the Gentile. But the second sense of giving thanks is seen in the special gift of Christians to give thanks to God even in seeming adversity.… Those who are saintly in their own eyes are prone to give thanks to God because they have been released from dangers and afflictions. But according to the apostle the greater virtue is to give thanks to God precisely amid those very dangers and afflictions. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:20
Efésios 5:21
Let bishops hear this, let priests hear, let every rank of learning get this clear: In the church, leaders are servants. Let them imitate the apostle.… The difference between secular rulers and Christian leaders is that the former love to boss their subordinates whereas the latter serve them. We are that much greater if we are considered least of all. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:21
Efésios 5:22
The union of Christ and the church is holy. So is the proper union of husband and wife holy. Just as a congregation of heretics, however, cannot rightly be called the church of Christ and cannot have Christ as its head, so it is that a union between husband and wife cannot be truly called holy if there is a disregard for the way of life taught by Christ. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:22-23
Efésios 5:23
Note that the church is never called the flesh but always the body of Christ. Whatever lives according to the flesh must necessarily be embodied. That is true. But it is not true that whatever is body is consequently living according to the flesh. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:22-23
Efésios 5:31
The same allegorical interpretation applies both to Christ and to the church, that Adam is to prefigure Christ and Eve the church. For "the last Adam was made a lifegiving spirit." Just as the whole human race is born from Adam and his wife, so the whole multitude of believers has been born of Christ and the church. — Commentary on Ephesians 5:31
Efésios 5:32
Gregory of Nazianzus, a very eloquent man and outstandingly versed in the Scriptures, used to say while discussing this passage with me: See how great the promise in this passage is! The apostle, interpreting it as an analogy of Christ and the church, does not himself even profess to have expounded it as the dignity of the idea demanded. He is in effect saying: "I know that this analogy is full of ineffable promises. It requires a divine heart in its interpretation. But in the weakness of my understanding I can only say that in the meantime it should be interpreted as Christ in relation to the church. Nothing is greater than Christ and the church. Even all that is said of Adam and Eve is to be interpreted with reference to Christ and the church." — Commentary on Ephesians 5:32