For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
Parallel translations
- WEB For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly;
- KJV For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
- BSB Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.
- NASB for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,
- NLT No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No one hates his own body but nourishes and cares for it, as Christ does the church. Self-care illustrates how a husband should cherish his wife.
Overview
Paul presses the analogy: just as people naturally nourish and cherish their own flesh, so a husband should care for his wife, and so Christ cares for the church. The verb 'cherishes' conveys warm, tender provision. Christ's ongoing nurture of his people is the gracious pattern for marital love.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 34:14–15I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.
- Eph 5:31“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
- Eccl 4:5The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself.
- John 6:50–58This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.
- Prov 11:17The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.
- Isa 40:11He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
- Matt 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
- Rom 1:31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
- Ezek 34:27The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 5:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.