Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Ephesians 5:33

"Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and [let] the wife [see] that she fear her husband." — Ephesians 5:33 (ASV)

The final word in this section is a practical one. Whether or not Paul’s readers have fully understood his allusions to the “profound mystery” (v.32), they should at least get hold of the essential instructions he has been endeavoring to convey. Paul addresses every husband individually (lit., “you each, one by one”). Each one is to go on loving his wife as his very self (vv.25, 28–29). For her part, the wife is to give her husband the respect that is due him in the Lord (v.22)—a respect that is conditioned by and expressive of reverence for Christ. It also assumes that the husband will so love his wife as to be worthy of such deference.