John Gill Commentary Ephesians 5:28

"Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself:" — Ephesians 5:28 (ASV)

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies
It is a common saying with the Jews, that a man's wife is (wpwgk) , "as his own body" ^F18 ; and it is one of the precepts of their wise men, that a man should honour his wife more than his body, (wpwgk hbhaw) , and "love her as his body" ^F19 ; for as they also say, they are but one body ^F20 ; the apostle seems to speak in the language of his countrymen; however, his doctrine and theirs agree in this point: wherefore

he that loves his wife loves himself ;
because she is one body and flesh with him.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F18: T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 24. 1. & Becorot, fol. 35. 2. Maimon. Hilchot Becorot, c. 2. sect. 17. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 18. 2.
• F19: T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 62. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 76. 2. Derech Eretz, fol. 17. 4. Maimon Hilchot Ishot, c. 15. sect. 19.
• F20: Tzeror Hammor, fol. 6. 3.