Bible Strands
Ephesians 5:32
This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author writes to the Ephesian church while concluding a passage on marital conduct, using the husband-wife union as a structural framework.
The words — μυστήριον (mustērion) means "mystery" and μέγα (mega) means "great" or "profound," describing a previously hidden reality that is now explicitly identified.
The thread — The text links the marital analogy to other passages that frame the church as Christ’s bride, including 2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 21:2, and Isaiah 54:5.
Why it lands — It requires readers to recognize that human marriage is a secondary illustration of a primary spiritual reality, demanding that they view their own relationships through the lens of Christ’s relationship to the church.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Revelation 21:2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Isaiah 54:5 For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
- Isaiah 62:4 No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride.
- Colossians 2:2 that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
- 1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.
- John 3:29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
- Song of Solomon 1:1 This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.
- Psalms 45:9 The daughters of kings are among your honored women; the queen stands at your right hand, adorned with the gold of Ophir.