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OET interlinear EPH 5:26

◄ ← EPH 5:26 ↓ → ► ║ ©

SR Greek word order

    1. Greek word
    2. Greek lemma
    3. OET-LV words
    4. OET-RV words
    5. Strongs
    6. Role/Morphology
    7. OET Gloss
    8. VLT Gloss
    9. CAPS codes
    10. Confidence
    11. OET tags
    12. OET word #
    1. ἵνα
    2. hina
    3. in order that
    4. -
    5. 24430
    6. C·······
    7. in_order_that
    8. in_order_that
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130119
    1. αὐτήν
    2. autos
    3. her
    4. -
    5. 8460
    6. R···3AFS
    7. her
    8. her
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130120
    1. ἁγιάσῃ
    2. hagiazō
    3. he may sanctify
    4. -
    5. 370
    6. VSAA3··S
    7. ˱he˲ ˓may˒ sanctify
    8. ˱he˲ ˓may˒ sanctify
    9. -
    10. Y64; R130110; Person=Jesus
    11. 130121
    1. καθαρίσας
    2. katharizō
    3. having cleansed her
    4. clean
    5. 25110
    6. VPAA·NMS
    7. ˓having˒ cleansed ‹her›
    8. ˓having˒ cleansed ‹her›
    9. -
    10. Y64; R130110; Person=Jesus
    11. 130122
    1. τῷ
    2. ho
    3. by the
    4. -
    5. 35880
    6. E····DNS
    7. ˱by˲ the
    8. ˱by˲ the
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130123
    1. λουτρῷ
    2. loutron
    3. washing
    4. -
    5. 30670
    6. N····DNS
    7. washing
    8. washing
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130124
    1. τοῦ
    2. ho
    3. the
    4. -
    5. 35880
    6. E····GNS
    7. ¬the
    8. ¬the
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130125
    1. ὕδατος
    2. udōr
    3. of water
    4. water
    5. 52040
    6. N····GNS
    7. ˱of˲ water
    8. ˱of˲ water
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130126
    1. ἐν
    2. en
    3. by
    4. -
    5. 17220
    6. P·······
    7. by
    8. by
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130127
    1. ῥήματι
    2. rhēma
    3. +the message
    4. message
    5. 44870
    6. N····DNS
    7. ˓the˒ message
    8. ˓the˒ word
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130128

OET (OET-LV) in_order_that he_may_sanctify her, having_cleansed her by_the washing of_ the _water by the_message,

OET (OET-RV) so that he could separate the church from the world and wash it clean with the water of the good message

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:21–33: Paul gave advice to husbands and their wives

In 4:17–5:20, Paul taught the Ephesian Christians to behave differently than pagans (people who do not know God). For the next three sections, Paul taught about how Christians should behave in their relationships in their families and at work. In this first section, he dealt with the duties of wives and husbands. He described the marriage relationship as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Paul’s advise to wives and husbands (GW)

How a wife and a husband should live together

Paragraph 5:25–33

In the previous paragraph Paul talked about the duties that a wife has toward her husband. In this paragraph, Paul discusses the duties a husband has toward his wife.

5:26–27

In the Greek, 5:25–27 are one continuous sentence. But it may be clearer to start a new sentence at 5:26, for example:

He did this in order to…

He died in order to….

In 5:26–27, Paul gave two purposes for which Christ gave himself up for the church: Christ did this:

  1. in order to make the church holy (5:26a),

  2. in order to present the church to himself in a perfect, beautiful condition (5:27).

The second purpose is the ultimate purpose, Christ’s long-range goal. He died for us so that in the future when he comes to get us, we will be radiant, holy and blameless.

5:26a

to sanctify her,

to sanctify her: The clause to sanctify her is the purpose Christ gave himself for the church (5:25b). Christ gave himself for the church in order to sanctify her.

to sanctify: Some English versions translate the Greek verb here as “to…make holy.” The BSB and older English versions translate this verb as sanctify. There are two possible ways to interpret the meaning of the Greek verb here.

  1. It means to make holy/pure. For example:

    to make her holy (NLT) (BSB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, GW, NLT, CEV, JBP)

  2. It means “to set apart, to make God’s special people.” For example:

    He did this to dedicate the church to God (GNT) (GNT, REB, NCV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). In the NT, sanctify usually means “set apart for the service of God,” but here the meaning is “made pure” because of the word “cleansing” which follows. You can translate this:

He did this to make them pure

See holy, Meaning 4 in the Glossary for more information.

5:26b

cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

cleansing her by the washing with water: The clause cleansing her by the washing with water is a metaphor. Paul meant that Christ “washed away” or removed our sins (cf. 1 John 1:7, 9). It is another way to say Christ made us holy (5:26a). Paul was not referring to Christ literally washing the church or Christians to get the dirt off their bodies.

by the washing with water: Paul said that Christ removed our sins by the washing with water. This probably refers to baptism. Paul may have been comparing baptism to the ceremonial bath taken by a Jewish bride before marriage. Just as a Jewish bride was given a bath before her marriage, so Christ washed away our sins through baptism when we became his bride.

In order to avoid implying that Christ physically washed the church, you may need to include your word for “baptism” in your translation. For example:

…to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s Word (NLT96)

(In the above quote from the NLT96, the word “her” refers to the church.)

through the word: There are two interpretation issues that you need to consider when you translate this phrase:

Issue 1: The meaning of the phrase the word. Here the word means the words that God or Christ spoke. It refers to God’s Word, the Christian message. When we heard and believed God’s Word, trusted in Christ and were baptized, Christ made us pure and cleansed us from sin.

Issue 2: To which part of the verse is word connected. Two of the main interpretations are:

  1. word goes with “cleansed.” According to this interpretation, Christ cleansed the church both with water and with the word. For example:

    washed by baptism and God’s word (NLT) (NLT96, GW, REB)

  2. word goes with sanctify/make holy in 5:26a. According to this interpretation, Christ cleansed the church with water, and then he sanctified it by the word. For example:

    dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water (GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) as this seems to have the most support among commentaries.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal

ἵνα

in_order_that

The connecting phrase so that introduces a goal relationship. The goal or purpose of Christ giving himself up to death is to sanctify the church.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

αὐτὴν ἁγιάσῃ, καθαρίσας

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἵνα αὐτήν ἁγιάσῃ καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι)

Paul speaks of the assembly of believers as though she were a woman whom Jesus will marry. Alternate translation: [he might make us holy, having cleansed us]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι

˓having˒_cleansed_‹her› ˱by˲_the washing ¬the ˱of˲_water by ˓the˒_word

This could mean: (1) Paul is referring to God making Christ’s people clean by the preaching and acceptance of God’s word in the gospel message and through water baptism in Christ. (2) Paul is speaking of God making us spiritually clean from our sins by the message as if God were making our bodies clean by washing them with water.

TSN Tyndale Study Notes:

5:26 washed by the cleansing of God’s word: The church has been cleansed by the message of good news. God has forgiven the sins of his people through Christ’s sacrificial death (John 15:3; cp. Titus 3:5; 1 Pet 3:21).

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

    1. OET-LV words
    2. OET-RV words
    3. Strongs
    4. Greek word
    5. Greek lemma
    6. Role/Morphology
    7. OET Gloss
    8. VLT Gloss
    9. CAPS codes
    10. Confidence
    11. OET tags
    12. OET word #
    1. in order that
    2. -
    3. 24430
    5. hina
    6. C-·······
    7. in_order_that
    8. in_order_that
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130119
    1. he may sanctify
    2. -
    3. 370
    5. hagiazō
    6. V-SAA3··S
    7. ˱he˲ ˓may˒ sanctify
    8. ˱he˲ ˓may˒ sanctify
    9. -
    10. Y64; R130110; Person=Jesus
    11. 130121
    1. her
    2. -
    3. 8460
    5. autos
    6. R-···3AFS
    7. her
    8. her
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130120
    1. having cleansed her
    2. clean
    3. 25110
    5. katharizō
    6. V-PAA·NMS
    7. ˓having˒ cleansed ‹her›
    8. ˓having˒ cleansed ‹her›
    9. -
    10. Y64; R130110; Person=Jesus
    11. 130122
    1. by the
    2. -
    3. 35880
    5. ho
    6. E-····DNS
    7. ˱by˲ the
    8. ˱by˲ the
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130123
    1. washing
    2. -
    3. 30670
    5. loutron
    6. N-····DNS
    7. washing
    8. washing
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130124
    1. of
    2. water
    3. 52040
    5. udōr
    6. N-····GNS
    7. ˱of˲ water
    8. ˱of˲ water
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130126
    1. the
    2. -
    3. 35880
    5. ho
    6. E-····GNS
    7. ¬the
    8. ¬the
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130125
    1. water
    2. water
    3. 52040
    5. udōr
    6. N-····GNS
    7. ˱of˲ water
    8. ˱of˲ water
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130126
    1. by
    2. -
    3. 17220
    5. en
    6. P-·······
    7. by
    8. by
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130127
    1. +the message
    2. message
    3. 44870
    5. rhēma
    6. N-····DNS
    7. ˓the˒ message
    8. ˓the˒ word
    9. -
    10. Y64
    11. 130128

OET (OET-LV) in_order_that he_may_sanctify her, having_cleansed her by_the washing of_ the _water by the_message,

OET (OET-RV) so that he could separate the church from the world and wash it clean with the water of the good message

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

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◄ ← EPH 5:26 ↑ → ► ║ ©