“One Flesh”: Eph. 5:22–24, 5:31 Marriage and the New Creation

by Stephen Francis Miletic

Publisher:

Pontifical Biblical Institute

, 1988

Overview

The address to wives in Eph. 5:22–24 represents an expansion of Col. 3:18. What guided the expansion? An answer emerges from an investigation of Pauline and Jewish reflection about Adam, Christ and the New Creation. The argument of the study is that Eph. 5:22–24 contains language which elsewhere in the Pauline Corpus associates Christ with Adam or the first two chapters of Genesis. Both the “adamic” character of the language in Eph. 5:22–24 and the application of Gen. 2:24 to Christ and the church (Eph. 5:31–32) support the contention that Pauline New Creation theology guided the construction of Eph. 5:22–24.

The first chapter outlines the shortcomings of previous investigations which have underestimated the “adamic” character of Ephesians 5:22–24. Chapter two contains a detailed analysis of the grammatical structure of the text, which leads to the conclusion that the logical and theological core of the text is Ephesians 5:23c (“he, savior of the body”). The arguments in the next chapter demonstrates that the soteriology of 5:23c is to be interpreted in light of 2:14–18, which recasts Christ’s death on the cross in language found in Genesis 1–2, suggesting the “adamic” character of 5:23c.

The fourth chapter explores the “adamic” nature of the terms “head” and “subordination” within Pauline texts prior to Ephesians (e.g., 1 Corinthians 11:2–6; 15:28b; Colossians 1:15–20). The final chapter contains a fresh exegesis of Ephesians 5:22–24 in light of Pauline New Creation theology and some brief hermeneutical reflections.

In the Logos edition, all Scripture passages in “One Flesh” are tagged and appear on mouseover, and all Scripture passages link to your favorite Bible translation in your library. With Logos’ advanced features, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “New Creation” or “subordination.”

Key Features

• Outline of the shortcomings of previous investigations which have underestimated the “adamic” character of Ephesians 5:22–24
• Analysis of the grammatical structure of the text
• Exploration of the “adamic” nature of the terms “head” and “subordination” within Pauline texts prior to Ephesians
• Exegesis of Ephesians 5:22–24 in light of Pauline New Creation theology

Product Details

• Title: “One Flesh”: Eph. 5:22–24, 5:31 Marriage and the New Creation
• Author: Stephen Francis Miletic
• Publisher: Pontifical Biblical Institute
• Publication Date: 1988
• Pages: 138

About Stephen Francis Miletic

Stephen Francis Miletic was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1952. After music studies at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (1971–1973) he earned degrees in religious studies (BA, MA) from the University of Windsor, a PhD in religious studies from Marquette University (Milwaukee, U.S.A., 1985) and a BEd from the University of Windsor (1978). He has presented papers to professional biblical associations in both the U.S.A. and Canada. He has taught as a visiting assistant professor in the U.S.A. and as a lecturer in Canada. In 1986, he served as the director in the National Office of Religious Education, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ottawa (Canada), where he lives with his wife and their three children.