Ephesians 5:28
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
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" {r}; 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" {s}; for as they also say, they are but one body {t}; the apostle seems to speak in the language of his countrymen; however, his doctrine and theirs agree in this point: wherefore
He that loveth his wife loveth himself; because she is one body and flesh with him.
{r} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 24. 1. & Becorot, fol. 35. 2. Maimon. Hilchot Becorot, c. 2. sect. 17. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 18. 2.
{s} T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 62. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 76. 2. Derech Eretz, fol. 17. 4. Maimon Hilchot Ishot, c. 15. sect. 19.
{t} Tzeror Hammor, fol. 6. 3.