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 כגופו, "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, ואהבה כגופו, 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.