07/23/2022
Wonderful post by Chris Dunagan “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22).
Hi. Good morning. How’s everyone doing? Got everyone’s attention now? Gentleman, are you all ready to tell your wives how it is? Ladies, are you all ready to submit and fall in line? Well, don’t scatter your corn just yet. *
What if I told you there is no verb in the Greek text of v 22 and the translators supplied the words “be subject” to make it easier to read in English? It’s true.
Verses 21 and 22 go together and the idea is NOT a one-sided subjection of wives to husbands, but mutual submission to one another, as it says in v 21: “and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” Mutual submission, not authoritarian oppression, is a mark of having received the grace God gives to believe in Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The larger context makes clear Paul is elevating, not diminishing, the status of women. Craig Keener’s Bible Background Commentary on the New Testament is instructive:
This section of Ephesians refers to what are called “household codes.” Household codes reflected what ancient societies regarded as virtuous within household relations. In Paul’s day, many Romans were concerned that new religions, of which Christianity was one, would undermine traditional Roman family values. Minority religions often included household codes affirming Roman family values to avoid trouble from the Romans. The household codes often grouped the discussion along the lines of husband-wife, father-child, and master-slave relations. Thus, Paul’s inclusion of household code language in Ephesians is not a Christian treatise in a vacuum. Paul is, in part, trying to allay Roman suspicions in so far as he can.
But Paul makes a significant departure from the traditional codes. It is the departure from the traditional codes, not the inclusion of them, that points to the distinctly Christian nature of Paul’s instruction. Unfortunately, the English translation of verse 22 somewhat obscures the conspicuousness of Paul’s clear and unmistakable rejection of tradition here:
“[U]nlike most ancient writers, Paul undermines a basic premise of these codes: the male head of the house’s assumption of absolute authority” (Keener, 552). “[A]lthough it was customary to call on wives, children and slaves to submit in various ways, to call all members of a group (including the paterfamilias, the male head of the household) to submit to one another (cf. Mark 10:43-45) was unheard of” (Keener, 552).
In the cultural context of the ancient world, the male head of household was large-and-in-charge. In one of many counter-cultural subversions of the status quo, the gospel calls men in particular to yield to Christ and calls women up to a seat at the table. Mutual submission to one another is an attribute of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Rublev’s icon, Trinity, depicts the mutual submission among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and gives us an impression worthy of beholding of mutual submission among husbands and wives who believe in Christ and receive the Holy Spirit.
Stated simply, there is no universe in which the Bible, correctly interpreted in its context, authorizes, requires, or condones men in any context mistreating women in any context.
* Footnote: “don’t scatter your corn” –
Once upon a time, people used corn kernels to mark Bingo cards. When someone cried out, “Bingo!”, the caller would say, “Don’t scatter your corn, it may be wrong.” The game wasn’t over until the caller verified the winning card. marriage!
