Should wives submit to their husbands?
The short answer to this question is yes, wives should submit to their husbands AND husbands should submit to their wives (Eph. 5:21). Throughout scripture we see this male-female mutuality, and here in the discussion on submission in Ephesians 5:18-32, the topic begins with “submit one to another.” Like we say, “I ran to the store and back,” meaning “I ran to the store, and I ran back from the store,” this passage reads literally in Greek, “submit one to another, wives to husbands,” intending to keep the thought together and using the one verb “submit” for both wives submitting to husbands and husbands submitting to wives. Ephesians 5:21 teaches all Christians should submit to one another. The passage then delves into details, which are surprisingly subversive. Enjoy your discoveries as you dig into the articles below!
What to Say
What to Say When Someone Says Wives Should Submit to Husbands
Listen to Podcast (Part 1)
Listen to Dr. Cynthia Westfall talk about New Testament translation issues
Listen to Podcast (Part 2)
Listen to Part 2 of Dr. Cynthia Westfall’s explanation of New Testament translation issues, especially in light of the household codes
LISTEN
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KEPHALE…
MUTUAL SUBMISSION FRAMES…
A CHRSTIAN UNDERSTAND…
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
Biblical Interpretation and the Epistle to the Ephesians
Where and how we start in our interpretation of Scripture determines where we will end up. When seeking to understand the relevance of the Bible’s teaching for our lives, interpretive starting points are particularly significant. The method by which we read and derive meaning from Scripture is the fundamental determinant of the nature of the meaning we will derive.
ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KEPHALE…
On the Significance of Kephalē (“Head”): A Study of the Abuse of One Greek Word
There has been, and continues to be, a great deal of confusion, consternation, and perhaps grief, over the meaning of the Greek word kephalē (“head”) in the NT.significance-kephale-head/
MUTUAL SUBMISSION FRAMES…
Mutual Submission Frames the Household Codes
Half of a book I wrote in 1992 dealt with mutual submission in Ephesians’ household codes. More recently, a PhD student here at Asbury Theological Seminary, Murray Vasser, has defended an excellent dissertation arguing for mutual submission in Colossians, 1 and I have discovered something related to the same mutuality pattern while writing a commentary on 1 Peter.
A CHRSTIAN UNDERSTAND…
A Christian Understanding of Submission: A Nonhierarchical-Complementarian Viewpoint
The introduction of the word “submission” into a Christian conversation about adult human relations immediately strikes different responses. For some Christians, submission is a happy word describing the proper biblical relation of a wife to her husband or of a woman, whether married or single, to the males in the church congregation.