Ephesians 5:21-6:9 The Context

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Part One: The Context

This page looks at a number of the contextual issues surrounding the passage. It examines the background of the book of Ephesians, focussing particularly on the lives of women, children and slaves. It also examines the difficulty many Christians find with applying this passage due to the apparent incompatibility of wifely submission with modern values. The general structure of Ephesians is noted, as well as the structure of the passage in question.

Cultural and Social Issues relating to the book of Ephesians

The book of Ephesians was written to a Gentile audience, who were subject to Roman law and probably unfamiliar with many Jewish customs. Prior to conversion the Ephesians had little knowledge of Jewish law or culture. Thus, when Paul quotes from Genesis and Deuteronomy, his readers probably had limited understanding of the background of those texts. They also may have been unaware of the Old Testament directives concerning the treatment of slaves.

Moreover, the Roman-dominated world consisted of family groups over which one man held absolute power, if not always in practice, certainly in theory. Children were, according to the law, little better than his chattels. His wife was similarly under his absolute authority, although public opinion and custom operated somewhat strongly for her protection. Slaves were likewise chattels, for whom there was no appeal, no respite from the master’s final and absolute judgement.. A master could assign his slave any manner of work, sell him, or abandon him. Slaves could not hold property, make contracts, or marry, and remained in slavery even after the death of their master. Their only hope of mercy lay in the character of the individual owner. Slaves were a numerous class. In many of the cities of Asia Minor slaves outnumbered freemen. In fact, practically all work was done by slaves, including professional occupations such as medicine, education and administration.

Notwithstanding her place under her husband’s authority, the Roman woman was held in higher regard than women of any other people. Women grew increasingly reluctant to submit to the traditional and legal marital contract called Manus, which effectively bestowed all power within the household upon the husband. This reluctance may provide the setting for Paul’s admonitions to husbands and wives. Paul mitigates the authoritarian nature of Manus, and exhorts women to introduce a spiritual aspect to their marital relationship (Johnstone).

Problems with this passage

There are some inherently male and female characteristics that may induce a reluctance to the application of this passage. For example, many men display an antipathy to submission, a tendency towards insensitivity, or a propensity towards domination. Women may feel indignantly sidelined or frightened of abuse if they apply this passage. Furthermore the social pressure on women to succeed in the 21st century is enormous, notwithstanding the considerable obstacles placed in front of them. Women in the Family are strongly encouraged to take leadership positions, and indeed the current leader of the Family is female.

Put plainly, the section in Ephesians on the submission of women to their husbands is not politically correct. There is a modern social and cultural emphasis on women becoming self-sufficient. This issue irreversibly separates the modern world from the ancient. While it is true that women today have less opportunity than men, they are nonetheless free to get an education, embark on a career, indulge their ambitions, and even take on managerial positions where they outrank men, circumstances practically non-existent in the first century. Many women today feel extremely uncomfortable about this passage and perhaps would have preferred that Paul had written something else! Modern men may feel somewhat nonplussed about the extent to which their own wives should submit to them, and in what circumstances.

Next, it is true that this passage has been abused through the neglect of proper exegesis. For example, “wifely submission is taken to mean the subjugation of the woman’s whole being to the man; husbandly love is taken to mean the man’s condescending care of the woman” (Wall). These erroneous values are incompatible with 21^st century ethics, which in turn may force Christians to decide whether to abandon their perception of what this passage says, to ignore it altogether, or to attempt to impose draconian authority in their families. The easiest, of course, is to ignore the passage.

Although many young children are expected to obey their parents, this ethic has been eroded away to the point that school-age children exercise limited obedience, and teenagers minimal. Attempts to rein in rebellious teenagers are often unsuccessful.

The instructions to fathers may be overlooked by those with busy schedules, who find it very difficult to find time to ‘train and instruct’ their children.

Finally, the first century system of slavery referred to in Ephesians six is non-existent in 21st century western society. This fact may induce modern Christians to ignore this passage altogether or discard it as irrelevant. There may be parallels in the modern employer-employee relationship or within the military, but the differences are crucial enough to limit the applicability to certain aspects only. For example, employees are generally not permanently bond to their place of employment, and officers do not have the power of life or death over their soldiers. The term slave does not “bear the connotation of a free individual serving another” (NET Bible, footnote to Eph 6:5).

There may also be some revulsion caused by the fact that slavery is apparently condoned by Paul, who had the ideal opportunity to command Christian masters to free their slaves, yet who rather lamely instructed them not to threaten them so much!

General observations

The passage is written by Paul, probably as an encyclical to a number of churches in the vicinity of the town of Ephesus. It was therefore not an occasional letter written to address a particular situation or problem. At the time, Paul was in prison in Rome and sent this epistle via Tychicus who had several such letters to deliver. The passage in question bears remarkable similarity to Colossians 3:18-4:1, written by Paul at the same time, as well as other passages written by Paul, notably portions of 1 Cor 11, 1 Cor 14, Titus 2, and 1 Tim 6. However it is noteworthy that the Epistle to the Colossians was in fact an occasional letter, addressing false teaching which had taken root, possibly an early form of Gnosticism, and differences between the passages in Ephesians and Colossians should be examined with that understanding.

The epistle follows Paul’s general pattern, as typified in the book of Romans, where the first division of the book is devoted to doctrinal matters (Eph ch.1-3), and the second division (ch.4-6) contains a practical exposition of the first division. The passage in question lies at the end of the practical application section, and is followed only by the description of the spiritual warfare and the armour of God, and the concluding few verses. It contains the most specifically addressed instructions in the book, as though Paul began with his most general observations and progressively expounded his doctrine to more and more specific audiences, culminating with this particular passage where he addresses wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves and masters.

The practical division is introduced by Eph 4:1 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (NASB). The division expounds on that ‘worthy manner’ whereby Christians act in accordance with their calling, displaying unity, the gifts of the spirit, holiness and worship, before pinpointing the particular members of the extended family (including slaves and their owners). The following section on the spiritual warfare and the armour of God changes the subject dramatically and so this passage may be seen as the conclusion of the practical application section.

It is interesting to note that although the instructions addressed to wives are by far the most controversial when read in a 21^st century context, it is the instructions to the husband on which Paul spends the most time. The husband’s instructions are three times as long as those for the wife and by far the most detailed and complex. This may indicate Paul’s main area of concern. He also reverses the order of authority, addressing wives before husbands, children before fathers, and slaves before masters.

Regarding Eph 5:21

There are varying opinions about whether verse 21 should be included in this passage addressing family members (as in the RSV), or included in the previous section detailing the results of being filled with the Spirit (as in the NASB), or whether it acts as a kind of link between the two sections (as in the NIV). A footnote to verse 22 in the NET Bible states that the connection of verse 21 to the following section “is not likely… because it requires the participle… in 5:21 to act as the main verb of the section, and this participle more likely is linked to the command ‘be filled by the Spirit’ in 5:18 as a participle of result”. This would indicate that verse 21 concludes the preceding paragraph, rather than opening the section on husbands and wives. However other people note that without verse 21, verse 22 is verbless, indicating that verses 21 and 22 may be inseparably interconnected. It is not unscholarly to hold either view.

This study is continued in Part Two: The Content.

References

Johnstone: The Private Life of the Romans, HW Johnstone, 1932, Scott, Foresman & Company, Glenview, IL.

Wall: ‘Colossians and Philemon’, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, volume 12, RW Wall, 1993, InterVarsity, Westmont, IL.

NET Bible: The Holy Bible: The NET Bible (NET) 2005, Biblical Studies Press, Dallas, TX.

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