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NASB | Ephesians 5:22 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 5:22 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord. |
Bible Question: What does wives, be subject, mean? |
Bible Answer: Greetings Kathy Johnson, Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." [ASV] [ASV] - American Standard Version (1901) "5:22 Wives, be subject. An aspect of the mutual submission taught in v. 21. To be subject meant to yield one's own rights. If the relationship called for it, as in the military, the term could connote obedience, but that meaning is not called for here. In fact, the word "obey" does not appear in Scripture with respect to wives, though it does with respect to children (6:1) and slaves (6:5). as to the Lord. Does not put a woman's husband in the place of the Lord, but shows rather that a woman ought to submit to her husband as an act of submission to the Lord." (1) "5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands. Having established the foundational principle of submission (v.21), Paul applied it first to the wife. The command is unqualified, applying to every Christian wife, no matter what her own abilities, education, knowledge of Scripture, spiritual maturity, or any other qualifications might be in relation to those of her husband. The submission is not the husband's to command but for the wife to willingly and lovingly offer. "Your own husbands" limits her submission to the one man God has placed over her, and also gives a balancing emphasis that he is hers as a personal intimate possession (Song 2:16; 6:3; 7:10). She submits to the man she possesses as her own. as to the Lord. Because the obedient, spiritual wife's supreme submission is to the Lord, her attitude is that she lovingly submits as an act of obedience to the Lord who has given this command as His will for her, regardless of her husband's personal worthiness or spiritual condition. Cf. vv.5-9." (2) Blessings to you, Makarios (1) Zondervan NASB Study Bible, 1999, the Zondervan Corporation, pg. 1725, Kenneth Barker, General Editor (2) MacArthur Study Bible, 1997, Word Publishing, pg. 1813, John MacArthur, Author and General Editor |