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NASB | Ephesians 5:33 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 5:33 However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear]. [1 Pet 3:2] |
Bible Question: The word "respect" or "reverence" in Greek looks a lot like phobia - fear. Is it right for a wife to see her husband as deserving of her fear? Even if the word doesn't really mean "fear" in a modern coloquial sense, is it right that she should have a sense of awe or reverence, or even attribute to him the kind of honor, power, or authority that would make awe or reverence reasonable? Does he actually hold that kind of position even if he's really bad at it? |
Bible Answer: You are correct in interpeting the Greek to mean phobea which imples that a wife should fear her husband exceedingly. This is consistant with Genesis 3:16 when God cursed the woman by saying, "...And thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." It was God's plan that the husband should rule over the wife. Not to her detriment. But for her protection. For spiritually the woman has a flaw which the man does not. Paul explains this in 1 Timothy 2:12-14 "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." It was easy to deceive the woman in the garden. And it is easy to deceive the woman today. But if she is obedient to her husband and her husband is obedient to God -- that woman shall not be found in another transgression. God made the woman as the man's helpmete. He made the woman for man and not the man for woman. The man is stronger than a woman physically, logically, and emotionally. The woman should fear someone physically, logically, and emotionally superior to herself. There are many instances in the Bible where God has ordained man to be over the woman. It is written in the Law of Moses. It is commanded in the New Testament. Sarah called Abraham Lord. And there are many, many more references. But there is not space here to go into them. Even if the man is bad at his authority over the woman the woman still must fear and revere the man. For if the woman took authority, which is expressly forbidden in the Bible, it would be worse than a man who was bad at handling authority. It would be Adam and Eve in the garden all over again. The devil is behind the feminist movement. And the ideology behind the ERA and womens place in society today are not according to God's Word. This is why there is such high rates of divorce and other social ills. It is also why most women cannot be happy. For they usurp the man. An in this place of authority for which God did not make them suited they are most miserable. |