Last night, I focused on Ephesians 5:22 which says, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." (NASB) I worked on memorizing this verse and then proceeded to see exactly what it means for wives to be "subject" to their own husbands. The word "subject" in this passage is the Greek word hupotasso. In general, it means "...to place in order. To place under in an orderly fashion."1 More specifically, in relation to the relationship of wife to husband, The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament has this to say:
"...In the relation of a wife to her husband: (1) Eph. 5:22;
Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1, 5; Titus 2:5. In these verses the duty of the wife to submit herself to her own husband is clearly enunciated (Gal. 3:28; 1 Pet. 3:7). Although there is an ontological spiritual equality between men and women, there remain physical, positional and functional differences. There are designated functions for a husband and a wife which man cannot change because God has ordained them. Any endeavor to effect change will bring frustration, vanity, and emptiness...God has made one woman to become a wife to one man, and she is so constituted by God Himself. But this is not due to her being inferior to her husband, for they are both equal before God. It is a willing personal subjection demonstrated in Eph. 5:21, 'submitting yourselves [hupotassomenoi] one to another in the fear of God.' The word translated 'one to another' is allelois (240), in the pl. dat. indicating equality of all concerned. In society all humans, all men and women in various positions of leadership or following and dependence, are equal, yet their functions vary and their responsibilities are diverse. We are all equal before God and the laws of society, and yet we have varying functions and responsibilities. If we accept certain functions under a fellow-human, we must subject ourselves to that individual to accomplish a common goal. So it is with a wife placing herself in the proper and divinely-fitted position under her husband. Only a wife can bear children, and to do this she must subject (hupotassetai) herself to her husband. The functions are equally important although different. And they are different not because we want them to be, but because God made them to be so."2
As I have read through this definition, I think that a wife submitting/subjecting herself to her husband should not be merely seen as a command in Scripture but also as something that the wife chooses to do to honor not only God and Christ, but also to honor her husband. A woman's willingness to place herself under the authority of her husband is a witness for God to those around her. As wives, we need to see this as a priviledge to be able to serve God in this way.
As wives, when we subject/submit ourselves or place ourselves under our husband, we are also ultimately placing ourselves under God. To submit to our husbands is to submit to God and to trust that God will take care of whatever concerns us. We can see submission to our husbands as a priviledge for it means we are serving our Father in Heaven in a wonderful way.
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Endnotes
1Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1992), 1427.
2Ibid., 1428.
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