Ephesians 5:21

 The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)

 

In Ephesians 5:18-21 Paul says, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." Immediately thereafter he offers instructions concerning the marriage relationship (vv. 22-33), in which he calls upon wives to submit to their husbands (vv. 22, 24) and upon husbands to love their wives (vv. 25, 28, 33).

Mutual Submission

Paul's words in verse 21, "submitting to one another in the fear of God," have been interpreted to mean that every Christian is to submit to every other Christian. As the responsibility is reciprocal, "submit" [from hupotasso] is understood to involve nothing more than being concerned about and yielding to the needs of others. It is simply another way of stating the obligation in Romans 12:10, "giving preference to one another," and Philippians 2:3, "let each esteem others better than himself." For clearly, if each person must submit to all others, "submit" cannot denote subjection to authority.

    

Since in the next verse Paul says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands," this is not understood to involve subjection to authority either; rather, the duty the wife bears to her husband is no different than the duty all Christians bear to one another (v. 21) i.e., "to give priority to the other person." And in this sense, Paul could have said with equal propriety, "Husbands, submit to your own wives." In fact, it is thought by some that this is exactly what Paul does in verse 25. The command to "love" one's wife is viewed as simply another way of saying "submit" to her. Such exegesis attacks the idea that a husband has authority over his wife and that submission to him implies obedience.

    

This interpretation of verse 21, however, is not peculiar to feminist exegetes. "Mutual submission" among Christians is often supposed in verse 21 even by expositors that recognize that verses 22ff teach that the husband has authority over the wife.

The Meaning of Hupotasso

In either case, the problem with finding mutual submission in Ephesians 5:21 is that it requires a diluted meaning of hupotasso. In order for the term to apply reciprocally to all brethren, the word would have to mean merely yielding to the needs of another. But in the New Testament, unless this verse is the one exception, hupotasso always means yielding to the authority of another.

 

Observe how the word is used: Jesus was subject to his parents (Luke 2:51; demons were subject to the disciples (Luke 10:17);  Paul enjoins subjection to the governing authorities (Rom. 13:1, 5; Tit. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13); all things are subject to Christ (1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22); spiritual beings are subject to Christ (1 Pet. 3:22); Christ is subject to the Father (1 Cor. 15:28); members must submit to the elders (1 Pet. 5:5); the Corinthians were to submit to the direction of those who were leading in good works (1 Cor. 16:15-16; wives submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22, 24; Col. 3:18; Tit. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:5); servants must submit to their masters (Tit. 2:9; 1 Pet. 2:18); the church is subject to Christ (Eph. 5:24); Christians are subject to God (Heb. 12:9; Jas. 4:7).

    

It should be understood that in none of these relations is the submission ever reversed. The Father is never said to be subject to Christ; the elders are never told to be subject to the members; husbands are never commanded to submit to their wives; masters {employers} are never required to be subject to their servants {employees}; etc. Certainly masters {employers} must be considerate of their servants {employees} (Col. 4:1; Eph. 6:9) and husbands must regard the needs of their wives (Col. 3:19; Eph. 5:25, 28), but these responsibilities are never suggested by the word hupotasso; they are couched in different terms. Hupotasso is a unilateral term, because it denotes subjection to a leader. The follower must hupotasso the leader, but the leader does not hupotasso the follower. This is confirmed by Thayer's definitions: "to arrange under, to subordinate; to subject, put in subjection...; to subject one's self, to obey; to submit to one's control; to yield to one's admonition or advice...."

    

Therefore, Ephesians 5:21 cannot teach that all Christians must submit to all other Christians. Of course, one's obligation to "esteem others better than himself" and to "look out for the interests of others" is asserted in scripture and is reciprocal (Phil. 2:3-4). So we are not calling in question the concept that is often extracted from Ephesians 5:21. We are simply saying that the word hupotasso does not convey this concept. It denotes a unidirectional---not mutual---responsibility. Ephesians 5:21, therefore, does not teach "mutual submission."

Toward a More Satisfactory Interpretation

Verse 18 calls on the readers to "be filled with the Spirit." The five participles in verses 19-21 describe various activities of Spirit-filled people: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making melody in your heart, giving thanks always, and submitting to one another. Verse 21 is therefore grouped grammatically with verses 18-20, which is signified in several translations by making it the last verse in the paragraph (which begins with verse 15).

    

However, verse 22 contains no verb. "It presumes the verb expressed in the participle of verse 21 ('submitting')." So verse 21 is connected grammatically to what precedes and to what follows. It should be viewed as a transitional verse. It is both "the culmination of verses 18-20" and "the starting-point for 5:22-6:9." Certainly verse 21 would be a fitting introduction to the subsequent instructions requiring submission of (1) wives to husbands, (2) children to parents, and (3) slaves {employees} to masters {employers}.

    

What we are suggesting is this: Ephesians 5:22-6:9 explains verse 21, which introduces the section. The instructions in 5:22-6:9 are the particulars elucidating the general requirement in verse 21. Verse 21 affirms that there are cases in which some Christians must subject themselves to the authority of others. What are some of those cases? Wives must submit to husbands, children must submit to parents, slaves {employees} must submit to masters {employers}.

    

In response to the feminist interpretation of 3:21-33, it should be noticed that wives are called upon to be subject to their husbands as the church is subject to Christ (v. 24). This establishes that obedience to authority is in view. Verse 23 further confirms this fact: "For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church...." Certainly the Christ/church relationship, which parallels that of husband/wife, is not reciprocal. Christ is head of the church, but the church is not the head of Christ. The church is to be subject to Christ, but Christ must not be subject to the church. To insist on mutual submission between husbands and wives, one would have to make havoc of the relationship between Christ and His church. Paul is depicting, to both connections, a leader/follower relation.

    

In response to those who concede the authority/submission contrast in 5:22-6:9 and yet see mutual submission in 5:21, it should be noted that such an interpretation requires Paul to use the word hupotasso in one sense in verse 21 ("be considerate"), and in a completely different sense in the following discussion ("be subject to authority"). Yet, as we have shown, verse 21 is grammatically connected to 5:22-6:9, apparently serving as the introduction to this section. One would think that the key term in the introduction would be commensurate with that same term as it recurs in the discussion.

    

One scholar points out, "The reason the mutual submission interpretation is so common is that interpreters assume that the Greek pronoun allelous ('one another') must be completely reciprocal (that it must mean 'everyone to everyone'). There are, however, several passages in which it means "some to others." For instance, when Paul says, "Bear one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2)), he probably doesn't mean, "Let each member bear the burdens of every other member," but rather, "Let the strong bear the burdens of the weak." (cf. Rom. 15:1).

    

When Paul says, "Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another" (1 Corinthians 11:33), he means "Let those who are ready early wait for those who are late." And, perhaps most conclusively, notice Revelation 6:4---"it was granted...that people should kill one another." Clearly John is not suggesting that every person is mutually killing, and being killed by, every other person." That would truly be a spectacular slaughter. The obvious meaning is that some individuals are killing other individuals.

    

We have, therefore, biblical precedent for understanding allelous to mean "some to others." Granted, unless compelling reasons forbid it, "one another" should generally be viewed as reciprocal. But the above passages show that allelous can signify "some to other," and in Ephesians 5:21 we have a compelling reason to adopt this meaning because submission (in the sense of hupotasso) cannot be reciprocal.

Conclusion

Ephesians 5:21 does not teach mutual submission among Christians. It introduces 5:22--6:9, which gives the particulars of the general requirement in verse 21. "Submitting to one another" means, therefore, that certain individuals must submit to certain other individuals. In his elaboration, Paul specifies the respective individuals:  wives submit to husbands, children submit to parents, and slaves {employees} submit to masters {employers}.


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