Mike Aubrey on Ephesians 5:21-22
By Alan Knox | February 18th, 2009 | Category: Exegesis & Interpretation | 2 comments
Mike Aubrey at ΕΝ ΕΦΕΣΩ has written an excellent series of posts concerning Ephesians 5:21-22. As he explains in the first post:
Honestly, the division of these two verses, in my opinion, is a perfect example of Biblical scholars knowing little to nothing about how language functions holistically, particularly at the level of pragmatics and discourse – this is one occasion where my always seeking to give the benefit of the doubt really struggles.
Here are links to his articles:
Thanks for the link.
Hey Mike,
Just thought I would drop a comment. I am researching Eph. 5:21-33 right now for a Greek paper and I was interested by the dialouge that’s been going on at this website. I am not too far in the study, but I notice right away that verse 21 can go either with the preceding context (v.18-21), or with the following context (v.22-33, along with the other household duties).
It seems the big debate is how the participle for “subject” is functioning in verse 21. Either it is adverbial, meaning it is subordinate to the imperative “be filled with the Spirit” in verse 18,” either as a participle of means or result, or it is an imperatival participle, independent of the preceding context, issugin a command that functions as the heading for all the household duties in the following context.
I noticed that all the participles in verses 19-21 were present tense, and that each verse from 19-21 ended with a title for God (Father, God, and Christ). The parallels made me think verse 21 went with the preceding context and that the participle in verse 21 was adverbial just like the other four participle are in verses 19-20. However, then I saw that the participle in verse 21 is distinct. It is the only one in the passive voice, while the participles in verses 19-20 are in the active voice. The participle in verse 21 is talking about what one does, namely ’submit.’ While the other four are talking about what one says ’speaking, singing, making melody, giving thanks.’ I also notice that the curiccular version in Colossians 3:16-17 has close parallels to the participles in Ephesians 5:19-20. The only participle that Colossians 3:16-17 doesn’t match up with, is that of “subject” in Ephesians 5:21. That comes in the next verse: Colossians 3:18, which is an imperative, under the context of giving instructions to wives. Finally, and most obvious, is that the verb form for “subject” occurs again in the following context, in Eph 5:24. However, the word doesn’t occur anywhere in the preceding context. Right now, I’m leaning toward the participle in verse 21 begin imperatival, making it a heading for the household orders.
The big problem with this, I see, is how is “be subject to one another” working with the following context? Only wives are told to be subject to their husbands. Is verse 21 talking about reciprocal submission? Why then are only wives commissioned to do so? So that’s where I’m at in my studies. I appreciated your comments on the passage. If you have anything helpful, shoot me an email if you get a chance.
Thanks for reading, Jaymz