In
the January 2020 edition of Pentecostal
Life, Dr. Daniel Segraves offers a thought provoking article regarding the
biblical relationship between a man and a woman in marriage. In this article,
Dr. Segraves begins in Genesis with God’s creation of woman as a “help meet”
i.e. a “suitable helper” for the man in procreation. Then he examines the
implications of man’s sin in the Garden, and how this affects the marriage
relationship. Dr. Segraves contends, “When God told Eve her husband would rule
over her, it was simply His observation about what their relationship would be
as a consequence of sin.” He further postulates that because of Christ’s death,
Christians can “seek to find the restoration of marriages as God intended …
characterized by mutual submission of the husband and wife (Ephesians 5:21; I Corinthians
7:4–5).” Dr. Segraves contends that the word “submit” does not appear in the
Greek text of Ephesians 5:22. Likewise, he asserts that the word “submit” in
Ephesians 5:21 “calls for the wife to submit to her husband, but also for the
husband to submit to his wife.” He further adds that the word “head” (kephalē) in Ephesians 5:23 and I
Corinthians 11:3 does not necessarily refer to rank or authority, but indicates
“the idea of source or origin.” Dr. Segraves concludes his article pointing out
that Jesus included women among His disciples and closest friends.
While Dr. Segraves does not
specifically mention women in ministry, I feel that his conclusion illustrates
the article’s greater intent as an affirmation of women’s roles in the
five-fold ministry. To this conclusion, I agree. However, a woman’s call into
the pulpit ministry does not exempt them from the biblical precepts of a wife’s
submission toward her own husband. This is the danger in fully embracing the
Egalitarian interpretation. Many denominational errors affect the Egalitarian
view, which is why we must affirm women’s roles in the pulpit ministry strictly
from Apostolic theology.
Dr. Segraves correctly explains the
difference between the mistaken term, “helpmate,” and the biblical term “help
meet.” The phrase “help meet,” a noun-adjective phrase, later became
misunderstood as a modified noun, “helpmeet” or “helpmate.” The adjective “meet” in the KJV refers to
something that is suitable, proper, or fit. Thus, God took Eve “out of” man to be
his suitable helper or companion in procreation.
However, a wife’s submission to her
husband is not the result of Adam’s sin in the Garden. Genesis 3:16 does not
simply state that the husband shall rule over his wife. This statement actually
contrasts with “thy desire shall be to thy husband.” God’s judgement that a
wife’s “desire shall be unto her husband, and he shall rule over you” speaks of
sin’s effect on the relationship of a husband and wife. The phrases “your
desire shall be to your husband” and “he shall rule over you” are antithetical.
The word “desire” translates from the Hebrew word teshûqâh, found in only three OT passages.[1] The grammar of Genesis 3:16, in Hebrew, equals
the same syntactical setting found just fifteen verses away in Genesis 4:7—both
spoken by the LORD. Notice the comparison below:
Genesis
3:16b, … and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Genesis
4:7b, … And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
In Genesis 4:7, sin’s “desire” was
to possess or control Cain, but the LORD instructed Cain to “rule over” it.
This implies an active struggle between Cain and sin. Susan Foh explained, “The
woman has the same sort of desire for her husband that sin has for Cain, a desire to possess or
control him. This desire disputes the head-ship of the husband … as a result
of the fall, man no longer rules easily; he must fight for his headship. Sin has corrupted both the
willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband.”[2]
The NLT renders Genesis 3:16 as “You will desire to control your husband, but
he will rule over you.” Thus, Genesis 3:16 does not describe a woman’s
submission to her husband because of the Fall. In fact, the opposite is true.
Genesis 3:16 declares that because of the Fall, the woman would desire to rule
over or control her husband, but the husband would rule over his wife. The New
Testament affirms, repeatedly, that the husband’s authority over his wife is
due to the order of creation—before the Fall of man. Egalitarians casually
overlook this point.
Dr. Segraves declares that the word
“submit” is not found in the Greek text of Ephesians 5:22. However, the word
“submit” (hypotassō) does appear in
the Textus Receptus of which the KJV and NKJV translate. Likewise, the word
“submit” (hypotassō) occurs in the
parallel verse in Colossians 3:18, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own
husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” Commentators often refer to Ephesians and
Colossians as the twin epistles. Colossians and Ephesians contain numerous
synonymous passages. In one form or another, Ephesians contains approximately
75 of the 105 verses in Colossians. Just examine Ephesians 5:19–6:9 side by
side with Colossian 3:16–4:4 to see that they are synonymous.
Egalitarians often misapply
Ephesians 5:21, “submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God,” as
teaching a mutual submission between husband and wife. However, the participle
“submitting” (hypotassomenoi)
grammatically coordinates with the preceding participles of vss. 19–20 (speaking, singing, making melody, giving
thanks) indicating a mutual submission among believers.[3] The fact that a wife is to submit to her own
husband in Ephesians 5:22 is made abundantly clear in Paul’s conclusion in
Ephesians 5:24, “Therefore as the church is subject (hypotassō) unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands
in every thing.”
Besides,
Ephesians 5:22–24 are not the only NT passages, which instruct wives to submit
to their own husbands. As already mentioned the parallel passage in Colossians
3:18 declares that wives should submit to their own husbands. Likewise, Paul
instructed in Titus 2:4–5 for the older women to teach the younger women to be
“obedient (hypotassō) to their own
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” In addition, Peter, the
Apostle to the Jews, charged wives to “be in subjection (hypotassō) to your own husbands” (I Peter 3:1) using the holy women
of old as an example, who trusted in God “being in subjection (hypotassō) unto their own husbands” (I
Peter 3:5).
Paul taught that a wife is to submit to her own
husband because “the husband is the head of the wife.”[4] The basis for Paul’s
teaching is not the judgment of Genesis 3:16, but the creative narrative of Eve being “out of” Adam’s flesh and bone and the
marriage relationship that a man “shall be joined unto
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”[5] Dr. Segraves indicates that
the word “head” (kephalē) can refer
to rank, but also includes the idea of source or origin, as with the head of a
river. Even if we were to accept the term “head” (kephalē) to indicate “source or origin,” this still would not
negate the idea of a wife submitting to her husband. We commonly understand
that “source or origin” establishes authority. Take for example that fact that
children are to submit to their parents’ authority as their source or origin.
However, the
word “head” (kephalē) in both I
Corinthians 11:3 and Ephesians 5:23 refers to “authority, leader, or chief” as
defined by the standard NT Greek lexicons (BDAG, Thayer, Cremer, and
Moulton–Milligan).[6] In
fact, the LXX utilizes the word kephalē
metaphorically twelve times, with each of these occurrences referring to
“authority, leader, or chief.”
Judges 10:18, And the people and princes of
Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight
against the children of Ammon? he shall be head (kephalē LXX) over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Judges 11:8, And the elders of Gilead
said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go
with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head (kephalē LXX) over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Judges 11:9, And Jephthah said unto
the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children
of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head (kephalē LXX)?
Judges 11:11, Then Jephthah went with
the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head (kephalē LXX) and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his
words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
2 Samuel 22:44, Thou also hast
delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head (kephalē LXX) of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall
serve me.
Psalm 18:43, Thou hast delivered me
from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head (kephalē LXX) of the heathen: a people whom I have not known
shall serve me.
Isaiah 7:8-9, For the head (kephalē LXX) of Syria is Damascus, and the head (kephalē LXX) of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall
Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head (kephalē
LXX) of Ephraim is
Samaria, and the head (kephalē
LXX) of Samaria is
Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
Jeremiah 31:7, For thus saith the
LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief (kephalē LXX) of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD,
save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
Lamentations
1:5, Her adversaries are
the chief (kephalē LXX), her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity
before the enemy.
The LXX, the mother of NT Greek, never
employs kephalē to signify “source or
origin.” For example, in Genesis 2:10, “into four heads,” the LXX renders the
Hebrew rô’sh (heads) as archē (source, beginning), not kephalē. Thus, the word “head” (kephalē) in I Corinthians 11:3 and
Ephesians 5:24 describes the husband’s position of authority over his wife, not
as the source or origin of his wife. Likewise, I Corinthians 11:8–12 appeals to
the LXX creative narrative as the basis for a wife’s submission to her husband.
However, Paul qualified his statement in verses 8 & 9 with a “nevertheless”
statement that man is not autonomous from the woman and woman is not autonomous
from the man in the order of the Lord. Likewise, a wife’s submission does not
imply or demand inferiority. In I Peter 3:1–7, although a wife is to submit to
her own husband, they are still “heirs together of the grace of life.” Thus, a
true, Apostolic theology of women’s biblical roles includes both their Godly
call into pulpit ministry and a wife’s submission to her own husband. The fact
that God calls women into the five-fold ministry does not exclude them from
submitting to their own husbands.
Please view my follow up article "Further Clarity on My Review of 'Marriage without a Helpmate.'"
[1]
Gen 3:16; 4:7; Song 4:10.
[2]
Susan T. Foh, “What is the Woman’s Desire?” The
Westminster Theological Journal 37 (1974/75), 381–2.
[3] A. T.
Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991),
4:544.
[4]
Eph 5:22–23.
[5]
Eph 5:30–31, cf. Gen 2:23–24 (LXX).
[6]
Liddell–Scott represents the only lexical support of the idea of “source or
origin” in classical Greek, citing only two questionable examples.
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