Ver. 21. ὑποτασσόμενοι ἀλλήλοις : subjecting yourselves one to another. The connection of this clause is by no means clear. It is taken by not a few (Calv., Matthies, etc.) as an independent clause, the participle being dealt with as an im- perative. But there is nothing to suggest the ἐστε which would have to be supplied.
20--22.
21.
ἡ ὑποτασσόμενοι ἀλλήλοις ἐν φόβῳ Χριστοῦ]: τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ, 23. ὅτι ἀνήρ ὃ ἐστιν " κεφαλὴ τῆς y= =1 Cor.
365 22. at γυναῖκες x earth 22
1, 3 ch. i, 22, iv. 15; Col. i. 18; Paul only,
1 Χριστου SABLP, most others, {, Vulg., Syr., Copt., Arm., Eth., Goth., Orig.,
Bas., Chrys., Dam., Victorin.,
εἰς. ; Χριστου ἴησου
DE 35, d, e ; Inoou Χριστον
Fer.G, 6; κυριου K; θεον most cursives, Clem., Euth., Thdrt., Dam.
? After ανδρ. insert υποτασσεσθε KL, al., Chr. ;
before ιδ. DF, Syr.; νποτασσεσ-
θωσαν SAP 17, 57, fere al., Vulg., Copt., Clem. ., Bas., Thdrt., Dam., Lat. Fathers ;
without υποτασσεσθαι or ἠποτασσεσθωσαν B, MSS. in Jerome 3 ἐχχ. additum est, subditae sint, in gr. edd. non habetur. « .
intelligitur quam in latino), Clem.
(Hoc quod in lat. . Sed hoc magis in graeco
59 ἀνὴρ some cursives, Clem., Chr., Thdrt., etc. ; ανηρ SADEFGKLP 44, τοῦ to
II-53-77-6-9, 219-38, all, Dam.
To relate the clause to the paragraph which follows means that it is the intro- ductory, general statement, of which we have a particular application in what is said of the γυναῖκες. But in that case we should expect the duty of the γυναῖ- κες to be conveyed by a noun distinct from ὑποτασσόμενοι, but denoting a form of behaviour that would come easily under the comprehensive duty expressed by the participle. It is best to connect the clause, therefore, with what precedes it, and to take it as a fourth coordinate clause, giving yet another way in which the condition of being ‘‘ filled with the Spirit ” should express itself. The former three dealt with spiritual converse, praise, and thanksgiving; this one deals with what is due from ourselves to others. It is appended to the other three as a sum- mary statement of duty in our relations one to another, of which particular appli- cations are to be made. ‘Thus it leads easily on to the special obligations which are next enforced. The same compre- hensive statement of Christian duty in our earthly relations as summed up in the one idea of mutual ὑπόταξις, in contrast with pagan self-seeking and self-assertion, is given in 1 Pet. v. 5.— ἐν φόβῳ Θεοῦ [Χριστοῦ]: in the fear of God [of Christ]. The reading of the TR, Θεοῦ, is that mostly of the cursives and a few Fathers. It must give place to Χριστοῦ, which is given by BNALP, Vulg., Syr., Boh., etc., andis accepted by LTTrWHRV. ‘Other variations occur, e.g., Χριστοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ in Ὁ and ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ in 6. The phrase “in the fear of Christ’? occurs only this once. Rever- ence for the Lord Himself was the spirit in which this great duty of mutual sub- jection was to be fulfilled.
Vv. 22-33. A paragraph which, in dealing with the duties of wives and husbands as seen in the new light of
Christian truth, gives the Christian ideal of the marriage-relation. It is the loftiest conception of that relation that has ever come from human pen, and one than which no higher can be imagined. Ver. 22. At γυναῖκες, τοῖς ἰδίοις av- δράσιν [ὑποτάσσεσθε]: Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. The great Christian law of mutual subjection or submissive consideration is now to be unfolded in its bearing on three particu- lar relations which lie at the foundation of man’s social life—those of husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants. The relation of husbands and wives, as the most fundamental, is taken up before the others, and the Christian duty of the wives is set forth first. The reading is somewhat uncertain. The TR inserts ὑποτάσσεσθε, with KL, most cursives, Syr., Chrys., etc. A few manuscripts (DG) place the ὑποτάσσεσθε after the γυναῖκες. In some important authorities (ΝΑΡ 17, Boh., Goth., Vulg., Arm., etc.) we find ὑποτασσέσθωσαν; which is accepted by LTr and given a place in the margin by WH. ‘Theclause is given without any verb by B, Clem., and Jer., which last states that the verb was not found in his Greek codices. This shortest form is adopted by WH in their text. The verb is easily supplied from the preceding ὑποτασσόμενοι, and such constructions are quite in Paul’s style. The ἰδίοις (which is omitted in the parallel passage in Col. iii. 18) is here, as often if not always in the NT, some- thing more than a simple possessive. It conveys the idea of what is special, and gives a certain note of emphasis or in- tensity, = husbands who as such are peculiarly and exclusively theirs; see 1 Pet. iii. 1, and cf. Ell. im loc.; Blass, Gram. of N. T. Greek, p. 169.—as τῷ Κυρίῳ: as to the Lord. That is, to Christ; not to the husband as lord and