Eph 5.21-22

CEP7 at aol.com CEP7 at aol.com
Sun Apr 28 09:29:43 EDT 2002



In a message dated 4/27/02 1:59:40 PM, cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu writes:

<< At 12:50 AM +1000 4/28/02, One of the McKays wrote:
>G'day Andrew. If you look at the various translations, you will see that
>many see Ephesians 5:21 as the end of a section, whereas others see it as
>introducing verses 5:22-6:9.
>
>
>Calvin, and many after him, sees the command to submit to one another as a
>separate issue from what follows.
>
>But others have thought that the following verses show what the writer means
>when he tells us to submit to one another. [In the following verses he is
>then saying: By this I mean wives should submit to their husbands, slaves to
>their masters,etc].
>
>The fact that the participle hUPOTASSOMENOI is not repeated in verse 22
>would seem to suggest that it applies to the people mentioned in 5:22 - 6:8,
>I think.
>
>BTW, some people have said that the word ALLHLOIS is clearly reciprocal, so
>that he must be saying that each person must submit to the other.
>
>But some writers have pointed out that ALLHLOIS is not always strictly
>reciprocal, as in the people in Revelation who were
>ALLHLOUS SFAXOUSIN [killing one another.] Revelation 6:4

On the other hand, isn't the notion expressed in hUPOTASSOMENOI ALLHLOIS
consistent with the principle cited in Mk 10:44 (KAI hOS AN QELHi EN hUMIN
PRWTOS ESTAI PANTWN DOULOS)?
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
Most months:: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
 >>

It is consistent with, but is it synonymous with it? In John 13, Jesus serves 
his disciples, but he does not submit to them. When Peter resists, Jesus 
exercises his authority over them. Therefore, I do not think that service 
equals submission, although the do have considerable overlap. One needs to 
consider both the lexical force of hUPOTASSW and ALLHLWN. Which word is 
really more ambiguous? hUPOTASSW in all other passages in the NT and LXX is 
one-directional. Husbands, children, slaves, and citizens are not commanded 
to submit to the corresponding referent in the ordered relationship. But 
ALLHLWN appears to have the meaning some to others in several passages.

In Rev. 6:4, when the second seal is broken and the red horse is revealed, 
John mentions "that men will slay one another." It is unlikely that the 
killing is really reciprocal, since once a person is dead, he cannot 
retaliate. Rather it means that some will kill others in a war in which they 
are fighting each other. Paul exhorts the Galatians in Gal. 6:2 to "bear one 
another’s burdens." As nice as it would be for this to mean "I'll bear your 
burdens and you'll bear mine," the context in 6:1, where those who are 
spiritual are exhorted to restore those who sin, suggests that the 
"spiritual" are to "bear the burdens" of those who sin. In 1 Cor. 11:33, the 
Corinthians are to "wait for one another" when they come together to eat the 
agape feast. Here the meaning is that those who arrive first are to wait for 
those who arrive last before starting the meal. 

In Luke 2:15 the shepherds speak to one another about going to Bethlehem and 
verifying what the angel said about the birth of the Messiah. While the 
shepherds are certainly having an interactive conversation, it is unlikely 
that everyone repeats the same statement. It is more likely that some 
suggested to go to Bethlehem to the others.  Luke 12:1 recounts an incident 
where a great crowd gathered together and the author notes that "they were 
stepping on one another." While it is possible that one person would step on 
the foot of another, and the other person stepped on the former's foot right 
after, it is more likely that it means that some were stepping on others 
feet. In Acts 19:38, the town clerk of Ephesus urges Demetrius and the 
craftsmen to take their complaints to the courts and to "bring charges 
against one another." The town clerk does not suggest that anyone has a 
complaint against Demetrius or that the craftsmen had complaints against each 
other. It is the fact that Demetrius and his gang had complaints against 
others, specifically Paul, and they needed to bring charges to the courts if 
they wanted the matter settled.  Finally, Matt. 24:10 is an example in which 
ALLHLOUS has one use that is fully reciprocal but another that is not. In the 
last days "many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one 
another." Hating one another is most likely fully reciprocal, but people 
cannot really deliver each other up. One delivers up another.  There are 
ample examples that demonstrate the meaning of "some to others" for ALLHLWN. 
In the context of Eph. 5:21, this meaning makes good sense. 


Charles E. Powell, Ph.D.
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