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Excellent response thanks...@Carl Emerson: You've selected a verse and section of Scripture that is the subject of much scholarly study & debate and not just in regard to the gender roles but to the language and structure itself. A few observations:
Hope that helps.
- There is a textual variant in Eph 5:22. Some manuscripts do not have the command to submit which means the mutual submission is carried over from Eph 5:21 and specifically applied to wives. Other manuscripts have either a 2nd person plural command or a 3rd person command.
- When @Paidiske shows the participle form of the word, she's likely referring to it not being in 5:22 but carried over from 5:21
- There is also discussion as to whether the participle in Eph. 5:21 is imperatival or dependent. IOW, is it a command or a part of the filling of the Spirit commanded in Eph 5:18? IMO it's certainly related to the filling of the Spirit & it is imperatival (commanded). Col 3:18 (Colossians is seen by many if not most as a sister letter to Ephesians - there are many comparisons between the 2 letters) has the command to wives to submit to their husbands. 2 Pet 3:18 has the same command. Titus 2:5 has also been mentioned. Each of these verses use the same root word, "hupotassō".
- Whether a word is a verb or a participle, it can be imperatival. The verb form is easy to know it's a command. The participle will likely require interpreting from context.
- I'm not sure why @By_the_Book says this word has no definition. It's lexically defined as: to cause to be in a submissive relationship, to subject, to subordinate (BDAG). The question really becomes what this submission looks like - is it submission to authority, or is it self-sacrificial, or both, or??? I think when @Clare73 brought Christ into the discussion from context, she may well have been saying to look at Christ as our example and also consider who He is. I'll leave it at that for now and anyone I've referenced can speak for themselves if they so desire.
- As to your specific question about the passive voice: One of the ways to view the passive voice is classified as the Causative/Permissive Passive (Greek Beyond the Basics by Daniel Wallace). This means the verb implies consent, permission, or cause of the action. Wallace classifies the 2 commands in Eph 5:18 as Causative/Permissive. IOW, one who gets drunk is causing or permitting the drunkenness by drinking wine to excess, and likewise we are permitting or even causing the filling by the Spirit in how we relate to God and to His will. So, these things are not forced, but permitted or even caused. Most of the uses of this word "hupotassō" are passive when applied to people and active when applied to God. An interesting section to sort through is 1 Cor 15:27-28.
In your opinion then the language does not convey that submission is an action in response to force but rather an attitude and the submission is thereby mutual in the case of two married believers?
I am trying to eliminate the notion of subservience as in a master slave relationship.
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