Bible Strands
Ephesians 5:22
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses wives in the Ephesian congregation within the household codes (5:22–6:9), immediately following the mutual imperative of 5:21.
The words — ὑποτάσσεσθε (hupotassesthe) is a present passive imperative, marking ongoing, repeated action rather than a single act. ἰδίοις (idiois) means "your own," specifying the particular husband rather than a generic male authority.
The thread — The same command appears in Colossians 3:18, 1 Peter 3:1, and Titus 2:5, forming the household-code cluster across Pauline and Petrine epistles.
Why it lands — It asks a wife to direct toward her husband the same posture of reverence she directs toward Christ, and it does so as a continuous practice, not a one-time concession.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Cross-references
- Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
- 1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
- Titus 2:5 to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.
- Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
- Esther 1:20 The edict the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom—and so all women, from the least to the greatest, will honor their husbands.”
- Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
- 1 Timothy 2:11 A woman must learn in quietness and full submissiveness.
- Esther 1:16 And in the presence of the king and his princes, Memucan replied, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but all the princes and the peoples in all the provinces of King Xerxes.
- 1 Corinthians 14:34 Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.