Household Codes

Published on: Author: jloeffle@uoregon.edu 3 Comments

The Colossians and Ephesians have similar views to their household codes, but they are very different at the same time.  They both say that wives should honor their husbands, but the Colossians say that it should be out of love and the Ephesians say that it should be because the men are the heads of the household and have more power.  Ephesians does not say anything about the husbands returning the love tho their wives.  Also in Colossians, it says that these acts should not just be performed in public, but also in private to show your fear of the lord and that He is always watching.  They both also say that children should obey their parents at all times.  The last difference that they have is that Colossians say that masters should be good to their slaves all the time, but Ephesians states the opposite. It says that the slaves should be good to their masters for fear of being struck down by the lord.  I think that these household rules took a little bit from Paul and just added their own opinions to form their own rules.

3 Responses to Household Codes Comments (RSS) Comments (RSS)

  1. Paul does not specifically say the word “love” when it says husbands are the head of the household in Ephesians, but it is implied. Paul says that the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, and the church is his body. He is telling husbands to literally submit to your wives, even to the point of death, out of love like Christ did for the Church.

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