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‘For the husband is the head of the wife’: A contextual re-reading of Ephesians 5:22–33 among Nigerian Yoruba Christians

In die Skriflig

 
 
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Title ‘For the husband is the head of the wife’: A contextual re-reading of Ephesians 5:22–33 among Nigerian Yoruba Christians
 
Creator Ademiluka, Solomon O.
 
Subject — household codes; marital relationship; headship; submission; Nigerian Christians
Description For many African readers, Ephesians 5:22–24 indeed reinforces the patriarchal view of marriage in which the wife is subjugated under her husband’s rule. Hence, with specific focus on the Yoruba, this article examines Ephesians 5:22–33 with a view to assessing its relevance for Christian marital relationship in Nigeria. The target population is those Nigerian Christians who have the notion that Ephesians 5:22–24 entrenches the patriarchal view of marital relationship. The article employs the exegetical and descriptive methods. It finds that, in Ephesians 5:22–6:9, Paul borrows the pattern of the Greek household codes, but mitigates the absolute authority of the male head of the house. Instead, he likens the authority of the Christian husband over his wife to Christ’s headship over the church. As Christ gave himself up for the church, the Christian husband should place greater value on the well-being of his wife over his own well-being. Understood in this way, the passage is relevant to Nigerian Christians in several ways. In the Nigerian context, the command to wives to be submissive to their husbands means that the wife should submit to her husband as one who has authority over her. In exercising his authority, the Nigerian Christian should seek his wife’s pleasure and comfort over his own. Finally, the church should be involved in getting husbands to understand their authority in the manner of Christ’s sacrificial love.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2021-02-04
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ids.v55i1.2613
 
Source In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi; Vol 55, No 1 (2021); 10 pages 2305-0853 1018-6441
 
Language eng
 
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The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2613/6541 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2613/6540 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2613/6542 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2613/6539
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Solomon O. Ademiluka https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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