Deciphering Complex New Testament Texts about Women Part Four: Ephesians 5

In this series, we’ll now transition to the so-called “household codes” which appear in various forms three times in the New Testament (Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, 1 Peter 3). In the context of what a marriage between followers of Christ ought to look like, Ephesians 5 is the most detailed, so let’s start here. As with all the articles in this series, my intention is to briefly provide what I consider to be the most convincing egalitarian interpretations for this passage. There are books upon books written on these topics – I encourage you to dive in deep. But for our purposes here, I will attempt brevity.