Interpretations
Ephesians is notable for its domestic code treatment in 5:22-6:9, covering husband-wife, parent-child, and master-slave relationships. In 5:22, wives are urged to submit to their husbands, and husbands to love their wives "as Christ loved the Church." Christian Egalitarian theologians, such as Katharine Bushnell and Jesse Pen-Lewis, interpret these commands in the context of the preceding verse, 5:21 for all Christians to "submit to one another." Thus, it is two-way, mutual submission of both husbands to wives and wives to husbands. This would be the only instance of this meaning of submission in the whole New Testament, indeed in any extant comparable Greek texts. The word simply does not connote mutuality. Dallas Theological Seminary professor Daniel Wallace understands it to be an extension of 5:15-21 on being filled by the Holy Spirit.
In the context leading up to the American Civil War (1861–65), Ephesians 6:5 on master-slave relationships was one of the Bible verses used by Confederate slaveholders in support of a slaveholding position.
Read more about this topic: Epistle To The Ephesians