It may be natural for a drill sergeant to command his troops (it's kind of
imbedded in the title), and it may seem equally natural for a man to expect his
wife to obey, but no one expects a drill sergeant to bring chocolate and roses
to his troops at the end of the day, but a husband who fails to do so is
considered an insensitive rogue. How can the two be compatible?
The trouble is that the Greek word “hupotasso” found in Ephesians 5 was used
by the military. What is usually omitted is that the word was also used by civilians,
with the meaning “to co-operate.” But even if we tried to squeeze in the concept
of a military between the sheets, the word “hupotasso” doesn’t refer to a chain
a command, it refers to allies.
Because hupotasso is understood to
mean ”obedience”—although the proper word for “obedience” is hupakouo—it is commonly assumed that the
antonym for hupotasso is epitasso (“command, enjoin”), but these words
are never coupled together in the New Testament. Instead we find hupotasso and antitasso in the same context three times (Rom 12.16-13.7; James 4:1-10;
1 Pet 5:4-11). Since hupotasso is
used as an antonym of antitasso (“resist, to set one self
against”), and anthistemi (“oppose,
stand against”), and appears frequently with
hupenantios (“set over against, opposite, enemies in battle”),[1]
it refers to a friendly ally (contrasted to a hostile enemy).
An army works as one to accomplish one goal: to defeat the enemy. This begs
the question: what is the enemy of a married couple? If a married couple should
be likened to an army, they must have a common enemy that they are fighting
against, which makes it necessary for a husband and wife to train how to do
combat and how to attack the enemy. What could such an enemy be?
When you
figure it out, let us all know.
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