Ephesians 5:21 in Translation¹

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (TNIV).
"subjecting yourselves one to another in fear of Christ" (ASV).

Ὑποτασσόμενοι ἀλλήλοις ἐν φόβῳ Χριστοῦ (²⁷ Nestle-Aland).

As our samples above show, texts (and commentaries) cannot decide just what this verse has to do with its environment, some formatting it with the preceding paragraph, some with the following, and some as a separate paragraph all to itself (this wee little verse of only five words in Greek!). The present proposal is that a fourth option, rare among texts, is the correct one, namely that the verse is related to both what precedes and what follows, which should be shown in translation.

Three components of the clause call for comment. The first (which is the primary reason for the confusion) is the so-called "reciprocal" pronoun ἀλλήλων, which has suffered from a lexical deficiency resulting in a mis(-leading) translation. Contrary to grammars and dictionaries of both Greek and English, "reciprocal" constructions are not always to be taken literally (i.e., showing mutuality in the usual sense of exchange of an activity between parties). We know this from our own expressions such as "trampling one another" and "killing one another." The Greek concordance turns up the same idioms, the former in Luke 12:1, and the latter in Rev 6:4 (of course, mutuality is possible in such cases, but that is not generally what is meant). If not mutuality, then, what does "reciprocal" mean in such expressions? Via Hellenistic concordances, we formulate more precise rules:

(1) When only two parties are involved, ἀλλήλων usually expresses mutuality. Herod and Pilate became friends "with  each other" (Luke 23:12) during the Jesus episode.  Christians and God have fellowship with each other (1 John 1:7).        

(2) When a larger group is envisioned, "reciprocal" often indicates random or distributive activity within the designated group as appropriate.

In this sense people "envy one another" (Gal 5:26), or pagan gods may be "born from one another" (Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.240). Greek has other options for expressing this random/group activity, including ἄλλος (Acts 2:12), ἕκαστος (1 Cor 1:12) and the "reflexive" pronoun (again, not always literal) ἑαυτοῦ (Eph 4:32; 5:19). The latter synonym of ἀλλήλων is especially relevant in our pericope where the two occur interchangeably (as in 4:32) for literary variety:  Ἑαυτοῖς (5:19) is the same as ἀλλήλοις (v. 21). Similarly in English a teacher may say, "While I am out of the room, talk among yourselves," which is the same as saying, "talk to each other/one another." Translators also have options besides (the sometimes misleading) "one another." TNIV and NRSV employ the "reflexive" rendering for ἀλλήλων in John 6:42, 53 ("among yourselves/themselves"). In our verse the ASV moves in that direction. In other contexts, no word-for-word equivalent may be desirable, as in Acts 19:38, where έγκαλείτωσαν ἀλλήλοις is simply "they can press charges" (TNIV). Of these options,  employing the perfectly legitimate "reflexive" rendering for our verse fits well philologically and contextually within the (Ephesian) Christian community. We get the verb person (second, as in ASV) from verse 18 and render ὑποτσσόμενοι ἀλλήλοις, "be(-ing) in subordination among yourselves." The verse teaches structure and means simply, "Obey whom you are supposed to," a general principle with examples following, the first of which is wives (v. 22). Within this instruction of general subordination expressed by ὑποτάσσω, the writer then switches to the more directive verb ὑπακούω, "pay attention," when addressing children (6:1) and servants (6:5). Superiors are not addressed in 5:21 but in 5:25, 6:4, and 6:9. Our verse, in other words, says precisely the opposite of what has usually been made of it.

A case such as ἀλλήλων points up a common weakness among translators: neglecting the literature and concordance, and going too slavishly by lexica that sometimes fail to take adequate account of idiom and context, which includes semantics, syntax, literary structure, and the author's own rhetorical aims. Ἀλλήλων is also a good example of the power of the lexicon and the chain reaction it sets up.  If the lexicographer misses it, that mistake is passed on to the translator who depends on the lexicon, to the commentator who depends on the translation, to the preacher and professor who depend on the commentary, and to the congregation and students who depend on the sermon and lecture. The result in our case has been mass confusion over a simple little verse. The concordance is the only way to get at a word such as ἀλλήλων. The word is not important enough to make the theological dictionaries. G. Lampe's Patristic Greek Lexicon (1961) even left it out until a careful reader got it into the appendix. But the little word is very important for understanding many passages-namely asking how many / who the parties are, what their relation to the action is, and, especially, what their relationship to each other is.  All of these indications must be taken into account before working out an accurate translation. The semantic range for ἀλλήλων extends beyond expressing mutuality.

Problems created by the traditional presentation of Eph 5:21 include the following: (1) Greek texts, translations, and commentaries are confused over how to format/punctuate the verse. (2) Versions seem to say no one is in a position of authority, which contradicts the following verses. (3) Just how is such a fuzzy concept as mutual submission supposed to be implemented? Mutual service is intelligible, as in the case of Jesus himself who was both servant and master; the two need not be exclusive. But mutual subjection is a different matter.²  It is, in fact, a non-entity, a contradiction in terms, nowhere taught in Scripture. The problem with the usual rendering of the verse is expressed by Ernest Best: "a difficulty exists in relating this verse to the on-going argument."³  Likewise, S. D. F. Salmond states, "The connection of this clause is by no means clear."⁴

In favor of a structure, rather than mutual, interpretation are the following: (1) Non-mutual usage of ἀλλήλων is quite common in the literature.⁵  (2) The next verse clearly teaches structure. (3) Verse 22 also has no verb; its verb is in v. 21.⁶  (4) Parties in this Haustafel pericope are not given instructions of mutuality; parents, for example, are not told to obey their children (6:4). (5) Ὑποτάσσω, unlike δουλεύω and διακονέω, is not used of mutuality but addresses specific subjects: youth (Luke 2:51), women (1 Pet 3:1), servants (Titus 2:9), the congregation (Eph 5:24), and citizens (Rom 13:1).⁷  Our verse is not the sole known mutual usage that some would make of it.⁸  The word introduces a new kind of directive pointing the pericope forward and thereby gives the verse a transitional function. In keeping with the meaning of ὑποτάσσω, subordinate parties are addressed first. (6) "Fear/reverence" for Christ reinforces the tone of the verse as teaching submission to duly appointed authority.

Regarding the latter (and second element to be discussed), "God-fearers" show up in both Testaments. Though "fearing God" may describe any believer (Acts 10:35), more technically the description refers to non-Jewish synagogue/assembly attendees who are not actually members (Ps 115:11; Acts 10:2; 13:26). They do, though, respect the God and ethics of Judaism enough to become somewhat involved, even if they do not adopt all of the ceremonies. This population is the bulk of Paul's converts in Acts (13:26, 48; 14:1-5). They were attracted to the gospel message and became Gentile Christians. Paul's struggle is to keep Gentile Christians from being influenced by Judaizers-who believed Jesus was the Messiah but who told Gentile Christians that they must keep certain aspects of the law (e.g., circumcision) in order to be a part of the people of God. Respectful obedience is "fear."⁹  The word occurs twice again in our pericope (5:33 and 6:5).

In addition to ἀλλήλων and φόβος, a third, and final, element in the verse is that it contains the last in a series of participles¹⁰  illustrating what it means to be "filled with the Spirit" (v. 18)-not just by what one says (vv. 19-20) but also by what one does, specifically respecting proper authority (5:21-6:9). Both the KJV ("submitting yourselves") and ASV try to show this; one must compare also the NLT title, "Spirit-Guided Relations: Wives and Husbands."

All of these elements-the resuming force of the participle, the "fear" of Christ, the contextual understanding of ἀλλήλων, and the transitional role of the verse-must be incorporated into an accurate translation which should, in addition, clear up the obscurity. In keeping with English style, I have placed "and" before the last in a series (as does NASB):

(v. 18) be filled with the Spirit (v. 19) by speaking . . . (v. 21) and, along with respectful obedience to Christ, by being in subordination among yourselves: (v. 22) wives to husbands.¹¹

This clause is the pivotal verse in the pericope, connecting what precedes (via both the participle and ἀλλήλοις = ἑαυτοῖς) with what follows (via both ὑποτάσσω and φόβος).¹²  Among disparate formattings for this verse in the various texts, those which plot the tiny clause as a separate paragraph (presumably unrelated to anything else around it) are the farthest off base (TNIV, NRSV, TEV), while those rare ones that format the words inside a larger pericope extending both directions (Westcott-Hort, R. Knox, ²⁵Nestle-Aland) are correct. There remains only the matter of translating accordingly.¹³  Quite consonant with the Bible's emphasis on being holy/distinctive, the verse most immediately cautions against being drawn into cultural trends to the contrary going on in the first-century Roman Empire.¹⁴