Translating Ephesians 5.33

Abstract

This article argues that Eph 5.33b should be understood as “so that the wife may respect her husband” and that translations should reflect this understanding in ways appropriate to the target language. In English translations, φοβῆται “may respect,” though subjunctive in form, is typically rendered as a command in function, thus giving the wife a unilateral instruction instead of expressing a probable result of the prior command for husbands to love their wives. For English translations, Eph 5.33b should be translated as a dependent result clause, with ἵνα “so that” expressed rather than omitted from translation, and with the subjunctive form φοβῆται “may respect” translated as subjunctive in function.