A Social-Scientific Re-reading of Ephesians 5:21–33 and the Problem of Patriarchy among the Igbo People of Nigeria

Abstract

Eph 5:21–33, taken at face value, may be considered very dangerous to the cause of gender equality because of its supposed teaching on the headship of the husbands in the households, which perpetuate women’s subordination. This study provides a re-reading of Eph 5:21–33 vis-a-vis the problem of patriarchy among the Igbo people of Nigeria. Adopting a social-scientific approach to exegesis with gender socialisation as a theoretical framework, the work contended that Eph 5:21–33 undermines the patriarchal structure of the First-Century Mediterranean world in which it was set by emphasising mutual love and submission between a husband and a wife in the household. This is not meant to be a ‘subjection’ of the wife as some readings of the text suggest. Such a reading of the text challenges the patriarchal structure that exists even among Christian homes in Igboland today, and calls for the edification of the female gender. It also aims to achieve a possible reduction in violence against women in Igboland.