Biblical
Passages on Male Headship and Female Submission
Ephesians
5:22-33 (New International Version)
Wives and
Husbands
22Wives,
submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the
husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body,
of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also
wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to
make her holy, cleansing[a]
her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present
her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other
blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their
wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After
all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as
Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh."[b]
32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking
about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as
he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Footnotes:
a) Ephesians 5:26 Or having cleansed
b) Ephesians 5:31 Gen. 2:24
1 Corinthians 14
As in all the congregations
of the saints, 34women should remain silent in the churches. They
are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If they want to inquire about something, they
should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to
speak in the church.
1
Corinthians 11
1Follow
my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Propriety
in Worship
2I
praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,[a]
just as I passed them on to you.
3Now
I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the
woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head
covered dishonors his head. 5And every woman who prays or prophesies with her
head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were
shaved. 6If a woman does not cover her head, she should have
her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or
shaved off, she should cover her head. 7A man ought not to cover his head,[b]
since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8For man did not come from woman, but woman from
man; 9neither
was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10For this reason, and because of the angels, the
woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
11In
the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of
woman. 12For as woman came from man, so also man is born of
woman. But everything comes from God. 13Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to
pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not the very nature of things teach you that
if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15but that if a
woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a
covering. 16If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we
have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.