fear and menaces
Chrysostom, Ephesians Homily 20, Homily 20 on Ephesians, exposition of 5:25
Explaining Paul’s command that husbands love their wives, St. John Chrysostom turns to Christ’s love for the Church. He tells the husband to consider a love willing to suffer and give itself. The example addresses the person with responsibility to love; it gives him no permission to demand submission through threats. Chrysostom, Ephesians Homily 20, Homily 20 on Ephesians, exposition of 5:25
Chrysostom speaks sharply about a wife trembling before her husband. He rejects fear and menaces as the means of binding a marriage together and commends love and good temper. His comparison between a partner and a slave makes the dignity of the wife explicit within his counsel. We should not soften that rejection of intimidation. Chrysostom, Ephesians Homily 20, Homily 20 on Ephesians, exposition of 5:25
Ephesians presents Christ’s self-giving love within the larger exhortation to life together in Him. The husband is commanded to love his wife as his own flesh, which a man nourishes and cherishes. Reading the passage with Chrysostom directs attention toward that active responsibility, rather than treating a household relationship as an entitlement to control another person. Ephesians 5:21-33
A practical examination can therefore begin with words and conduct: are they governed by tenderness, or used to make a spouse afraid? Where threats or harm are present, appropriate protection and help are needed. This devotional does not turn counsel about sacrificial love into a requirement that an injured spouse endure abuse. The source’s explicit rejection of intimidation must remain visible. Chrysostom, Ephesians Homily 20, Homily 20 on Ephesians, exposition of 5:25
For the person addressed by the command to love, repentance may include relinquishing threatening speech and receiving help to change harmful conduct. Faithfulness is measured here by the love being commanded, not by success in frightening someone into compliance. Chrysostom directs the husband toward Christ’s care for the Church and asks his conduct to answer that example. Chrysostom, Ephesians Homily 20, Homily 20 on Ephesians, exposition of 5:25
For prayer, use the Lord’s Prayer given by Christ in Matthew 6:9–13.
Sources and edition notes
- Chrysostom, Ephesians Homily 20. Source. Translated by Gross Alexander. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 13. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230120.htm.
Scripture references link to these comparison editions: NKJV. Biblical passages are paraphrased. Biblical language within a patristic quotation follows the identified historical English translation.