5:24a

Now: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now is normally translated “but.” Here, however, scholars do not agree about the meaning of this conjunction. There are three possibilities:

(1) It indicates that Paul resumed his theme of submitting and marks the connection to that theme. For example:

Now as the church submits to Christ…

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, probably English Standard Version)

(2) It marks a contrast and means “but.” Christ is the savior of the church, (not the husband). But the wife should still submit to her husband. For example:

But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

(NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible)

(3) It marks the conclusion of the paragraph on submitting and means “so” or “therefore.” For example:

And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands… (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, King James Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), as it best fits the context. But there is strong support for (2) so if your national translation follows (2) you may want to follow their interpretation.

submits: See how you translated submit in 5:21a and 5:22.

5:24b

submit: See how you translated submit in 5:21a and 5:22. There is a similarity here between how the church submits to Christ (5:24a) and how wives should submit to their husbands (5:24b). Translate in a way that shows this comparison.

General Comment on 5:24a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the clauses in this verse. For example:

24b Wives should submit to their husbands in everything 24a as the church submits to Christ. (Good News Translation)

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