Submit yourselves represents the Greek hupotassomai, a term used in military contexts of a subordinate’s relationship to his superior in the army hierarchy. It is used of a wife’s relation to her husband in Eph 5.22, Titus 2.5, 1 Peter 3.1, of servants to masters, Titus 2.9, 1 Peter 2.13, of people to state authorities, Rom 13.1. It means “to be subject to, obey, be ruled by.” It carries the implication of subordination, reflecting the standards of the time, which no amount of special pleading can banish. Phillips “adapt yourselves” is an unfortunate attempt to make the command more tolerable in a different age.

A literal translation of wives in direct address may seem not only unusual but almost depreciating in some languages. A more satisfactory equivalent may be “you women who are married.”

Submit yourselves must be rendered in such a way as to avoid any connotation of sexual submission. In some instances, the most appropriate equivalent is “acknowledge your husbands as being the ones who give orders” or “recognize your husbands as leaders in the family” or “… chiefs in the household.” It is also, of course, possible to simply translate “obey your husbands.”

That is what you should do as Christians translates the Greek “as is proper in the Lord” (for other examples of the impersonal anēkō see Eph 5.4, Philemon 8). The Christian wife’s relation to her husband is determined by her status “as a Christian,” which is what the Greek prepositional phrase “in the Lord” means.

As Christians may be rendered as “as persons who are followers of Christ,” but this phrase is often more satisfactorily interpreted as a type of cause, for example, “since you are followers of Christ” or “because you have put your trust in Christ.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .