BibleTools.info

9. For the man. This verse is parallel to, and a restatement of, the truth set forth in v. 8. The record of the creation of Adam and Eve shows that the woman was created to be the complement to man. Without Eve, Adam was not provided for adequately; he had no one of his own kind with whom he could converse and share his life experiences, so God met this need by the creation of woman. She was made for man’s happiness and comfort. She was not to be a slave but a companion; not to be regarded as of inferior rank, but as man’s friend and comforter in life; to share his sorrows and increase his joys; yet especially after the Fall, to be subordinate to him (see Gen. 2:18-22; 3:16; Eph. 5:22-25, 33; 1 Peter 3:5-7). The husband is to be the head of the family and the ruler in the home; the wife is to help him in his duties, comfort him in his afflictions, and share with him in his pleasures. Her position is definitely honorable, and in some respects more honorable because of her subordinate position. Because of her dependent status she has prior claim on her husband’s care and protection.

9. For the man. This verse is parallel to, and a restatement of, the truth set forth in v. 8. The record of the creation of Adam and Eve shows that the woman was created to be the complement to man. Without Eve, Adam was not provided for adequately; he had no one of his own kind with whom he could converse and share his life experiences, so God met this need by the creation of woman. She was made for man’s happiness and comfort. She was not to be a slave but a companion; not to be regarded as of inferior rank, but as man’s friend and comforter in life; to share his sorrows and increase his joys; yet especially after the Fall, to be subordinate to him (see Gen. 2:18-22; 3:16; Eph. 5:22-25, 33; 1 Peter 3:5-7). The husband is to be the head of the family and the ruler in the home; the wife is to help him in his duties, comfort him in his afflictions, and share with him in his pleasures. Her position is definitely honorable, and in some respects more honorable because of her subordinate position. Because of her dependent status she has prior claim on her husband’s care and protection.

With conscience. Textual evidence is divided (cf. p. 10) between this and the reading “according to habitual use,” or “from force of habit.” With the latter reading the passage may be translated, “But some, through being hitherto accustomed to idols” (RSV). There were some among the church members who could not regard food that had been sacrificed to idols as ordinary food, even though they no longer believed in the existence of idols. As a result of lifelong custom they could not completely dissociate themselves from the past. Partaking of such food placed them vividly in their former setting, a situation that was more than they could bear.