18Αἱ γυναῖκες, ὑποτάσσεσθε τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὡς ἀνῆκεν [ →]
ἄδοντες κ.τ.λ.] This external manifestation must be accompanied by the inward emotion. There must be the thanksgiving of the heart, as well as of the lips; comp. Ephes. v. 19 ἄδοντες καὶ ψάλλοντες τῇ καρδίᾳ (probably the correct reading), where τῇ καρδίᾳ ‘with the heart’ brings out the sense more distinctly.
17. πᾶν ὅ τι κ.τ.λ.] This is probably a nominative absolute, as Matt. x. 32 πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ... ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ (comp. Luke xii. 8), Luke xii. 10 πᾶς ὃς ἐρεῖ λόγον ... ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ, John xvii. 2 πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ, δώσῃ αὐτοῖς κ.τ.λ.; comp. Matt. vii. 24 (v.l.).
πάντα] sc. ποιεῖτε, as the following εὐχαριστοῦντες suggests; comp. ver. 23.
ἐν ὀνόματι κ.τ.λ.] This is the great practical lesson which flows from the theological teaching of the epistle. Hence the reiteration of Κυρίῳ, ἐν Κυρίῳ, etc., vv. 18, 20, 22, 23, 24. See above p. [104].
εὐχαριστοῦντες] On this refrain see the notes on [i. 12], [ii. 7].
τῷ Θεῷ πατρὶ] This, which is quite the best authenticated reading, gives a very unusual, if not unique, collocation of words, the usual form being either ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατήρ or Θεὸς πατήρ. The καί before πατρί in the received text is an obvious emendation. See the note on i. 3, and the appendix on various readings.
18–21. ‘Ye wives, be subject to your husbands, for so it becomes you in Christ. Ye husbands, love and cherish your wives, and use no harshness towards them. Ye children, be obedient to your parents in all things; for this is commendable and lovely in Christ. Ye parents, vex not your children, lest they lose heart and grow sullen’.
18 sq. These precepts, providing for the conduct of Christians in private households, should be compared with Ephes. v. 22–vi. 9, 1 Pet. ii. 18–iii. 7, Tit. ii. 1 sq.; see also Clem. Rom. 1, Polyc. Phil. 4 sq.
Αἱ γυναῖκες] ‘Ye wives’, the nominative with the definite article being used for a vocative, as frequently in the New Testament, e.g. Matt. xi. 26, Mark v. 41, Luke viii. 54; see Winer § xxix. p. 227 sq. The frequency of this use is doubtless due to the fact that it is a reproduction of the Hebrew idiom. In the instances quoted from classical writers (see Bernhardy Syntax p. 67) the address is not so directly vocative, the nominative being used rather to define or select than to summon the person in question.