Family Role of the Husband

Family-Role of the Husband

Rev. Dr. T. Jacob Thomas

What is the Christian concept of family and what is the role husband as the leader of the family? These questions will be briefly discussed in the following paragraphs.

Bible uses two words to denote family: one is “patria”, a Greek word referring to the historical descent and biological lineage and the second is “oikos,” another Greek word for a house or household which includes not only blood relatives but also other dependents like slaves and other helpers in the house. Oikos is translated to Latin with the word, “familias,” from which the English word family comes. Oikos, is more commonly used in the New Testament for family. For example, in Acts 10 the whole household of Cornelius receives baptism, meaning, all who are associated with his house, including servants. The English word, husband, is derived from the old Nordic (Norse) word, “husbondi,” with the meaning, manager or steward (keeper of animals) of the house and tiller of the soil, the head of the household. It is interesting that in the New Testament some women are also mentioned as the heads of households such as Lydia, Nympha and Priscilla.

In the New Testament Christ is presented as the model of a husband. Paul says, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave his life for it” (Eph. 5:25). Here husband’s role is not of domination but of sacrifice. Husbands as the head of the family must emulate the role of Jesus in their relation to other members of the family. Mutual submission to one another in Christ is the model code of conduct in a Christian family. Children must be loved and protected as Jesus would do. Neighbours, both of one’s own faith and of other faiths, must be respected as Jesus showed us in his relation to the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman. People in need, the poor and the hungry, the rejected and ridiculed must be loved and taken care of. Husband has a leadership role in the family and that must be exercised in humility and with grace.