Introduction

The meaning of the metaphorical uses of κεφαλὴ is undoubtedly one of the most debated subjects in recent years. In non-metaphorical uses κεφαλὴ simply means “head,” but its metaphorical use, especially when refering to husbands and wives, is hotly debated. Traditionalists argue that κεφαλὴ  means “authority” or “leader” while egalitarians argue that it should be understood as “source.”

Extra-Biblical First-Century Uses

LSJ lists several non-literal uses of κεφαλὴ. A major use is synecdoche where the part (“head”) is used to refer to the whole person. A second is “of things, extremity,” including various anatomical references as well as the most extreme part of a river (its “source”). The meaning of “source” is from Herodotus a fifth century B.C. historian, but there is no first century evidence of this use. BDAG lists the major figurative meaning as, “a being of high status, head.” The other metaphorical uses can be found in various authors like Josephus.

New Testament Uses

Other than uses of κεφαλὴ for a literal head, the majority of its figurative uses refer to Christ and husbands. A survey of current journal articles finds Wayne Grudem writing several articles (Trinity Journal, 1985 and 1990, JETS, 2001) in response to various works and other authors writing in response to his work (such as Cervin, Trinity Journal, 1989). Other major works include Catherine Kroeger’s article in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters and William J. Webb’s work Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals. Kroeger argues that κεφαλὴ’s primary significance is “source” when referring to Christ (Col. 1:18) and when referring to husbands the imagery is that the husband is the “source” as Adam was the physical source of Eve’s body (Gen. 2). Grudem though argues that κεφαλὴ never means “source” in any of the several thousand Greek references he surveyed and that the meaning of “head” or “authority” is best. Cervin points out several slight errors in Grudem’s original work (1985) and proposes a mediating definition, that of “preeminence.” Interestingly, a strong candidate for an egalitarian view of marriage, Webb, “[agrees] with the patriarchalists on the lexical study” (Webb, 188). But he also argues that the idea of “headship” is culturally tied and is not applicable for the church today.

The Usage in Ephesians 5:23

The meaning of “source” makes good sense in several passages refereeing to Christ (Eph. 4:16; Col. 1:18), but in some passages it is difficult to understand how “source” would make sense of the passage. In Eph. 1:22 the language of “putting all things under subjection” seems to refer to some sense of “authority” or “preeminence.” The meaning of “preeminence” works when applied to Christ because he is ontologically superior to his creation, but when applied to husbands it is more difficult. “Preeminence” may convey a sense of actual superiority which would disagree with other Pauline teaching (Gal. 3:28).  When coupled with the verb ὑποτάσσω (submit) from , and 24, κεφαλὴ seems to denote the one in a “superior rank” (BDAG) to whom the wife is to submit.

Conclusion

The best understanding and translation of κεφαλὴ is “authority” or perhaps “leader,” not denoting any sense of superiority, but a God-assigned role that the husband is to fulfill and the wife is to respect. The implications of this meaning are to be determined in exegesis and application, but the lexical understanding should remain “authority” or “leader.”