Ephesians 6:1

τὰ τέκνα, ὑπακούετε τοῖς γονεῦσιν [ἐν Κυρίῳ]: children obey your parents in the Lord. The duty of the wife has been described by the terms subjection or submission (ὑποτάσσεσθαι) and fear (φοβεῖσθαι). The duty of the child is now described in terms of obedience (ὑπακούειν, = readiness to hearken to one) and honour (τιμᾶν, Ephesians 6:2). In these words the whole distinctive duty of the child is summed up, in the Old Testament as well as in the New. The “eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it” (Proverbs 30:17). Disobedience to parents is named among the dark sins of the heathen of reprobate mind (Romans 1:30), and the evils of the “grievous times” in “the last days” (2 Timothy 3:2). The ἐν Κυρίῳ, = in Christ, is best connected with the ὑπακούετε, not with the γονεῦσιν. It defines the quality of the obedience by defining the sphere within which it is to move a Christian obedience fulfilled in communion with Christ. This phrase ἐν Κυρίῳ, however, is of disputable authority. It is inserted by the TR, supported by [722] [723] [724] 2, 3 [725] [726] [727], Vulg., Syr., etc.; but is omitted by [728] [729] * [730] [731], Cyr., Cypr., etc. It is deleted by Lachm., bracketed by TrWH, and retained by RV. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι δίκαιον : for this is right. δίκαιον = right, not in the sense of befitting (πρέπον) merely, but (cf. Colossians 4:1; Philippians 1:7; Philippians 4:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:6) in that of righteous, what is required by law the law that is at once founded on the natural relation of τέκνα and γονεῖς and proclaimed in the Divine Commandment (Ephesians 6:2).

[722] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[723] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[724] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[725] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[726] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[727] Codex Porphyrianus (sæc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Ephesians 2:13-16.

[728] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[729] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[730] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[731] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.