According to Catherine Cory, household codes are “moral instructions that focus on the relation of superiors to subordinates.” The household codes outlined in Ephesians are similar to those given by Cicero, Philo, Plutarch, and Josephus of the Greco-Roman culture. These codes are inspired by both Aristotelian and Stoic traditions. In Cicero’s household codes, he understood “relationships to be parallel and interconnected.” Both Plutarch and Josephus include instruction that wives are to be …show more content…
Through this understanding, marriage would change the structure of traditional Jewish culture. Rather than terminating the paternal relationship, however, v. 29 reduces its importance. The author continues to reference ‘the mystery’ in v. 32. Some scholars interpret this mystery to be the link in the Christ-Church relationship. According to Ephesians, marriage should be rooted in love and respect for one another and any other type of marriage would not live up to the standards of Ephesians. The author of Ephesians uses the institution of Christian marriage to demonstrate an “unbreakable order that the pagan world could