Paul’s Use of Kephalē (“Head”) in Ephesians

Introduction

In Ephesians 5:23-24, Paul used the common Greek word kephalē which means “head” when addressing wives. He wrote,

“… the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He [Christ] is the Savior of the body. But as the church submits herself to Christ, in this way also wives to your husbands in everything.”

This verse has been interpreted and applied in ways that, I believe, were never Paul’s intention.

In this article, I discuss how the apostle used kephalē in his letter to the Ephesians[1] and what he wanted in Christian marriages, especially from husbands who Paul calls the kephalē (“head”). My thoughts on this topic are still evolving.

The following discussion began as notes for an interview for a Spanish-speaking audience.[2] Some of the following content has been previously mentioned, but in less detail, in my 2-part article Submission and the Saviour in Ephesians 5.

Kephalē in Greek-English Lexicons

In modern English, the word “head” can have many senses, and so, good dictionaries give many definitions for this word. Nevertheless, when reading Ephesians 5:23, many people have assumed that “head” here means “the person in charge, the boss, the person with authority over others.” They don’t seem to have considered that it might mean something different.

Certainly, Jesus is Lord and he is our authority―many verses express this idea of Christ’s lordship and authority―but the Greek word kephalē (“head”) rarely, if ever, had these meanings in ancient Greek texts. I propose that Paul was drawing on a different sense when he used kephalē in Ephesians.

Newer lexicons and dictionaries of ancient Greek show that “high status” is a sense of kephalē. The head is at the top of the body in the highest position. In a spatial sense, it has a high status. A person with a high status can be a leader and have authority, but the senses of leadership and authority are not necessarily implicit in the Greek word for head, kephalē.[3]

In their exhaustive lexicon of ancient Greek, Liddell, Scott and Jones (LSJ) give numerous definitions of kephalē, but none that means “a person in authority over others” or something similar. (See here.) Bauer and Danker (BDAG) give two main definitions for kephalē: 1. the part of the body that contains the brain, and 2. a being of high status. These lexicons are considered to be two of the best.

Using lexicons and dictionaries can be a useful first step when we want to understand an unfamiliar or foreign word, but we shouldn’t rely on them too heavily. To more fully understand a word, we need to see how authors use the words in sentences and paragraphs. We need to see some context.

Paul used the word kephalē three times in the letter to the Ephesians, and three times he used it in a head-body metaphor. We need to read his letter from the beginning and take note of these other uses of “head” if we want to better understand his instructions to wives and his use of kephalē in chapter 5.

Philo and Kephalē

It’s also helpful to see how other first-century authors writing in Greek used kephalē. Philo was a Jewish author who was alive at the same time as the apostle Paul, and in one text he explained what kephalē (“head”) meant for him. In On Rewards and Punishment 19 §114 he wrote, “… as the head is to the body occupying the pre-eminence of situation …” This spatial sense of an elevated position, in relation to the body, seems to be behind the metaphorical senses of “higher status,” or “pre-eminence,” in kephalē.

In section 20 §125, Philo writes about a hypothetical virtuous person. He used the adjectives “first” and “best” to explain what he means by kephalē (“head”) and he contrasts it with “tail.” [4] Philo then uses kephalē in a head-body metaphor.

For as in an animal the head is the first and best part, and the tail the last and worst part, or rather no part at all … the virtuous man shall be the head of the human race whether he be a single man or a whole people. And that all others, being as it were parts of the body, are only vivified by the powers existing in the head and superior portions of the body.
On Rewards and Punishments, 20 §125

A good person or group does not have authority over the whole human race. However, according to Philo, a virtuous person or group can be, in a sense, superior. They can have a higher status or higher level of honour than others, and be more respected. Moreover, they can have a beneficial influence on others.

I’ve written more about how Philo and other first-century authors use kephalē here.

“Head-Body” in Ephesians 1

Being Filled with the Fullness of Christ

If we want to understand how the apostle Paul used the word kephalē in his letter to the Ephesians, we need to start with chapter 1. The word occurs once here, but is used in two different ways.

In Ephesians 1:10, Paul writes that God’s ultimate will is “to bring everything together (anakephalaiōsasthai) in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth ….”[5] And he explains how this will happen in verses 20-23. Here, the spatial sense of “head” is emphasised with the words “over” and “under.”

He [God] exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above [a highly elevated position] every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he [God] subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the sake of the church which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Ephesians 1:20-23 (my use of bold).

We, the church, are not under Christ’s feet. Our status is different. We are Christ’s body, and as such, we are to represent and embody his fullness. His fullness! Through the Holy Spirit, Christ’s presence, attributes, and ministry are supposed to permeate the entire body of Christ.

The same word for “fullness” (plērōma) is used twice in the Letter to the Colossians which was written around the same time as the Letter to the Ephesians; the two letters share some similarities.[6] Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that the fullness of God’s divine nature dwelt in Jesus in bodily form, and that we have been filled by Jesus (cf. Col. 1:19-20).[7]

Ephesians 1:23 tells us that the church, as Christ’s body, is supposed to be filled with the fullness of Christ. These are remarkable theological statements, and Paul used head-body imagery to make his point.

Salvation and the Elevation of the Body

When Paul uses “body” language for the church, he is not talking about subordinating the church in the way “subordination” is often understood; the church isn’t being lowered, suppressed, or kept “in order” by Christ or by God. Instead, the church is being elevated to embody the fullness of Christ who embodied the fullness of God’s divinity.

Furthermore, Paul prays that the Ephesians “may be filled with all the fullness of God,” (Eph. 3:19), and he exhorts them to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18ff). Again, rather than the usual understanding of “subordination,” or “subjection,” we are being lifted up. Salvation in Christ means being “made alive” (vivified) and being raised to where Jesus is.

^“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus …”
Ephesians 2:4-6 (my use of bold).

To understand the example of Jesus as the Saviour of the Body (Eph. 5:23), we need to comprehend what Paul meant by salvation. His view of salvation is huge and amazing!

“Head-Body” in Ephesians 4

Measuring Up to the Stature of Christ

Understanding Paul’s use of head-feet and head-body imagery in Ephesians 1, and what exactly he means by “fullness,” is difficult to grasp. Thankfully, his use of head-body imagery in Ephesians 4 is easier to comprehend.

In chapters 2 and 3, and the beginning of 4, Paul has been encouraging unity, especially unity between Jewish and Gentile believers. And in chapter 4, he again mentions “fullness.” As well as using the words “fill” and “fullness,” he also uses words that mean “build up” and “grow” for the body of Christ.[8]

In chapter 4, head-body imagery is used a second time in Ephesians. Here Paul writes,

And he [Christ] himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.[9]
Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.
From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (my use of bold).

We are to be attached, connected, fastened to the head and we are to become like the head in maturity and fullness (cf. Col. 2:19).[10] One measure of that fullness is unity.

“Head-Body” in Ephesians 5

Being Raised in High Esteem and Honour

When we get to Ephesians 5, we should already have a sense of how Paul used head-body imagery. In Ephesians 5, Paul does not say that wives are under their husband’s feet, and he did not use “under” or “over” words that emphasise spatial distance.

First-century Greco-Roman husbands usually did have a higher status than their wives,[11] they were the heads, but Paul wanted husbands to treat their wives as their own bodies, as their male bodies which had a higher status and more honour. Paul wanted the Ephesian husbands to care for their wives and treat them as equally important as themselves. He wrote, that following Christ’s example given in Ephesians 5:25-27,

“… husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, since we are members of his body.”

Note that Paul never tells husbands to lead their wives. Never. And not once in his letters, does he tell husbands that they are the decision-makers or the authorities in their marriages. Paul says something different. He wanted husbands to love their wives and he uses the word “love” 6 times when speaking to husbands in Ephesians 5:25-33 (cf. Eph. 4:16). 6 times!

Some people think that husbands have a special duty to love their wives (Eph. 5:25) and that wives have a special duty to be submissive to their husbands (Eph. 5:22-24). At the beginning of chapter 5, however, Paul used the same language as in Ephesians 5:25 when he told his whole audience to love as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Eph. 5:2). And immediately before he instructed wives to submit to their own husbands (Eph. 5:22-24), he told his whole audience to submit to one another (Eph. 5:21).

Submission isn’t just for wives and sacrificial love isn’t just for husbands. Just as the virtues of humility and meekness are required of all followers of Jesus, being submissive and loving sacrificially is also required of all followers of Jesus.

The example of Christ that Paul gives in Ephesians 5:23 is not about leadership and it’s not only about Jesus’s sacrificial death. Jesus’s death is often brought up in discussions on Ephesians 5:22ff, but Jesus didn’t just lower himself for our sakes by becoming human and by dying on the cross (cf. Phil. 2:6-8). As Head and Saviour of the body, Jesus does much more. Christ sanctifies the church in order “to present the church to himself in splendour” (Eph. 5:27).[12]

The Greek adjective behind “in splendour” is endoxos and the main sense of endoxos is “held in esteem or honour, of high repute.” (See here.) Christ as Saviour raises the church and brings her closer to himself and closer to his level of honour.

In Paul’s letters, including Ephesians, salvation involves not just being rescued from sin and death, it also involves elevation, glorification, and becoming like Jesus. It is in this context that Paul calls Jesus “the Head of the church” and “the Saviour of the body.” Paul’s concept of salvation is truly wonderful!

Conclusion

There is a consistent theme in how “head-body” imagery is used in Ephesians 1, Ephesians 4, and Ephesians 5. It’s about the elevation of the “body,” closer to the fullness, the maturity, and the status or honour of the “head,” which produces a strong bond and achieves unity. A levelling of status between husbands and wives, with first-century wives being elevated, is what Paul wanted for marriage.

Paul was not reinforcing the power dynamics that were present in many Greco-Roman households. Rather, he wanted to minimise the inequality that was a reality in the first century. He wanted to close the gap between those who had more power and those who had less power, especially between husbands and wives.[13] Paul’s aim was not to subordinate wives (or women).[14] He had the opposite aim: he wanted husbands to treat their wives as their equals, as their own bodies.[15] He believed this would facilitate a profound unity.

In this article, I’ve focused on how kephalē (“head”) is used in Ephesians. In a previous 2-part article, entitled “Submission and the Saviour,” I’ve discussed how hypotassō (“submit”) is used in Ephesians 5 and elsewhere in Paul’s letters. See here. All my articles that discuss Paul’s use of kephalē are here.

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Footnotes

[1] The letter we know as Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians may have first been sent to Laodicea (not Ephesus) and was intended to be shared among the churches in Asia Minor. It may not have been written especially for the church at Ephesus.

[2] Because I had to frequently stop and start for the Spanish-English interpreter, I sometimes lost my train of thought, and I didn’t say everything I wanted to say. I also didn’t present my explanations as succinctly as I would have liked. Luis, the interpreter, did a great job, but I need more practice working with an interpreter. I really enjoyed this experience! The interview is on YouTube here.

[3] Cynthia Long Westfall writes that while the word kephalē (“head”) may often refer to figures with authority, the word itself “is not equivalent of ‘authority.’” Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Baker Academic, 2016), 39, fn 112.

[4] Paul uses kephalē with the sense of “firstness” also. In Colossians 1:18, he makes this statement about Jesus Christ:

He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have first place (or, preeminence) in everything.

I’ve written about kephalē having the sense of “firstness” in 1 Corinthians 11:3 here.

[5] Considering the way Paul uses kephalē in Ephesians, the word anakephalaiōsasthai may have been chosen carefully. Anakephalaioomai usually means “summarise” (cf. Eph. 1:10 NASB 1995, REV, etc), but when you summarise something you bring all the parts together, and unity seems to be Paul’s sense.
The root of anakephalaioomai is probably the neuter word kephalaion plus an ana prefix. Kephalaion is itself derived from kephalē, but there is only a partial overlap of the senses of the two different words. (The LSJ entry on kephalaion is here. The LSJ entry on anakephalaioomai is here.)

[6] πλήρωμα (plērōma) occurs in Eph. 1:10, 1:23, 3:19, 4:13, and in Col. 19 and 2:9, etc.
The related verb, meaning “fill,” is used in Eph. 1:23, 3:19, 4:10 and 5:18. It also occurs four times in Colossians, including Col. 2:10.

[7] Paul says in Colossians 1:19-20,

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness (plērōma) dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

He says in Colossians 2:9-10,

“For the entire fullness (plērōma) of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.”

[8] ἑνότης (“unity, oneness”) occurs in Eph. 4:3 and 13.
The phrase εἰς οἰκοδομήν (“for the building up” [of the body]) occurs in Eph. 4:12 and 16.
The verb αὐξάνω (“grow”) is used in Eph. 2:21 and 4:15, and also in Col. 2:19.
The related noun meaning “growth” occurs in Eph. 4:16 and Col. 2:19.
τέλειος, which means, “mature, full-grown, complete, perfect” occurs in Eph. 4:13 and Col. 1:28 and 4:12.
The noun σύνδεσμος, which means “bond” and also “ligament,” is used in Eph. 4:3 and Col. 2:19 and 3:14.
And “love” is used many times. The verb occurs 10 times in Ephesians. The noun also occurs 10 times.

[9] There is nothing in this list of ministry gifts, or in Paul’s lists in Rom. 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:28-29, 1 Cor. 14:26, and Col. 3:16, that suggests any of these ministries are for men only. (I’ve written more about these lists here.)

[10] Perhaps the senses of “attach” and “fasten,” or maintaining “allegiance” and “loyalty,” are the main senses Paul had in mind when he used hypotassō, often translated as “submit,” in  Ephesians 5:22-24. (I discuss this here.)

[11] Susan E. Hylen writes about different factors that influenced social status in the first-century Greco-Roman world.

A number of elements contributed to one’s social status, including family of origin, wealth, citizenship, gender, and one’s standing as slave, freed, or free-born person. Of these, gender was by no means the most important. […]

Men had higher status than women and accordingly had greater social influence. However, any of these factors might give a woman relatively greater social standing than a man. A highborn woman or wealthy woman would have a greater status than a poor man, a freeborn woman than a male slave, and so forth. Each of these categories had a clearly defined hierarchy. Men were perceived as better than women, free people outranked slaves, and people of high birth were superior to those from less well-known families. The assignment of status to these categories is visible in many sources in the historical record.
Hylen, Women in the New Testament World (Oxford University Press, 2019), 93 & 95.

See also my article, Wives, Mothers, and Female Masters in the NT Household Codes.

[12] Christian husbands do not, and cannot, sanctify their Christian wives. Husbands are not usually saviours. (I’ve written about this here.)

[13] Generally speaking, husbands had more power than wives, parents (mothers and fathers) had more power than their grown children, and masters (male and female) had more power than their slaves. Without completely overturning these dynamics, Paul wanted to minimise the differences in power.

[14] No Bible verse indicates submission is a behaviour expected more of women in general. Women in general do not owe men in general a greater level of deference or respect than they owe people in general. Paul and Peter do instruct wives to submit to their own husbands, but they never tell women in general to submit to men. And I think we’ve added meanings to the word “submit” that Paul may never have intended when speaking about wives.

[15] In Colossians 3:19 Paul says “Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter (or, harsh) toward them.” But too often, Paul’s words on marriage have been misapplied in bitter and harsh ways towards women which is the very opposite of what the apostle wanted. 

© Margaret Mowczko 2025
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Photo of couple by Hugo Martínez via Pezels (cropped).

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