Kristen

Another option is that while v. 21 means “allow yourselves to be subject to one another,” the next use of the word in the phrase “for as the church is subject to Christ, so is the wife to her husband in everything” is indeed a simple statement of fact. Whether simply in ancient culture where husbandly authority was the norm, or in the more spiritual sense in which Charis means it, the wife definitely was in that position without any act of the will on her part. So the meaning would be, “allow yourselves to be subject to one another– wives to your husbands (because you already are subject), and husbands, love your wives in a way that sacrifices yourself to lift her up.” This would not be inconsistent with the logical construction of the passage.