The Husband “Rules” His Home

(1 Timothy 3:4-5)

Zachary Garris

Christians today often assume modern Bible translations are better than the old King James Version (KJV). Yet while it is true that translators today have access to expanded scholarship, including lexicography, it is also the case that they are sometimes beholden to modern sensibilities. Case in point: 1 Timothy 3:4-5.

In this passage (1 Timothy 3:1-8), the Apostle Paul provides requirements for any man desiring to be an “overseer” or “bishop” in the church (ἐπισκοπή). The parallel passage in Titus 1:5-9 uses the word “elder” (πρεσβύτερος) as synonymous with “overseer.” So these passages provide requirements for the minister or teaching elder of the church (though I would argue it also includes the ruling elder, as part of the two-office view of church leadership).

The overseer in the church is to be godly family man. He is to be “the husband of one wife” (or literally “a man of one woman”) (1 Timothy 3:2). And he is also to govern his family well. As 1 Timothy 3:4-5 says in the KJV:

One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

So the requirement for an elder in Christ’s church is that the man “rules” (προΐστημι) his own house well, which includes keeping his children “in subjection” (1 Timothy 3:4). And the reasoning is that if a man does not know how to “rule” his house, he will not be able to “care” for the church (1 Timothy 3:5). So the home provides a test case for church affairs. It is implied that to “care” (ἐπιμελέομαι) for the church involves some sort of “rule” over the church.

I have argued for “male rule” in my books Masculine Christianity and Honor Thy Fathers. Some today may think that is too strong of language (including those who call themselves “complementarians”). But as we shall see, I am simply following our Christian tradition here. The KJV says the husband rules his home, and this means elders also rule the church—hence the term “ruling elder” is still used in Presbyterian churches (see also 1 Timothy 5:17 for elders who “rule”).

I think the more common language today of the man “leading” is acceptable, but it should not be used so as to exclude the word “rule” for the husband in the home. Headship means rule, which explains why passages call for the wife to “submit” to her husband (Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Submission implies authority and rule.

King James Is in Good Company

The 1611 King James translation of 1 Timothy 3:4-5 as “rule” was standard for the time, seen in the translations of John Wycliffe (c. 1395), William Tyndale (c. 1535), and the Geneva Bible (1560):

Wycliffe well-ruling his house, and have sons subject with all chastity; for if any man know not how to govern his house, how shall he have diligence of the church of God?

Tyndale and one that rueleth his awne housse honestly havynge chyldren vnder obedience with all honeste. For yf a man cannot rule his owne housse how shall he care for the congregacion of God.

Geneva One that can rule his own house honestly, having children under obedience with all honesty. For if any cannot rule his own house, how shall he care for the Church of God?

However, even the current standard Greek lexicon for the New Testament—by Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich (BDAG)—supports this translation. It says the word proistemi (προΐστημι) used in 1 Timothy 3:4-5 means “to exercise a position of leadership, rule, direct, be at the head (of)” (BDAG, 870). Notice it does not give the word “manage” (see below) as an option but even gives “rule” as its first translation. In the Septuagint, the word means “to stand in front of: as leader,” so that when combined with the word for house, means “leader, chief” (T. Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, [Peeters, 2009], 586–87).

The Problem of Modern Bible Translation

Enter the problem of modern Bible translation. Compare the KJV’s use of “rule” with the following popular English Bible translations of today:

NASB (1995) He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).

ESV He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

NIV He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

CSB one who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?)

NET He must manage his own household well and keep his children in control without losing his dignity. But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God?

The noticeable change is that the modern translations almost uniformly say the husband must “manage” his home rather than the older word “rule.” Some translations also soften the language of keeping children “in submission” to “under control” . . .

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