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Freedom in God's Divine Order for Women
A quote from the conclusions of an article by Wayne Grudem[124] entitled, “The Meaning of Kephale.”
“The meaning ‘ruler, authority over’ is still quite clearly in forty-one ancient texts from both the Bible and extra-Biblical literature, and possibly in two or more texts. In addition, there are six texts where kephale refers to the literal head of a person’s body and is said to be the part that rules or governs the rest of the body, and there are two texts which are similes where a ruler is said to be the head. …In addition, all the lexicons that specialize in the New Testament period, including two very recent ones, list the meaning of ‘ruler, authority over’ for kephale – it appears to be a well-established and valid meaning during the new Testament era.
“On the other hand, the evidence for the meaning ‘source’ is far weaker, and it is fair to say that the meaning has not been established. There are some texts which indicate that the physical head was thought of as the source of energy or life of the body, and therefore the possibility exists that the word kephale might have come to be used as a metaphor for ‘source’ or ‘source of life.’ There are two texts in Philo and one in Orphic Fragments where such a meaning is possible, but not certain, and the meaning of ‘leader, ruler’ would fit these texts as well. There are no unambiguous examples before or during the times of the New Testament in which kephale has the metaphoric sense ‘source’ and no lexicon specializing in the New Testament period lists such a meaning, nor does the Liddell and Scot lexicon list a meaning as applied to persons or as to things that are not also the end point of something. In fact, we may well ask those who advocate the meaning ‘source’ an important question: ‘Where is even one clear example of kephale used of a person to mean ‘source’ in all of Greek literature before or during the time of the New Testament? Is there even one example that is unambiguous?’
“Moreover, even if the meaning ‘source’ or (as Cervin and Liefeld propose) ‘prominent part’ were adopted for some examples of the word kephale, we would still have no examples of ‘source’ or ‘prominent part’ without the additional nuance of authority or rule. Even in the texts where ‘source’ or ‘prominent part’ is alleged as the correct meaning, the person who is called ‘head’ is always a person in leadership or authority. Therefore, there is no linguistic basis for proposing that the New Testament texts which speak of Christ as the head of the church or husband as the head of the wife can rightly be read apart for the attribution of authority to the one designated as ‘head.’”
Author’s Comment – Grudem did an excellent job establishing “head” as the proper interpretation for kephale. However, he missed the reason that God chose kephale rather than archon or exousia, that center on “ruler, authority over”, to represent the function of “head.’ God wanted a word for leadership in the home that captured His heart for husbands. Its character is to encompass the love inherent in oneness, the same love and oneness that is part of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Using authority as the central characteristic of “head” misses the mark. The husband as “head” of the home is to lead with a servant’s heart and provide spiritual guidance and protection for his family. A man can be sensitive and strong in his leadership in the home without being overbearing or harsh.
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