Husband

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

God created man and woman as equal in status and worth, as joint bearers of the image of God ( Genesis 1:27). God also desired that man and woman live together in harmony, and with this in view he made them as the counterparts of each other. As husband and wife they were partners in a marriage relation where each was equipped to complement the other. Within this equality of status there was a difference of functions ( Genesis 2:21-25).

The need for regulations

Since the husband was given the role of originator of offspring, he bore the ultimate responsibility for the family ( 1 Corinthians 11:3;  1 Corinthians 11:8-9; see also Family ; WIFE). But when sin entered the world, the husband was tempted to misuse his position and treat his wife as if she were his slave rather than his equal ( Genesis 3:16).

On account of this, the law of Moses introduced regulations that guaranteed the rights of the wife and protected her from exploitation by her husband. If a husband accused his wife of unfaithfulness, his accusation was not accepted without careful examination ( Numbers 5:11-31). If an accusation was found to be false, the husband was punished ( Deuteronomy 22:13-19). Husbands were in the habit of divorcing their wives for the most insignificant reasons, until Moses introduced a law to protect the wives ( Deuteronomy 24:1-4; see Divorce ).

If a man took one of his female slaves and made her a wife or concubine, he had to give her the full rights of a wife. He could not make her a slave again if he later grew tired of her ( Exodus 21:7-11; see Concubine ). When a man wished to marry a woman taken captive in war, he had to give her special consideration and care because of the new way of life she was being introduced to. If later she did not please him, he could not make her a slave again, but had to allow her to go free ( Deuteronomy 21:10-14).

The Christian way

Teaching given to Christians in the New Testament has helped to restore the rights of the wife so that she might enjoy the equality with her husband that God intended from the beginning ( Galatians 3:28;  1 Peter 3:7). Both husband and wife have rights, but they also have obligations to each other. One cannot do without the other ( 1 Corinthians 7:3-4;  1 Corinthians 11:11-12; cf.  Acts 18:2-3;  Acts 18:26).

In their different roles, the wife must accept the husband’s ultimate headship, and the husband must sacrifice himself for the sake of the wife. The husband has no authority to force his wife to follow some course of action merely because it pleases him. On the contrary he must treat her with special consideration and give her respect ( Ephesians 5:23-25;  Colossians 3:19;  1 Peter 3:7). The self-sacrificing love that the husband should exercise towards the wife is the same as that which Christ has exercised towards the church ( Ephesians 5:25-31; see also Marriage ).

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

I should not have made the pause of a moment over this word, neither have deemed it necessary to have said aught by way of explaining a name so familar, had it not been for the special relationship of this character, when considered in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, But looking up to him as the Husband of his people, in the union of our nature, it becomes a most interesting subject, and demands the clearest apprehension by every true believer in Christ. Now the Scriptures with one voice concur in the relation of the fact itself. "Thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy. One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called." ( Isaiah 54:5) And to the same amount do all the Scriptures declare. (See  Jeremiah 3:14;  Hosea 2:19-20) And the New Testament writers follow up the same blessed doctrine, telling us, that Christ "took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham." ( Hebrews 2:16) Indeed as the Surety and Sponsor of his church and people, it became essentially necessary that he should take our nature,"and be in all things tike to his brethren, sin only excepted." Agreeably to all this, as settled in the council of peace before all worlds, he stood up as the covenant-head and husband of his people. As the husband of his church he under took to pay all our debts to God which by sin we had incurred; he engaged to disannul all our former contracts, and to divorce our poor hearts, which sin, Satan, and the world had captivated, and by his Holy Spirit to win over our affections, and make us willing in the day of his power. He engaged both for our debt and for our duty, and promised, as the husband of his church, that he would beat down all our foes before our face, and at length bring his bride home to "the marriage-supper of the Lamb in heaven."

These were among the obligations into which the Son of God put himself, when at the call of his Father he came forth the bridegroom of his church. And when the fulness of time was come, Jesus came, full of grace and truth, and in his holy gospel proclaimed the wonderful proposal, that the Son of God, desired to woo our nature and unite it to himself, in grace here, and glory hereafter. He sent all his servants also with his royal decree, that God the Father had made a marriage for his Son, and now expected that the bride should make herself ready. A thousand, and ten thousand love tokens, the Lord Jesus accompanied his offer of marriage with to his spouse the church. And when, at any time, in a single instance, he hath by his Holy Spirit espoused and united a soul to himself, he gives a dower, and an interest in all that belongs to him; and after continued manifestation of his unalterable love and affection to his fair one, made fair in his comliness, he at a length brings home, to his house in heaven, his bride, where she lives with him forever. Happy and blessed is it, in any and in every single instance, when the church can look up to Jesus and call him Husband, and say as of old: "This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem!" ( Song of Song of Solomon 5:16)

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Ἀνήρ (Strong'S #435 — Noun Masculine — aner — an'-ayr )

denotes, in general, "a man, an adult male" (in contrast to anthropos, which generically denotes "a human being, male or female"); it is used of man in various relations, the context deciding the meaning; it signifies "a husband," e.g.,  Matthew 1:16,19;  Mark 10:12;  Luke 2:36;  16:18;  John 4:16,17,18;  Romans 7:23 . See Man.

B — 1: Φίλανδρος (Strong'S #5362 — Adjective — philandros — fil'-an-dros )

primarily, "loving man," signifies "loving a husband,"  Titus 2:4 , in instruction to young wives to love their husbands, lit., "(to be) lovers of their husbands." The word occurs frequently in epitaphs.

B — 2: Ὕπανδρος (Strong'S #5220 — Adjective — hupandros — hoop'-an-dros )

lit., "under (i.e. subject to) a man," married, and therefore, according to Roman law under the legal authority of the husband, occurs in  Romans 7:2 , "that hath a husband."

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The words more commonly translated 'husband' are ish and ἀνήρ, both signifying 'man.' 'The man of a woman' signified her husband. Very little is said of the legal form of marriage, but the marriage tie has been held sacred from the beginning and by mankind everywhere. Eve gave the forbidden fruit to her husband.  Genesis 3:6,16 . Mary had been espoused to Joseph, and he is called her husband.  Matthew 1 :19. The husband is the head of the wife, and as such stands in the place of responsibility and authority; he is exhorted to love his wife. It is involved in headship that he love her as his own body, and cherish her, as the Lord does the assembly.  Ephesians 5:23-29;  Colossians 3:18,19 .

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."  2 Corinthians 11:2 . In  Revelation 21 the new Jerusalem is seen coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband: that husband must be the Lord Jesus, for she is the bride, the Lamb's wife.

There will also be a union in a future day between Jehovah and Israel. There has been the putting away: Jehovah has said, "She is not my wife, neither am I her husband;" but there is a day coming when she will say, "I will go and return to my first husband." Jehovah responds, "Thou shalt call me Ishi ," that is 'husband;' "and shalt call me no more Baali ," 'master.' "I will betroth thee unto me for ever."  Hosea 2:2-20 . Happy unions when the Lord Jesus will be owned and loved by Israel, as their Messiah and King, and the Church be owned and manifested as the bride of Christ!

King James Dictionary

HUS'BAND, n. s as z.

1. A man contracted or joined to a woman by marriage. A man to whom a woman is betrothed, as well as one actually united by marriage, is called a husband.  Leviticus 19;  Deuteronomy 22 2. In seaman's language, the owner of a ship who manages its concerns in person. 3. The male of animals of a lower order. 4. An economist a good manager a man who knows and practices the methods of frugality and profit. In this sense, the word is modified by an epithet as a good husband a bad husband. But in America, this application of the word is little or not at all used. 5. A farmer a cultivator a tiller of the ground. In this sense, it is not used in America. We always use husbandman.

HUS'BAND, To direct and manage with frugality in expending any thing to use or employ in the manner best suited to produce the greatest effect to use with economy. We say, a man husbands his estate,his means or his time.

He is conscious how he has husbanded the great deposit of his Creator.

1. To till to cultivate with good management. 2. To supply with a husband. Little used.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To furnish with a husband.

(2): ( n.) A married man; a man who has a wife; - the correlative to wife.

(3): ( v. t.) To direct and manage with frugality; to use or employ to good purpose and the best advantage; to spend, apply, or use, with economy.

(4): ( n.) A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman.

(5): ( n.) The male head of a household; one who orders the economy of a family.

(6): ( v. t.) To cultivate, as land; to till.

(7): ( n.) The male of a pair of animals.

(8): ( n.) One who manages or directs with prudence and economy; a frugal person; an economist.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Jeremiah 31:32 (a) GOD uses this type to illustrate His deep love for Israel, and His devotion to their needs. He protected them, preserved them, and provided for them. Instead of a response from their hearts of loving affection, they turned against Him to worship idols. (See also  Hosea 2:2).

 2 Corinthians 11:2 (a) By this we understand the relationship of the Lord Jesus to those who are saved by His grace, and who constitute His bride.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Matthew 1:16,20 Luke 2:5 Deuteronomy 20:7 24:5

Holman Bible Dictionary

FamilyHouseholdMarriage

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Husband. See Marriage .

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

See Marriage

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HUSBAND . See Family.

Charles Buck Theological Dictionary

Duties of.

See Marriage State

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Family, Marriage.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

huz´band ( אישׁ , 'ı̄sh  ; ἀνήρ , anḗr ): In the Hebrew household the husband and father was the chief personage of an institution which was regarded as more than a social organism, inasmuch as the family in primitive Semitic society had a distinctively religious character and significance. It was through it that the cult of the household and tribal deities was practiced and perpetuated. The house-father, by virtue of being the family head, was priest of the household, and as such, responsible for the religious life of the family and the maintenance of the family altar. As priest he offered sacrifices to the family gods, as at first, before the centralization of worship, he did to Yahweh as the tribal or national Deity. We see this reflected in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in the Book of Job. This goes far to explain such records as we have in   Genesis 31:53;  Genesis 32:9 , and the exceptional reverence that was paid the paternal sepulchers ( 1 Samuel 20:6 ). Abraham was regarded as being the father of a nation. It was customary, it would seem, to assign a "father" to every known tribe and nation (Gen 10). So the family came to play an important and constructive part in Hebrew thought and life, forming the base upon which the social structure was built, merging gradually into the wider organism of the clan or tribe, and vitally affecting at last the political and religious life of the nation itself.

The husband from the first had supreme authority over his wife, or wives, and children. In his own domain his rule was well-nigh absolute. The wife, or wives, looked up to him as their lord ( Genesis 18:12 ). He was chief (compare Arabic shēı́k ), and to dishonor him was a crime to be punished by death ( Exodus 21:15 ,  Exodus 21:17 ). He was permitted to divorce his wife with little reason, and divorces were all too common ( Deuteronomy 22:13 ,  Deuteronomy 22:19 ,  Deuteronomy 22:28 ,  Deuteronomy 22:29;  Isaiah 50:1;  Jeremiah 3:8;  Jeremiah 5:8;  Malachi 2:16 , etc.). The wife seems to have had no redress if wronged by him. Absolute faithfulness, though required of the wife, was apparently not expected or exacted of the husband, so long as he did not violate the rights of another husband. In general among Eastern people women were lightly esteemed, as in the Japhetic nations they came to be. Plato counted a state "disorganized" "where slaves are disobedient to their masters, and wives are on equality with their husbands." "Is there a human being," asks Socrates, "with whom you talk less than with your wife?" But from the first, among the Hebrews the ideal husband trained his household in the way they should go religiously, as well as instructed them in the traditions of the family, the tribe, and the nation ( Genesis 18:19;  Exodus 12:26;  Exodus 13:8;  Deuteronomy 6:7 , etc.). It was due to this, in part at least, that, in spite of the discords and evils incident to polygamy, the Hebrew household was nursery of virtue and piety to an unusual degree, and became a genuine anticipation of the ideal realized later in the Christian home ( 1 Corinthians 7:2;  Ephesians 5:25;  1 Peter 3:7 ).

Used figuratively of the relation (1) between Yahweh and His people (  Isaiah 54:5;  Jeremiah 3:14;  Hosea 2:19 f); (2) between Christ and His church (  Matthew 9:15;  2 Corinthians 11:2;  Ephesians 5:25;  Revelation 19:7;  Revelation 21:2 ).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(prop. אַישׁ or אנֵוֹשׁ , a Man, Ἀνήρ  ; also בִּעִל , master, חָתָן , Spouse [in  Exodus 4:24, the phrase "bloody husband" has an allusion to the matrimonial figure in the covenant of circumcision (q.v.)], etc.), a married man, the house-band, or band which connects the whole family, and keeps it together. Johnson (Engl. Dict. s.v.) refers the term to the Runic, house - Bonda, master of the house; but several of his instances seem allied to the sense of binding together, or assembling into union. So we say, To Husband small portions of things, meaning to collect and unite them, to manage them to the greatest advantage, etc., which is by associating them together; making the most of them, not by dispersion, but by union. A man who was betrothed, but not actually married, was esteemed a husband ( Matthew 1:16;  Matthew 1:20;  Luke 2:5). A man recently married was exempt from going out to war ( Deuteronomy 20:7;  Deuteronomy 24:5). The husband is described as the head of his wife, and as having control over her conduct, so as to supersede her vows, etc. ( Numbers 30:6-8). He is also the guide of her youth ( Proverbs 2:17). Sarah called her husband Abraham lord, a title which was continued long after ( Hosea 2:16) [Baali, my lord]. The apostle Peter seems to recommend it as a title implying great respect, as well as affection ( 1 Peter 3:6). Perhaps it was rather used as an appellation in public than in private. Our own word master [Mr.] (and so correlatively mistress) is sometimes used by married women when speaking of their husbands; but the ordinary use made of this word to all persons, and on all occasions, deprives it of any claim to the expression of particular affection or respect, though it was probably in former ages implied by it or connected with it, as it still is in the instances of proprietors, chiefs, teachers, and superiors, whether in civil life, in polite arts, or in liberal studies. (See Marriage).