The male partner in a marriage relationship. The origin of this God-ordained institution is traced back in the Bible to the Garden of Eden. Scripture stresses that marriage is a God-ordained institution, within which the husband is pledged to love and care for his wife. Scripture contains many examples, both good and bad, of how husbands behaved. The ultimate examples of a good husband in Scripture are God as the husband of Israel and Jesus Christ as the bridegroom of the church.
God's pattern for marriage
Husband and wife are one flesh
Genesis 1:27 See also Genesis 2:23–24; Malachi 2:15; Matthew 19:4–6 parallel Mark 10:6–9
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
The husband is head of the wife
Ephesians 5:23 See also 1 Corinthians 11:3
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
Duties of a husband
To leave his parents and be united to his wife
Matthew 19:5 parallel Mark 10:7–8 See also Genesis 2:24
and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
To love his wife
Ephesians 5:25 See also Deuteronomy 24:5; Proverbs 5:18; Ecclesiastes 9:9; Ephesians 5:28–33; Colossians 3:19; 1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
To fulfil his marital duty
1 Corinthians 7:3–5 See also Exodus 21:10–11
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife. Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
To be faithful to his wife
Exodus 20:14 parallel Deuteronomy 5:18 See also Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22; Malachi 2:14; Matthew 5:27–28; 1 Corinthians 7:14–16
You shall not commit adultery.
Adam, the first husband
The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Behaviour which is commended in husbands
1 Samuel 1:3–8 See also Genesis 24:67, Genesis 29:20; Ruth 3:7–4:11; Esther 5:1–3; Hosea 3:1–3; Matthew 1:18–25
Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD. And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her. And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat. “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
Behaviour which is condemned in husbands
2 Samuel 12:7–10 See also Genesis 29:30–31, Genesis 38:8–10; Judges 19:16–29; Malachi 2:13–16
Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
God as a husband
Isaiah 54:5 See also Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 31:32; Ezekiel 16:8
For your husband is your Maker — the LORD of Hosts is His name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
Jesus Christ as a bridegroom
Ephesians 5:25–27 See also Matthew 9:14–15 parallels Mark 2:18–20, Luke 5:33–35; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.