Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:3
and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace Isaiah 9:6
Prince of Peace –What does Isaiah’s incredible phrase sar-shalom (Prince of Peace) have to do with Paul’s statement about the man as the head of the woman (1 Corinthians 11:3)? The answer lies in what Isaiah does not say. We would expect Isaiah to use the title “king”, not “prince.” In Hebrew, the word “king” is melek, used more than 3,000 times in the Old Testament, more times than “Israel.” If anyone is King, it is certainly God. Throughout the ancient near East, the universal role of the king was the shepherd of his people. Certainly Jesus has this in mind when He describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. The king is the head of his people, the law over the land and the judge of the tribe. But Isaiah doesn’t use this word, melek. Instead, he uses the word sar. Why?
Sar and melek have one unique distinction. A king has authority in and of himself. He is ruler by his own right. But a sar is someone who has authority bestowed upon him by another. He is a ruler, but a ruler by appointment, not title-designation. This difference is absolutely critical. The Suffering Servant, the Messiah, Emmanuel, is not a self-appointed ruler. He is the One Who comes in the name of the Father, granted authority by another. When we think of Jesus as king, we must not get confused. Isaiah understood. The Messiah comes as sar, not melek.
If Jesus is sar, and if the man is to reflect Jesus’ authority in his relation to the woman, then he must also be sar, not melek. God did not make men kings over women. He did not empower men to be rulers in their own right just because they are males. The relationship is based on sar – assignment due to the power of another.
Why, then, is a man the head of a woman? Because the woman grants him that role. In God’s view of male-female relationships, mutual submission means voluntary subjection. The one who voluntarily submits empowers the other. A man has no priority in and of himself. He is a leader only because someone else has chosen to follow. He is sar because those who follow have made him so.
Our world wants kings, not princes. Why do we wish the mightier title? Because we believe that leading is about power and kings have more power. This can never be the Christian way. It was not the way of the Messiah, and it cannot be the way of any of His followers. There are no little kings in His Kingdom.
So, husbands, are you melek or sar? Is your attitude one of grateful embrace for the role you have been granted by your wife, or do you think you wear the pants because you were born a male? Better take another look at Isaiah.
