“Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.”
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. — The word opheilō (duty, obligation) establishes marriage as a reciprocal covenant with enforceable claims. This conjugal debt (debitum coniugale) protects both partners from denial and rejection. The parallel structure (husbands...likewise...wives) grants women equal standing in sexual access and satisfaction—countercultural in Greco-Roman context where marital relations were often understood as unidirectional male right. Paul's insistence on mutuality reflects the baptismal unity of Gal 3:28.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 7:3
“Let the husband pay the wife the honor due to her: in like manner the wife the husband.” Now what is the meaning of “the due honor? The wife has not power over her own body;” but is both the slave and the mistress of the husband. And if you decline the service which is due, you have offended God. But if you wish to withdraw yourself, it must be with the husband's permission, though it be but a for short time. For this is why he calls the matter a debt, to show that no one…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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