Greek word · G5220
ὕπανδρος
hypandros
married
An adjective built from hupo ('under') and anēr ('man, husband'): 'under a husband,' meaning a woman who is married. It was a standard legal and social label for a married woman as opposed to a virgin, widow or divorcée.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ὕπανδρος, -ον
[in LXX: Numbers 5:20, 29 (אִישׁ תַּחַת), Proverbs 6:24, 29, Sirach 9:9 41:21 * ;]
under or subject to a man, married: γυνή, Romans 7:2 (Polyb., Diod., al.).†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
An adjective built from hupo ('under') and anēr ('man, husband'): 'under a husband,' meaning a woman who is married. It was a standard legal and social label for a married woman as opposed to a virgin, widow or divorcée. The word assumes the ancient household, where a wife lived under her husband's authority and protection.
- Against the English
English 'married' is symmetrical: a man and a woman are equally 'married.' Hupandros was used only of women and describes her status relative to her husband. KJV's 'the woman which hath an husband' and the Vulgate's quae sub viro est ('who is under a husband') stay closer to the shape of the word.
- How it drifted
Not a mistranslation. 'Married woman' is the right sense. The English simply cannot carry the 'under' picture in the word itself.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) uses it in the adultery laws and wisdom texts: Numbers 5:20, 29 (the suspected-wife ritual, 'a woman under her husband'), Proverbs 6:24, 29, Sirach 9:9 and 41:23. Hellenistic historians such as Polybius (10.26.3) use it the same way. This is its only New Testament occurrence.
Where it appears
Romans · 1
-
Romans 7:2 ὕπανδρος married
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
Here: Literally 'under a man/husband.' It was the ordinary legal word for a woman who had a husband, and it describes her status as being under his marital authority.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.