Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
The verse establishes a mutual obligation in marriage, with the husband owing loving care and marital duty to the wife and the wife likewise owing the same to the husband. The husband's part of that due includes laboring diligently to provide support for his family. The love and kindness maintained between husband and wife in fulfilling this duty fosters mutual respect.
That due does not allow a husband to treat his wife as serving no other purpose than the gratification of lustful passions. Such misuse brings children into the world as rapidly as possible, even when husbands are poor and unable to support, feed, clothe, educate, and give proper care to their growing families. It leaves mothers with no time to recover from the weakness of one birth before becoming pregnant again, while responsibilities accumulate so quickly that wives and mothers have no chance to cultivate their minds and no time or opportunity for religious work. God is not in such a course and is not glorified in such families, so a sterile condition is not the worst condition to be in.
The verse establishes a mutual obligation in marriage, with the husband owing loving care and marital duty to the wife and the wife likewise owing the same to the husband. The husband's part of that due includes laboring diligently to provide support for his family. The love and kindness maintained between husband and wife in fulfilling this duty fosters mutual respect.
That due does not allow a husband to treat his wife as serving no other purpose than the gratification of lustful passions. Such misuse brings children into the world as rapidly as possible, even when husbands are poor and unable to support, feed, clothe, educate, and give proper care to their growing families. It leaves mothers with no time to recover from the weakness of one birth before becoming pregnant again, while responsibilities accumulate so quickly that wives and mothers have no chance to cultivate their minds and no time or opportunity for religious work. God is not in such a course and is not glorified in such families, so a sterile condition is not the worst condition to be in.