Wife, Wives
Wife, Wives
denotes (1) “a woman, married or unmarried” (see WOMAN); (2) “a wife,” e.g., Mat 1:20; 1Co 7:3-4; in 1Ti 3:11, RV, “woman,” the reference may be to the “wives” of deacons, as the AV takes it.
an adjective denoting “womanly, female,” is used as a noun in 1Pe 3:7, AV, “wife,” RV, “woman.”
Note: In Joh 19:25 the article stands idiomatically for “the wife (of);” in Mat 1:6, the article is rendered “her that had been the wife (of).”