Power over his own will (exousian peri tou idiou qelhmatov). The A.V. is ambiguous, and might be understood to imply self-control. The meaning is rather: is free to act as he pleases. Rev., as touching his own will. The repetition of his own emphasizes the fact that the disposal of the daughter lay wholly in the parent's power. Among the Greeks and Romans the choice of a wife was rarely grounded upon affection. In many cases the father chose for his son a wife whom the latter had never seen, or compelled him to marry for the sake of checking his extravagances. Thus Terence pictures a father meeting his son in the forum, and saving. "You are to be married to-day, get ready" ("Andria," i., 5) Nor was the consent of a woman generally thought necessary. She was obliged to submit to the wishes of her parents, and perhaps to receive a stranger. Thus Hermione says: "My marriage is my father's care: it is not for me to decide about that" (Euripides, "Andromache," 987). Under the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, the father's power over the children in the matter of marriage was paramount, and their consent was not required. After the Exile the parents could betroth their children, while minors, at their pleasure; but when they became of age their consent was required, and if betrothed during minority, they had afterward the right of insisting upon divorce.

Robertson's NT Word Studies