Does the Bible allow a husband to dominate or mistreat his wife?
No. Scripture never grants a husband authority to downtrod his wife, treat her as a slave, or make her merely his servant. Paul instead teaches mutual submission in the fear of God, and that the husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church, while husband and wife are one.
Les explains that many people miss the point of the biblical teaching that the husband is over the wife and she is to be submissive. The Bible never gives the husband authority to downtrod his wife; she is never to be his slave or servant. Instead, she is part of him, and they are one. Paul writes in Ephesians 5 that believers are to submit themselves one to another in the fear of God, and he makes plain that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church.