Colossians 3:20

3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

Psalms 123:2

123:2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, ¹ 

so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.

Malachi 1:6

The Sacrilege of Priestly Service

1:6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects ²  his master. If I am your ³  father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’

Matthew 8:9

8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. ⁴  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, ⁵  and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ⁶  ‘Do this’ and he does it.” ⁷ 

Luke 6:46

6:46 “Why ⁸  do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ ⁹  and don’t do what I tell you? ¹⁰ 

Luke 7:8

7:8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. ¹¹  I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, ¹²  and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹³ 

Ephesians 6:5-7

6:5 Slaves, ¹⁴  obey your human masters ¹⁵  with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ, 6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ¹⁶  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ¹⁷  6:7 Obey ¹⁸  with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord ¹⁹  and not people,

Ephesians 6:1

6:1 Children, ²⁰  obey your parents in the Lord ²¹  for this is right.

Ephesians 6:1-2

6:1 Children, ²²  obey your parents in the Lord ²³  for this is right. 6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” ²⁴  which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

Titus 2:9-10

2:9 Slaves ²⁵  are to be subject to their own masters in everything, ²⁶  to do what is wanted and not talk back, 2:10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, ²⁷  in order to bring credit to ²⁸  the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

Philemon 1:16

1:16 no longer as a slave, ²⁹  but more than a slave, as a dear brother. He is especially so to me, and even more so to you now, both humanly speaking ³⁰  and in the Lord.

Philemon 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³¹  a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ³²  and Timothy our ³³  brother, to Philemon, our dear friend ³⁴  and colaborer,

Philemon 1:18-19

1:18 Now if he has defrauded you of anything or owes you anything, charge what he owes ³⁵  to me. 1:19 I, Paul, have written ³⁶  this letter ³⁷  with my own hand: ³⁸  I will repay it. I could also mention that you owe ³⁹  me your very self.

[123:2]  ¹ sn Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs.

[1:6]  ² tn The verb “respects” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. It is understood by ellipsis (see “honors” in the preceding line).

[1:6]  ³ tn The pronoun “your” is supplied in the translation for clarification (also a second time before “master” later in this verse).

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

[8:9]  ⁵ sn I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[6:46]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:46]  ⁹ tn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[6:46]  ¹⁰ sn Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you? Respect is not a matter of mere words, but is reflected in obedient action. This short saying, which is much simpler than its more developed conceptual parallel in Matt 7:21-23, serves in this form to simply warn and issue a call to hear and obey, as the last parable also does in vv. 47-49.

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

[7:8]  ¹² sn I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

[7:8]  ¹³ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[6:5]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “Servants” (KJV). Though δοῦλος (doulos) is often translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[6:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the masters according to the flesh.” In the translation above, the article τοῖς (tois) governing κυρίοις (kuriois) is rendered in English as a possessive pronoun (i.e., “your”) and the prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) is taken as modifying κυρίοις (indicating that the author is referring to human masters) and not modifying the imperative ὑπακούετε (Jupakouete, which would indicate that obedience was according to a human standard or limitation).

[6:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

[6:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[6:7]  ¹⁸ tn Though the verb does not appear again at this point in the passage, it is nonetheless implied and supplied in the English translation for the sake of clarity.

[6:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “serving as to the Lord.”

[6:1]  ²⁰ tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ²¹ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[6:1]  ²² tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ²³ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[6:2]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

[2:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “to be subject to their own masters, to do what is wanted in everything.”

[2:10]  ²⁷ tn Or “showing that genuine faith is productive.” At issue between these two translations is the force of ἀγαθήν (agaqhn): Is it attributive (as the text has it) or predicate (as in this note)? A number of considerations point in the direction of a predicate ἀγαθήν (e.g., separation from the noun πίστιν (pistin) by the verb, the possibility that the construction is an object-complement, etc.), though is not usually seen as an option in either translations or commentaries. Cf. ExSyn 188-89, 312-13, for a discussion. Contextually, it makes an intriguing statement, for it suggests a synthetic or synonymous parallel: “‘Slaves should be wholly subject to their masters…demonstrating that all [genuine] faith is productive, with the result [ecbatic ἵνα] that they will completely adorn the doctrine of God.’ The point of the text, then, if this understanding is correct, is an exhortation to slaves to demonstrate that their faith is sincere and results in holy behavior. If taken this way, the text seems to support the idea that saving faith does not fail, but even results in good works” (ExSyn 312-13). The translation of ἀγαθήν as an attributive adjective, however, also makes good sense.

[2:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “adorn,” “show the beauty of.”

[1:16]  ²⁹ tn Although the Greek word δοῦλος (doulos) is sometimes translated “servant” here (so KJV), the word “slave” is a much more candid and realistic picture of the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus. In the Greco-Roman world of the 1st century the slave was considered a “living tool” of the master. The slave was “property” in every sense of the word. This understanding heightens the tense scenario that is in view here. It is likely that Onesimus may have even feared for his life upon returning to Colossae. Undoubtedly Paul has asked this runaway slave to return to what could amount to a potentially severe and life-endangering situation.

[1:16]  ³⁰ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[1:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³² sn The phrase a prisoner of Christ Jesus implies that Paul was being held prisoner because of his testimony for Christ Jesus. Paul’s imprisonment was due to his service to Christ, in the same manner as John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because of his testimony (Rev 1:9).

[1:1]  ³³ tn “our” is not present in the Greek text, but was supplied to bring out the sense in English.

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “dear.” The adjective is functioning as a substantive; i.e., “dear one” or “dear friend.”

[1:18]  ³⁵ tn Grk “charge it to me.”

[1:19]  ³⁶ tn Grk “I wrote” Here ἔγραψα (egraya) is functioning as an epistolary aorist. Paul puts it in the past tense because from Philemon’s perspective when he reads the letter it will, of course, already have been written.

[1:19]  ³⁷ tn The phrase “this letter” does not appear in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to clarify the meaning.

[1:19]  ³⁸ sn With my own hand. Paul may have considered this letter so delicate that he wrote the letter himself as opposed to using an amanuensis or secretary.

[1:19]  ³⁹ sn The statement you owe me your very self means that Paul was responsible for some sort of blessing in the life of Philemon; though a monetary idea may be in mind, it is perhaps better to understand Paul as referring to the spiritual truth (i.e., the gospel) he had taught Philemon.