Ephesians 6:5-9

SLAVES AND MASTERS

Cf. Colossians 3:22 to Colossians 4:1; 1 Peter 2:18-25; Didachè IV. On the attitude of Christianity to the institution of Slavery, see Lightfoot, Col. pp. 323 ff., Benson, Christ and His Times, and Robinson pp. 130 f. The treatment here and in Col. presents an interesting study in identity and difference. Practically every thought on the slave’s side of the account in Col. is found in Eph. either in identical or equivalent language. But the variations in order and phrase and the expansions in Eph. have the hand of the Master in them and not of an imitator. The chief point of difference is that in Col. attention is called to the certainty of punishment for wrong doing, while in Eph. stress is laid on the certainty of reward for every thing that is well done. The fact that Onesimus was returning to Colossae may sub-consciously have determined the choice of topics in the Colossian Epistle. The relation between the two passages is best understood when we remember that St Paul was continually addressing Christian congregations, and the whole of this section in the two Epistles is the ripe fruit of long experience in trying to bring home the salient points of Christian duty to the different classes which faced him as he sat in the preacher’s chair. It is remarkable that the slaves’ side receives in each case the fuller and tenderer treatment. In 1 Pet. there is no special paragraph devoted to the duty of masters.