Read the passage and its setting
Ephesians 6:5–9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ephesians 6:5–9
Enslaved People and Masters Before One Lord
The Main Point
The passage speaks to enslaved Christians and slaveholders in an unjust ancient institution, directing service toward Christ and warning masters that they too are accountable to an impartial heavenly Master.
What Is Happening Here?
The letter addresses people living within Greco-Roman slavery, where enslaved persons were legally controlled and vulnerable to coercion. This is not an ordinary modern employment contract.
What Came Before—and What Comes Next?
Children and fathers were addressed under the Lord, including a direct restraint on parental power.
The letter turns from household relationships to the whole church's struggle against spiritual evil and its need for God's armor and prayer.
Follow the Author's Reasoning
See why this section appears here and how the author's argument leads to its meaning.
Why Is This Passage Here?
Paul applies Christ's lordship inside a slaveholding household by addressing enslaved believers as moral agents and confronting masters with a higher Master who shows no favoritism.
Follow the Reasoning
Enslaved believers are addressed directly within their constrained situation.
Their service is redirected from eye-service and people-pleasing toward Christ.
The Lord, not the slaveholder, is named as the final judge of good.
Masters are commanded to act correspondingly and stop threatening.
Masters and enslaved people share one heavenly Master who shows no partiality.
What Is the Author Saying?
Why This Interpretation Fits
Actual social relation
The Greek term names enslaved people, and 'masters according to the flesh' distinguishes human control from Christ's ultimate lordship.
Threats forbidden
The command to masters explicitly ends threatening rather than merely advising kindness.
No partiality
The heavenly Master judges without regard to social rank, placing slaveholder and enslaved person under one authority.
Understand the Meaning and Its Boundaries
Clarify the words that matter and keep the conclusion no broader than the passage allows.
Words That Matter
enslaved people / slaves
δοῦλοι · douloi
The term describes people held in slavery; translating it as modern 'employees' hides the coercive ancient institution.
eye-service
ὀφθαλμοδουλίαν · ophthalmodoulian
The word describes performance aimed only at being watched and approved by a human master.
giving up threatening
ἀνιέντες τὴν ἀπειλήν · anientes tēn apeilēn
Masters receive a direct command to stop using threats, with God's impartial judgment as the reason.
What the Passage Is Not Saying
Reading Ephesians 6:5–9 in its paragraph rules out these interpretations:
Ephesians 6:5–9 does not declare slavery morally good, natural, or God's ideal for human relationships.
The passage does not justify race-based chattel slavery, human trafficking, forced labor, or modern workplace abuse.
Directing enslaved believers toward Christ does not erase the slaveholder's guilt or make coercion harmless.
The instruction does not reduce modern employees to property or give employers master-like authority over their lives.
Context check: The passage regulates conduct within ancient slavery and places masters under divine judgment, but it does not call slavery good or make human ownership God's ideal. Its equality-before-Christ logic sharply limits mastery without directly abolishing the institution in this paragraph.
What Remains True Today
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
Respond and Remember
Let the meaning shape life carefully, then practice explaining the section in context.
How This Should Shape Us
Why these applications follow
The passage speaks to enslaved Christians and slaveholders in an unjust ancient institution, directing service toward Christ and warning masters that they too are accountable to an impartial heavenly Master.
The passage regulates conduct within ancient slavery and places masters under divine judgment, but it does not call slavery good or make human ownership God's ideal. Its equality-before-Christ logic sharply limits mastery without directly abolishing the institution in this paragraph.
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
How should this shape us?
Reject slavery, trafficking, coercive labor, threats, and workplace exploitation; use authority without partiality; support the safety and freedom of people under coercive control.
A Concrete Example
A manager cannot appeal to this passage to demand unpaid labor or unquestioning loyalty; the ancient relation was slavery, and the paragraph subjects the powerful person to an impartial Master who forbids threats.
Teach It Back
Explain Ephesians 6:5–9 in your own words. Include what came before, why this section appears here, the main movement, and one interpretation the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go Deeper
The main explanation above stands on its own. Open these optional sections for fuller language, history, disagreements, and source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Actual social relation
The Greek term names enslaved people, and 'masters according to the flesh' distinguishes human control from Christ's ultimate lordship.
Threats forbidden
The command to masters explicitly ends threatening rather than merely advising kindness.
No partiality
The heavenly Master judges without regard to social rank, placing slaveholder and enslaved person under one authority.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
enslaved people / slaves
The term describes people held in slavery; translating it as modern 'employees' hides the coercive ancient institution.
How certain? strongeye-service
The word describes performance aimed only at being watched and approved by a human master.
How certain? stronggiving up threatening
Masters receive a direct command to stop using threats, with God's impartial judgment as the reason.
How certain? strongWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
What the first hearers would have recognized
Greco-Roman slavery was a system of human ownership and control, not simply paid work. Enslaved people could occupy varied tasks and circumstances, but their legal vulnerability remains essential context.
How certain? strongWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording and modern clarity
The KJV's 'servants' here represents the Greek word for enslaved people. Modern employment language is not an adequate substitute for the ancient legal and coercive reality.
How certain? strongEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Scriptural background
The claim that God shows no partiality belongs to the broader biblical witness that God judges rulers and defends people without regard to social status.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
How this connects with the rest of Scripture
The passage must be read with Scripture's creation of all humans in God's image, the exodus from bondage, condemnation of kidnapping and oppression, and the equal standing of believers in Christ.
How certain? strongTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
No manuscript difference materially changes this section's main contextual interpretation.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
No major interpretive disagreement needs to interrupt the main reader explanation here.
Theology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
This section contributes to Ephesians' Christ-centered account of God's people: The passage speaks to enslaved Christians and slaveholders in an unjust ancient institution, directing service toward Christ and warning masters that they too are accountable to an impartial heavenly Master.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
Ephesians 6:5–9 does not declare slavery morally good, natural, or God's ideal for human relationships.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
The passage regulates conduct within ancient slavery and places masters under divine judgment, but it does not call slavery good or make human ownership God's ideal. Its equality-before-Christ logic sharply limits mastery without directly abolishing the institution in this paragraph.
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
The passage does not justify race-based chattel slavery, human trafficking, forced labor, or modern workplace abuse.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
The passage regulates conduct within ancient slavery and places masters under divine judgment, but it does not call slavery good or make human ownership God's ideal. Its equality-before-Christ logic sharply limits mastery without directly abolishing the institution in this paragraph.
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
Directing enslaved believers toward Christ does not erase the slaveholder's guilt or make coercion harmless.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
The passage regulates conduct within ancient slavery and places masters under divine judgment, but it does not call slavery good or make human ownership God's ideal. Its equality-before-Christ logic sharply limits mastery without directly abolishing the institution in this paragraph.
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
The instruction does not reduce modern employees to property or give employers master-like authority over their lives.
The mistaken reading can arise when one line is separated from the section's argument or historical setting.
The passage regulates conduct within ancient slavery and places masters under divine judgment, but it does not call slavery good or make human ownership God's ideal. Its equality-before-Christ logic sharply limits mastery without directly abolishing the institution in this paragraph.
Every human authority is accountable to the impartial Lord, and no status gives permission to threaten, exploit, own, or dehumanize another person.
Any legitimate application must remain inside the section's stated movement and boundaries.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: The exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Ephesians 6:5–9.
eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Ephesians 6; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and sentence relationships used to check the passage.
Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Eph.txt, Ephesians 6, verses within Ephesians 6:5–9.
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax notes, and textual variants checked for this passage.
NET Bible, Ephesians 6, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Ephesians 6:5–9.
Supports: Verse-level Greek, syntax, older interpretive options, and passage boundaries tested against primary evidence and newer research.
T. K. Abbott, Ephesians, pp. 214–224.
Supports: A cross-check of Greek forms and reasonable lexical range for reader-facing word notes.
STEP Bible Data repository, TAGNT and Greek lexical records, Ephesians 6, verses within Ephesians 6:5–9.
Supports: The ancient master-slave relation and the need to avoid silently recasting enslaved people as modern employees.
Olubiyi A. Adewale, Domestic workers in Nigerian Christian families, sections on the Graeco-Roman household code and Ephesians 6:5–9.
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The exact KJV wording and immediate English context for Ephesians 6:5–9.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Ephesians 6; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording and sentence relationships used to check the passage.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Eph.txt, Ephesians 6, verses within Ephesians 6:5–9.
Open the Ephesians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Ephesians with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax notes, and textual variants checked for this passage.
Exact location: NET Bible, Ephesians 6, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Ephesians 6:5–9.
Open NET Ephesians 6 ↗public domain critical commentary
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians
T. K. Abbott
T. & T. Clark, 1897
Supports: Verse-level Greek, syntax, older interpretive options, and passage boundaries tested against primary evidence and newer research.
Exact location: T. K. Abbott, Ephesians, pp. 214–224.
Open source ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: A cross-check of Greek forms and reasonable lexical range for reader-facing word notes.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository, TAGNT and Greek lexical records, Ephesians 6, verses within Ephesians 6:5–9.
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access contextual study
Domestic workers in Nigerian Christian families: A socio-rhetorical reading of Ephesians 6:5–9
Olubiyi A. Adewale
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 78.3, 2022
Supports: The ancient master-slave relation and the need to avoid silently recasting enslaved people as modern employees.
Exact location: Olubiyi A. Adewale, Domestic workers in Nigerian Christian families, sections on the Graeco-Roman household code and Ephesians 6:5–9.
Open source ↗