“All who are under the yoke as slaves should regard their own masters as worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and his teaching will not be blasphemed. Let those who have believing masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but serve them even better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. Teach and encourage these things.”
These first two verses in 1 Timothy 6 complete the instructions Paul has for different groups in the church community. He started with older and younger men then older and younger women. Next, he moved on to guidelines for widows. Then he explained how to both honor and discipline elders. His last instructions are for slaves.
When we hear the word “slave,” our modern ears immediately go to the chattel slavery that was abolished by the 13th amendment in 1865. Many people will point to these verses, and others where Paul writes about slavery, to say that Christianity is wrong because it promotes the practice. How could a good God condone slavery? Before we look at today’s verses, I want to look at a mistake we make when we read the Bible.
One of the major mistakes we make when we read the Bible is that we think it is a book about us. Jen Wilkin, in her book Women of the Word, (which I highly recommend), writes that we have to understand and read the Bible as a book about God. She writes,
“The Bible is a book that boldly and clearly reveals who God is on every page. In Genesis, it does this by placing God as the subject of the creation narrative. In Exodus, it places him in comparison to Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. In the Psalms, David extolls the Lord’s power and majesty. The prophets proclaim his wrath and justice. The Gospels and Epistles unfold his character in the person and work of Christ. The Book of Revelation displays his dominion over all things. From beginning to end the Bible is a book about God.”
Another mistake we make, similar to the first one of thinking that the Bible is written about us, is thinking that the Bible is written to us. It is more correct to say that the Bible is written for us, but not to us. But why do we have to make this distinction? The verses we are looking at today are one reason! When we do not take into consideration the original audience, we can import our cultural ideas into a text which were not the intended meaning of the author. Another excellent book for learning to read and understand your Bible is How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stewart. They write, “The first task of the interpreter is called exegesis. This involves the careful, systematic study of scripture to discover the original, intended meaning. This is primarily a historical task. It is the attempt to hear the word as the original recipients were to have heard it, to find out what was the original intent of the words of the Bible.” The opposite of exegesis is eisegesis. This is where the reader brings in their own personal opinions, biases, and/or external theories into their biblical readings. This is what we want to avoid.
We are now going to exegete first Timothy 6:1-2. The first thing we need to do is look at the historical context of the passage. Paul is writing to Timothy, who he left in Ephesus to establish the church there. I looked at two articles (Servant; Slave in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised and The Faithlife Study Bible) to get the following information. Between one third and one half of Roman citizens were slaves. Many more had been slaves earlier in their life. Slavery in the Roman Empire was not based on race or ethnicity. Anyone could become a slave, and anyone could become free.
Before the 1st century AD, most slaves in the Mediterranean were prisoners of war, but after that, most slaves were born into the system. Children could be sold by their fathers into slavery due to poverty. Penal slavery was used to punish crimes against the state. A judgment against a debtor could force a free person into slavery and in some cases a free person might sell himself into slavery.
Life as a slave meant the complete loss of rights. They could be sold or loaned at the will of the owner. Treatment varied depending on the owner. A cruel owner could punish any way they chose, because the slave was viewed as his property. If the conditions were good, slavery could offer security. Food, clothing, shelter, and medical care would be provided by his or her owner. A slave could become free. One article stated that in the Roman Empire manumission at age 30 was the rule. I had to look that word up because it was new to me. Manumission is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Some chose to remain attached to their owner’s houses. This is what is written in the Faithlife Study Bible notes. “Former slaves owned by Roman citizens could, under certain requirements, become citizens. This new status placed them in a social level above slaves and free non-citizens, but restricted their status below that of freeborn citizens. Former slaves who remained attached to their master’s house could receive economic and political boosts not normally available to poor free persons.”
It is important to note this historical context when we read Paul’s letter to Timothy. When he writes, “All who are under the yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all respect…,” he is not writing to only a few citizens of Ephesus. This could be up to fifty percent of the church. This is not the only letter that Paul writes these instructions. In his letter to Titus he writes, “Slaves are to submit to their masters in everything, and to be well-pleasing, not talking back or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything” (2:9-10). In his letter to the Ephesians, “Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing God’s will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord” (6:5-8). And in Colossians, “Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ” (3:22-24). Peter also wrote about it in his first letter. “Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel. For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly” (2:18-19).
Paul gives instructions on how slaves were to be treated by their masters in his letters also. Paul follows his instructions to the slaves with these instructions. “And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him” (Ephesians 6:9). And in his letter to the Colossians, “Masters, deal with your slaves justly and fairly, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven” (4:1). A. Duane Litfin writes in his commentary 1 Timothy, “Under normal circumstances slaves and masters had no associations outside the institution of slavery. With the advent of the Gospel, however, these two groups found themselves thrown together in the congregation in new ways, creating problems the apostles were forced to address repeatedly.”
Paul gives the reason that slaves should respect their masters. He writes, “so that God’s name and his teaching will not be blasphemed.” Paul also uses a similar phrase in Romans 2:24. “For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” This is an allusion to Isaiah 52:5 and Jeremiah 36:20-23. This is from the notes in The Connecting Scripture New Testament. “Paul draws an analogy between Christian slaves regarding their unbelieving masters and the exiles. For Christians to disobey as slaves by not showing respect to their masters that God has placed over them would lead unbelievers to conclude that God is entirely inconsequential and that Christian slaves are like any other, or worse.”
In verse 2, Paul addresses slaves who have believing masters. They are not to be disrespectful to them, because they are brothers. Not only that, but they are also to serve them even better because those they serve are believers and are dearly loved. This phrase comes from the Greek agapētos, which means beloved, dear, friend, loved. In this verse it speaks of Christians united with God or with each other in the bonds of holy love. Paul ends with an exhortation to Timothy to teach and encourage these things.
I want to finish with this. When God took on flesh and came to earth, He did not come as a king or a ruler, He came to serve. In Philippians 2: 5-8, we read, “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.” And when James and John asked to be seated next to Him in glory, Jesus told them this. “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45). It must have been very encouraging to the slaves in the early Christian church to hear these words and know that they could identify with their Savior.
Grace be with you!
