Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 3:25
But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respect of persons.
25. But he that doeth wrong ] The spiritual emancipation of the slave writes the law of duty on his heart. The case of Onesimus was surely in the Apostle’s mind throughout this passage.
shall receive ] from the Divine Master and Judge; the next words, with their parallel in Ephesians, fix the reference. The Gospel, the great charter of liberty for man, always refuses him licence, even where he is the victim of oppression. See Introd. to the Ep. to Philemon, p. 158.
no respect of persons ] “with the Master who is in heaven” (Eph 6:9). See Exo 23:3; Exo 23:6, for a striking example of Scriptural equity: “ thou shalt not countenance a poor man in his cause ”; “ thou shall not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.” Here and in Eph 6:9 we have identically the same principle, the impartiality of God, applied alike to the conscience of the slave and to the conscience of his owner.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Col 3:25
He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done.
I. Punishment threatened.
1. To masters.
(1) Imperious masters wrong their servants.
(a) By defrauding them of their clothing, food, or wages.
(b) By imposing labours beyond their strength.
(c) By afflicting them with reproaches and unjust stripes, for all of which see Exo 5:1-23.
(2) For these wrongs servants are not to rise against their masters in anger, nor leave their tasks through idleness: God will see due punishment done as He did to the Egyptian oppressors.
2. To servants.
(1) Contumacious servants wrong their masters as far as they do not pay them due obedience and reverence; and deceitful and slothful servants because they do not yield due submission, or do so without sincerity.
(2) These shall be punished for their dishonesty by God the Avenger and Judge (2Ki 5:1-27.).
3. Instructions to both.
(1) In all sin it is determined by God that punishment shall be inflicted. What, then, can it profit to have avoided the avenging hand of men, and to fall into the hands of the living God?
(2) Earthly masters, however powerful, cannot with impunity trample on their dependants, for they are subject to God, and must render an account before His tribunal.
(3) Those who are wronged must not revenge, but leave that to God.
II. An objection anticipated.
1. Masters might object, Who shall call us to account? Slaves were accounted as nothing. According to the lawyers no wrong could be done to them. But in case of arraignment, by power and bribery it was easy to secure acquittal. The apostle affirmed that in the final court there was a judge who recognized the rights of slaves and who was not to be terrified by power, nor turned aside by favour or bribes (Job 34:19).
2. Servants might object, If we neglect the duties of our wretched bondage surely the merciful God will not punish us. Paul denies that God can favour the poor more than the rich (Exo 23:3; Lev 19:15).
3. Instructions.
(1) Not only the wrongs done to the great, but those to the small have God alike for their avenger.
(2) It behoves those who act for God on earth to imitate this Divine justice. A judge should be a sanctuary for all impartially. (Bishop Davenant.)
Retribution in this life
Herod the Great, the slayer of the innocents, and first persecutor of Christianity, was overwhelmed with agonizing physical disease; and his numerous family was extinct in a hundred years. Pilate, who condemned Christ, was soon after expelled from office and committed suicide. Nero, after slaying thousands of Christians, attempted to take his own life; but failing through cowardice, called others to his aid. The persecutor Domitian was murdered by his own people. So it was with Caius, Severus, and Heliogabalus. Scarcely one of the prominent persecutors of the Church escaped signal retribution. Claudius was eaten of worms. Decius, Gallus, Aurelian, Maximin all died violent deaths. Maximinius put out the eyes of thousands of subjects, and himself died of a fearful disease of the eyes. Valens, who caused fourscore presbyters to be sent to sea in a ship and burnt alive, was himself defeated by the Goths, fled to a cottage which was fired, and he perished in the flames. (E. Foster.)
The certainty of future retribution
As you stood some stormy day upon a sea cliff, and marked the giant billow rise from the deep to rush on with foaming crest, and throw itself thundering on the trembling shore, did you ever fancy that you could stay its course, and hurl it back into the depths of the ocean? Did you ever stand beneath the leaden, lowering cloud, and mark the lightnings leap as it shot and flashed, dazzling athwart the gloom, and think that you could grasp the bolt, and change its path? Still more vain and foolish his thought, who fancies that he can arrest or turn aside the purpose of God. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The Divine justice
Justice in general is the giving every one their due. In God it is that attribute whereby He disposeth all things according to the rule of equity (Deu 32:4; Psa 11:5), and rendereth to every man according to his works without respect of persons (Psa 62:12; Job 34:11; Job 34:19; Son 6:6-7). God is positively or affirmatively just (Zep 3:5); He is eminently the Just One (Act 7:52); He is superlatively most just (Job 34:17). Wilt thou condemn Him who is most just? or, as some read it, justice–justice without the least tincture, mixture, or shadow of injustice. He giveth to all their due, without fear of evil. He standeth in awe of none for their power or greatness. His day of vengeance is against the cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan, and all the high mountains (Isa 2:13-14), without hope of gain. Men are unjust for bribes (Hos 4:14); but riches prevail not in the day of His wrath (Pro 11:4; Eze 7:19). He is no taker of gifts (2Ch 19:7), and without respect to any in their honours or outward excellencies (Jer 22:24). He will not pluck the signet from His hand in the day of His justice. Israel were a people near to Him (Deu 4:7; Psa 148:14), yet He doth not spare them when they rebel against Him (Psa 74:1-3; Psa 44:10-14; Jer 7:12). Adam and the angels were great and excellent beings, yet when they sinned He made them suffer. He accepteth not the persons of princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor (Job 34:19). Men may do justly, God must do justly. (G. Swinnock.)
.
Wrongdoing returns upon the sinner
Do you remember that poem of Southeys about Sir Ralph the Rover? On the east of Scotland, near Arbroath, in the old days, a good man had placed a float with a bell attached on the dangerous Inchcape Rock, so that the mariners hearing it might keep away. This Sir Ralph the Rover, in a moment of devilry, cut away both float and bell. It was a cruel thing to do. Years passed. Sir Ralph roamed over many parts of the world. In the end he returned to Scotland. As he neared the coast a storm arose. Where was he? Where was the ship drifting? Oh that he knew where he was! Oh that he could hear the bell on the Inchcape Rock! But years ago, in his sinful folly, he, with his own hands, had cut it away. Hark! to that grating sound heard amid the storm, felt amid the breakers; the ship is struck; the rock penetrates her, she goes to pieces, and with curses of rage and despair, the sinners sin has found him out; he sinks to rise no more until the great day of judgment. (G. Litting, LL. B.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 25. But he that doeth wrong] It is possible for an unfaithful servant to wrong and defraud his master in a great variety of ways without being detected; but let all such remember what is here said: He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done; God sees him, and will punish him for his breach of honesty and trust. Wasting, or not taking proper care of the goods of your master, is such a wrong as God will resent. He that is unfaithful in that which is little, will be unfaithful in much, if he have opportunity; and God alone is the defence against an unfaithful servant.
There is no respect] God neither esteems nor despises any man because of his outward condition and circumstances; for there is no respect of persons with him. Every man is, in the eye of God, what he is in his soul: if holy, loved; if wicked, despised and rejected.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But he that doeth wrong; but if the reward will not engage to a right discharge of these relative duties, the injurious person,
whether he be bond or free, Eph 6:8, an inferior servant or a domineering master, who doth violate the rules of right, agreeing with the law natural and eternal,
shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; shall have the just recompence of that injury, whereby he wrongs his correlate; the penalty apportioned to his fault, Rom 2:6; 2Co 5:10; 2Pe 2:13.
And there is no respect of persons; from the impartiality of Divine justice, there is no respect of persons with God, Rom 2:11, or with Christ, in the place parallel to this, Eph 6:9, who is so righteous a Judge that he is not swayed by the outward circumstances and qualifications of men, whether potent or poor, Lev 19:15; Job 34:19; he seeth not as man seeth, he looketh not on the outward appearance, but on the heart, 1Sa 16:7; in the distribution of justice, he will put no difference between the mightiest monarch and the most enslaved peasant; the purloining servant, and oppressing master shall certainly receive answerable to their doings from his impartial hand: the mean one who is at present abused without relief, and the great one who doth tyrannize without control, shall one day have right, and be reckoned with by the righteous Judge, 2Ti 4:8, who will show to all the world that he will honour those that honour him, and lightly esteem those that despise him, 1Sa 2:30, and that he is the avenger of all those that are wronged, 1Th 4:6; 2Th 1:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. ButThe oldest manuscriptsread, “for,” which accords with “serve ye,” &c.(Col 3:24), the oldest reading:the for here gives a motive for obeying the precept. Headdresses the slaves: Serve ye the Lord Christ, and leave your wrongsin His hands to put to rights: (translate), “For he that doethwrong shall receive back the wrong which he hath done (by justretribution in kind), and there is no respect of persons” withthe Great Judge in the day of the Lord. He favors the master no morethan the slave (Re 6:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But he that doth wrong,…. Which may be understood, both of servants that do wrong to their masters through sloth and idleness, neglecting their business, embezzling their masters’ goods, and defrauding them of their substance; and of masters that injure their servants by withholding from them proper food, and raiment; by cheating them of their wages, either giving them none at all, or too little, or detaining them too long, and by giving them bad language, and hard blows, and such like severe usage:
shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; either in this world, or in the other; God will avenge all such injuries, sooner or later; so that these words may be considered either as said with a view to deter servants from evil practices, or to comfort them under the maltreatment they may meet with from cruel masters:
and there is no respect of persons. The Vulgate Latin and Arabic Versions add, “with God”; which undoubtedly is the sense; he regards not the rich more than the poor; he makes no difference between bond and free, the servant and the master; he will not take the part of the one, because he is a master, nor neglect, the other, because he is a servant, but will do that which is just and right with regard to them both; [See comments on Eph 6:9].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done ( ). It is not clear whether (he that doeth wrong) is the master or the slave. It is true of either and Lightfoot interprets it of both, “shall receive back the wrong which he did.” This is a general law of life and of God and it is fair and square.
There is no respect of persons ( ). There is with men, but not with God. For this word patterned after the Hebrew see Rom 2:11; Eph 6:9; Jas 2:1 The next verse should be in this chapter also.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
He that doeth wrong [ ] . Compare Phl 1:18. The reference is primarily to the slave; but the following clause extends it to the master. If the slave do wrong, he shall be punished; but the master who does wrong will not be excused, for there is no respect of persons. Tychicus, who carried this letter to Colossae, carried at the same time the letter to Philemon, and escorted Onesimns to his master.
Shall receive [] . See on 1Pe 1:8. Compare Eph 6:8. Respect of persons. See on Jas 2:1. In the Old Testament it has, more commonly, a good sense, of kindly reception, favorable regard. In the New Testament always a bad sense, which came to it through the meaning of mask which attached to proswpon face.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But he that doeth wrong” (ho gar adikon) “For the one doing wrong;” the Christian slave was not to think God would overlook deceitful wrong only because he was saved. Every sin, wrong, or transgression is to receive a just recompence of retribution, Heb 2:2; Pro 8:36; Gal 6:7-8.
2) “Shall receive for the wrong which he hath done” (komisetai ho edikesen) “will receive what he did wrong” Rom 2:8-9; Ecc 12:13-14; Mat 12:36-37; 2Co 5:10; 1Co 3:13-15; 2Jn 1:8. To the child of God who has done or lived wrongly he shall receive a loss of rewards, while the lost shall receive punishment in hell with differing degrees. Mat 11:22; Mat 10:15.
3) “And there is no respect of persons” (kai ouk estin prosopolempsia) “And there exists no respect of persons,” before the anointed Lord. All shall be righteously judged, without respect of person, or earthly rank, by Jesus Christ, according to his Word, Rom 2:11; Rom 2:16; 1Pe 1:17; Rom 14:12; Deu 10:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
25. For the one who does wrong shall get back that which he has wrongfully done; and there is no partiality (with God the divine judge in repaying wrongs).
Translation and Paraphrase
25. For the one who goes wrong shall get back that which he has wrongfully done; and there is no partiality (with God the divine judge in repaying wrongs).
Notes
1.
Paul followed up his glorious promise to slaves about their heavenly inheritance with a warning: Those who do wrong shall receive back the very wrong that they have done. Those who cheat will be cheated. Those who lie will be lied to. Those who damage the masters goods will suffer damage to their heavenly inheritance.
2.
Very often in life we see this principle work out. Those who are kind to others receive kindness. Those who are unfair to others receive unfair treatment. We admit freely that this does not always work out in this life this way. Sometimes evil-doers die apparently triumphant in evil, never being punished for it. But God will square the accounts, and repay evil doers according to their works on the day of judgment.
3.
In dealing with God we must never forget that there is no partiality with Him, no respect of persons. God will punish evildoers, whether they be educated or illiterate, strong or weak, rich or poor, influential or unknown.
God has no special pity for slaves and no partiality to them. God has no special preference for masters, nor is He afraid of them. Whoever does wrong will receive back a punishment of like kind for the wrong he has done.
Study and Review
71.
What shall wrongdoers receive? From whom? (Col. 3:25)
72.
How does the statement that there is no respect of persons fit into Pauls argument?
73.
Propose a title or theme or topic for Colossians chapter three.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(25) He that doeth wrong is clearly here the master (see Eph. 6:9), though, of course, the phrase cannot be limited to him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘For he who does wrong will receive again the wrong that he has done, and there is no respect of persons.’
This is the final general principle that applies to all situations and to all men regardless of position. None is exempt. What a man sows he will reap (Gal 6:7). And though the Christian be forgiven, redeemed and accepted by God in His mercy ‘we must all be openly revealed as what we are before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad’ (2Co 5:10; 1Co 4:5; Rom 14:10-12; ). His salvation will not be in doubt but the level of his reward or lack of reward will be so (compare 1Co 3:14-15).
‘Respect of persons.’ Here this is attached to the instructions concerning servants. There were many grades of servants and slaves. It is noteworthy that in Ephesians it is attached to the instructions concerning masters (Eph 6:9). It applies equally to both. All will be treated on exactly the same basis.
It should be considered here that Paul is not justifying the social order. He is working within it and removing its harshness. But to try to change it would have caused upheavals and suffering he would not have wanted to cause. Changing the roots of society is something that must be done gradually. He knew that his prime concern and responsibility was the spread and success of the Gospel, and that that would then right the wrongs in the relationships of men far more quickly than any social campaign could do. For in the end it is not social distinctions, but how men behave towards each other that is important. When that is right the rest will follow. And Paul knew this fully. It was, in fact, through the teaching of the Gospel that slavery would finally be condemned.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Col 3:25 . Ground of encouragement ( , see the critical remarks) to fulfil the precept . . : for he who does wrong shall carry off (the penal recompense of) what wrong he has done , a locus communis , of which the slaves were to make the application , that the unjust treatment which they experienced from their masters would not go unpunished; hence they could not but feel themselves the more encouraged to be in their relation of servitude slaves of no other than Christ , and to permit no unjust treatment to make them deviate from that principle. Paul therefore adds for their further encouragement: [166] , and there is no partiality , of which likewise general proposition the intended application is, that in that requital the impartial Judge (Christ, comp. Col 3:24 ) will not favour the masters, and will not injure the slaves, comp. Eph 6:9 . The correct view is held substantially by Theodoret, Beza, Calvin, Estius, Zachariae, Ewald, and others. Others have understood as referring to the slave who violates his duty, in which case is taken either in the strict sense of the trespass of him who intentionally injures his master (Hofmann, comp. Phm 1:18 ), or loosely and generally in the sense of doing wrong , comp. Rev 22:11 (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Bengel, Heinrichs, Storr, Flatt, Steiger, and others). But against this view the . . may be decisively urged, which assumes that the subject to be punished is higher , of superior rank; for the idea which has been imported into the passage is purely fanciful: “Tenues saepe putant, sibi propter tenuitatem ipsorum esse parcendum; id negatur,” Bengel, in connection with which Theophylact appeals to Lev 19:15 . And if on account of . the unjust masters must be taken as meant by in the application of the sentence, the reference to both parties, to the masters and the slaves (Erasmus, Grotius, and others, including Bhr, Huther, Baumgarten-Crusius, and Bleek, following Jerome and Pelagius), is thereby excluded, since . is appropriate only to the masters.
] shall carry off for himself (sibi), refers to the Messianic judgment, and to that which he, who is now ( present), has (shall have) then done. On the expression . . ., used to express the idea of a recompense equivalent to the deed in respect of its guilt, comp. Eph 6:8 , and on 2Co 5:10 .
Respecting , see on Gal 2:6 .
[166] Hofmann finds it incredible that Paul should have closed the section referring to the slaves with a proposition couched in such general terms as ver. 25, which applies not to the slaves, but to the masters. This, however, is an erroneous view. For in vv. 22 24 the apostle has instructed the slaves regarding their active bearing in service, and he is now, in the general proposition of ver. 25, suggesting for their reflection and deliberate consideration the proper soothing and elevating point of view regarding their passive bearing in service also. Thus ver. 25 also applies to the slaves, and forms merely the transition to the precept for the masters in Col 4:1 . This applies also in opposition to the doubts expressed by Holtzmann, p. 44 f.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
REFLECTIONS
Oh! thou risen, and exalted Lord Jesus! send down thine ascension-gifts, and raise all my spiritual affections after thee, that I may no longer grovel here below, but seek thee, who art above! Didst thou not promise this, thou dear Lord, before thy departure; that when thou wert lifted up, thou wouldest draw all thy people unto thee? Oh! then, draw me, that I may run after thee, for thou art the Lord my God! Precious, yea, exceedingly precious, is that assurance to my soul, that the life of all thy Church is hid with Christ in God. And sure I am, that when Jesus shall appear, then will all thy redeemed appear with thee in glory.
And, oh! thou Almighty Lord the Spirit! do thou, by thy sweet influences, enable me to mortify all my earthly part. Grant, gracious God, that the flesh may be subdued by the spirit; and that by thy strength, I may mortify the deeds of the body and live. And, as the elect of God, may I find grace, to put on bowels of mercy, to the whole household of faith, while doing good to all men; yea, may the peace of God rule in my heart, always having in remembrance, how Christ hath forgiven me; may my compassions go forth, to all around, Oh! what are all the little quarrels of this dying world, to those who are conscious, of that deadly breach being made up, in the blood of Christ, which sin, and Satan, had made, between God and his people. May all the relations of life, in Wives, and Husbands, and Children, and Parents, and Servants, and Masters, be everlastingly looking to Jesus; that, while beholding him, all their minds may be influenced into love and tenderness: and all their conduct regulated by his example. Precious Lord Jesus! be thou my God, my guide, and my portion forever!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Ver. 25. But he that doth wrong ] Be it but by not doing right to poor servants, which in those days were bondslaves. Note here, saith an interpreter, the apostle’s candour; he was not of the humour of lawyers, that seldom speak much but for great men, or when they may have great gifts.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
25 .] This verse seems best to be taken as addressed to the slaves by way of encouragement to regard Christ as their Master and serve Him seeing that all their wrongs in this world, if they leave them in His hands, will be in due time righted by Him, the just judge, with whom there is no respect of persons. For he that doeth wrong shall receive (see, as on the whole, Eph 6:8 ) that which he did wrongfully (the tense is changed because in he is speaking of present practice in , he has transferred the scene to the day of the Lord, and the wrong is one of past time), and there is not respect of persons (= , Eph 6:8 ). At His tribunal, every one, without regard to rank or wealth, shall receive the deeds done in the body. So that in your Christian uprightness and conscientiousness you need not fear that you shall be in the end overborne by the superior power of your masters: there is A judge who will defend and right you: . , , Thdrt. Some, as Thl., Beng., al., suppose the verse spoken with reference to the slaves; but is against this, unless we accept Bengel’s far-fetched explanation of it: “tenues spe putant, sibi propter tenuitatem ipsorum esse parcendum.”
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Col 3:25 . This verse provides the reason ( ) for . It is disputed whether . means the master who treats his slave unjustly, or the slave who by his idleness wrongs his master. To include both (Lightf., Findl., Ol.) is highly questionable, not only because a double reference is on principle to be avoided in exegesis, but because the connexion with . implies that one side of the relation only is being dealt with. It is commonly thought that the verse is an encouragement to the slave, based on the assurance that the master who ill treats him will receive his recompense in due course. In favour of this . is urged, since it implies that they are in a social position which might influence earthly courts, but cannot mitigate the judgment of God. But while a Christian writer could dissuade from vengeance by the thought that vengeance belonged to God alone, it is not credible that Paul should console the slave or encourage him in his duty by the thought that for every wrong he received his master would have to suffer. And, as Haupt says, we should have expected after and instead of . There is also a presumption in favour of an exhortation to the slave here. If it referred to the masters it would have come more naturally after Col 4:1 . Nor does . necessarily imply that the wrongdoer is socially more highly placed. It equally well applies to favouritism that might be expected from God on the ground of religious position. So we should interpret the verse (with Weiss and Haupt) as a warning to the Christian slave not to presume on his Christianity, so as to think that God will overlook his misdeeds or idleness.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
for the wrong, &c. = the wrong that he wronged. See Gal 6:7.
no. App-105.
respect, &c. See Rom 2:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
25.] This verse seems best to be taken as addressed to the slaves by way of encouragement to regard Christ as their Master and serve Him-seeing that all their wrongs in this world, if they leave them in His hands, will be in due time righted by Him, the just judge, with whom there is no respect of persons. For he that doeth wrong shall receive (see, as on the whole, Eph 6:8) that which he did wrongfully (the tense is changed because in he is speaking of present practice-in , he has transferred the scene to the day of the Lord, and the wrong is one of past time), and there is not respect of persons (= , Eph 6:8). At His tribunal, every one, without regard to rank or wealth, shall receive the deeds done in the body. So that in your Christian uprightness and conscientiousness you need not fear that you shall be in the end overborne by the superior power of your masters: there is A judge who will defend and right you: . , , Thdrt. Some, as Thl., Beng., al., suppose the verse spoken with reference to the slaves; but is against this, unless we accept Bengels far-fetched explanation of it: tenues spe putant, sibi propter tenuitatem ipsorum esse parcendum.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Col 3:25. , he that doeth wrong) In actual deed and from the heart.- , there is no respect of persons) Men of low rank and poor circumstances often think that they should be spared on account of their humble condition. That is denied.
—–
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Col 3:25
Col 3:25
For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done:-He who does not serve the earthly master with fidelity wrongs him-is not diligent in his absence as in his presence, does not faithfully look after his interests, is not faithful unto God-God will punish for the wrong he does the earthly master, certainly, God demands that his children must be trustworthy and faithful in all relations of life.
and there is no respect of persons.-God does not reward a man for being a slave or a freeman, for being rich or poor; but requires fidelity of his servants in all the relations in which they stand.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
he that: 1Co 6:7, 1Co 6:8, 1Th 4:6, Phm 1:18
receive: 2Co 5:10, Heb 2:2
and: Col 4:1, Lev 19:15, Deu 1:17, Deu 10:17, 2Sa 14:14, 2Ch 19:7, Job 34:19, Job 37:24, Luk 20:21, Act 10:34, Rom 2:11, Eph 6:9, 1Pe 1:17, Jud 1:16
Reciprocal: Exo 30:15 – rich Psa 62:12 – renderest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Col 3:25.) . The of the Stephanic is rightly replaced by , on the evidence of A, B, C, D1, F, G, and many of the Versions. The construction of the clause is idiomatic-the wrong-doer shall receive what he has wronged. Winer, 66, b, says it can scarcely be called a brachylogy, for it is somewhat, as is said in German,-er wird das Unrecht erndten-that is, he does not receive the wrong itself, but the fruit of it, or the wrong, in the form of punishment. He shall be paid, as we say, in his own coin. The wrong-doer shall bear the penalty of the wrong.
The question is, to whom does the apostle refer? 1. Some suppose him to mean the slave, as if to warn him, that if he failed in his duty he must expect to be punished. This is the notion of Theophylact, Bengel, Storr, Flatt, Heinrichs, and De Wette. This exegesis may have the support of the mere words, but it does not tally with the concluding clause-there is no respect of persons with Him. Is the fact that the Judge has no respect of persons an argument that an unjust slave shall not escape punishment? The phrase, respect of persons, usually implies that an offender, simply for his rank and station, escapes the penalty-a mode of partiality not at all applicable to slaves. The argument of Bengel is only ingenious-tenues saepe putant, sibi propter tenuitatem ipsorum esse parcendum.
2. Others regard the verse as indicating a great general principle, applicable alike to the master and his slave. Such is the view of Jerome and Pelagius, Bhr, Huther, Baumgarten-Crusius, and Trollope. Jerome says, quicumque injuriam intulerit, sive dominus sive servus, uterque. . . . But the same objection applies to this view as to the former. So that we incline to the third opinion, which is, that the words refer to the master, the view of Theodoret, Anselm, Aquinas, Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Estius, and Meyer, while De Wette allows its possibility. The connection of the thought seems to be-you are Christ’s servants, and you shall receive the reward from Him. Injustice you may in the meantime receive from your earthly masters, but they shall be judged for it, not at a human tribunal, where their rank may protect them, but before Him who in His decisions has no respect of persons. Therefore, ye masters, give your slaves what is just and equal. There is, besides, a strong tendency in any one who owns slaves, and exercises irresponsible power over them, to treat them with capricious and heedless tyranny. The statement of the apostle, then, contains a general truth, with a special application to the proprietors of slaves, and is therefore the basis of the following admonition. Meyer rests another argument on the current meaning of the participle in the New Testament, which, he says, with the exception of Rev 22:11, denotes Unrecht zufgen, not Unrecht thun. In fact, our translators have given the word at least eight different renderings. Ten times have they rendered it hurt, eight times have they rendered by do wrong, as in the case before us, twice simply by wrong, twice by suffer wrong, once by injure, once by take wrong, once by offender, and once by unjust. The p redominant idea is not, to act unjustly, but to injure, and refers therefore more probably not to the slave forgetting his duty, but to his master, tempted by his station and power to do an act of injury towards his servile and helpless dependants.
-And there is no respect of persons. [Eph 6:9.] Rom 2:11; Act 10:34; Jam 2:1; Jam 2:9.
(Col 4:1.) The division of chapters is here very unfortunate. The apostle, while he stooped to counsel the slave, was not afraid to speak to his master.
, -Ye masters, afford for your part to your servants what is just and equal, or rather reciprocal. [Eph 6:9.] The verb in the middle voice, has in it the idea, as far as you are concerned. Act 19:24. The principal term, and the one about which there is any dispute, is . What does the apostle mean precisely by it? Not a few understand by it equity in general. Such is the view of Robinson, Wahl, Bretschneider, and Wilke, in their respective lexicons, and also of Steiger, Huther, and De Wette, in their respective commentaries. Others, again, like Erasmus, a-Lapide, and Bhmer, look on the words as denoting impartiality-do not in your treatment of your slaves prefer one to another, give them the like usage. In the only other passage of the New Testament where the word occurs, it denotes not equity, but equality. 2Co 8:14 : But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want; that there may be equality. In this verse equality is the idea-your abundance and their want, their abundance and your want, being in reciprocal adjustment. In the passage before us, we incline to follow the older expositors, Calvin, Zanchius, Crocius, as also Meyer, who give it such a sense.
The meaning is not very different from that of the corresponding passage in Eph 6:9-ye masters, do the same things unto them, which we have explained as meaning what Calvin has called the jus analogum. While we agree with the general view of Meyer, we think him wrong in his special application of it. He regards the as involving that spiritual parity which Christian brotherhood creates. Slaves are your equals, and they should be treated with such equality. This exegesis is based on the supposition that Christian slaves only are meant, a supposition which, we think, cannot be admitted. The slaves are told how to behave toward their masters, whether these masters are Christians or not; and the master is admonished how to conduct himself toward his slaves, whether these slaves be Christians or not. The apostle speaks to Christian slaves and Christian masters; but such slaves might have heathen masters, and such masters might have unconverted slaves. There is no warrant, then, for saying, that the apostle only teaches the duty of masters towards Christian servants. Whatever the religious creeds of their serfs, they were to give them what is just and equal. The equality lay in reciprocal duty; if the slave is bound to serve the master, the master is bound equally to certain duties to the slave. The elements of service have a claim on equal elements of mastership. Equality demands this, that he shall give the slave all to which he is entitled, not with a view to please men, but to please God-doing it heartily as unto the Lord. Such property had its duties as well as its rights, and the equality lay between the exercise of such duties and the enforcement of such rights. The phrase means what is right, irrespective of all considerations, that is, what the position of the slave as a man and a servant plainly involves. Right and duty should be of equal measurement. The apostle did not bid the masters demit their mastership, for he does not mean by , equality of rank with themselves, for such an elevation would imply greatly more than the bestowal of personal freedom. Masters are still called so, as they still stood in that relationship, but Christianity was to regulate all their transactions with those placed under them and owned by them. And with regard to their Christian slaves-the equality which Meyer contends for was certainly to guide them-the equality so well explained in the Epistle to Philemon.
One powerful reason the apostle adds-
, -Knowing that ye too have a master in heaven. The participle has its common causal sense. It is not material to our purpose whether the reading be or . The sense is-ye are under law yourselves to the highest of masters-you are in the position of servants to the heavenly Lord. As ye would that your Master should treat you, so do you as masters treat them. Let the great Master’s treatment of you be the model of your treatment of them. If the masters realized this fact, that in this higher service their slaves, if Christians, and themselves were colleagues, ransomed by the same price, the same service appointed to them, and the same prospect set before them, a tribunal before which they should stand on the same level, and an inheritance in which they should equally share, irrespective of difference in social rank upon earth, then would they be kept from all temptations to harshness and injury towards their dependants. Who does not recollect the touching language of Job? If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me; what then shall I do when God riseth up? and when He visiteth, what shall I answer Him? Did not He that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb? Job 31:13-15.
That the apostle in such admonitions pursued the wisest course, the Servile wars of Rome are abundant evidence. The principles inculcated by him lightened the burden, and their practical development in course of time removed it. So numerous were the slaves, that in very many cases they far outnumbered the freemen-as in Attica, where the proportion was at least four to one. Probably very many of them were to be found in all the early churches.
The apostle lays down three positions fatal to slavery. First, he denies a common theory of the times, which seems to have regarded slaves as an inferior caste, either born so, as Aristotle affirms, or brought into servitude, as Homer sings, from mental imbecility. For he pleads for reciprocity, and thereby admits no distinction but the one of accidental rank. And, secondly, he declares that certain duties to slaves spring from natural right, an idea the admission of which would not only at once have put an end to the incredible cruelties of Spartan and Roman slave-owners, but which did also, by and by, as it leavened society, prompt Christian men to give liberty to their servants, made like themselves in God’s image, and as entitled as themselves to a free personality. Thirdly, he avows that in the Christian church there is neither bond nor free, and thus provides and opens a spiritual asylum, within which equality of the highest kind was enjoyed, and master and slave were not in such a relationship recognized. For master and slave were alike the free servants of a common Lord in heaven. In the meantime, as Chrysostom says, Christianity gave freedom in slavery, and this was its special distinction. The same Father tells what spiritual benefit Christian servants had often imparted to their masters’ households, and Neander states that a Christian female slave was the means of bringing the province of ancient Georgia to the knowledge of Christ.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Col 3:25. As surely as the Lord will see that a faithful servant will receive his due reward, so He will see that an unfaithful one will be punished. No respect of persons. No unfaithful servant will be shown any partiality on account of some personal preference, as earthly masters sometimes do. (See the comments at Eph 6:9.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Col 3:25. For (so the best authorities) introduces a proof of the preceding clause: either that they ought to serve Christ, or that the service is Christs, according to the view taken of that clause.
He that doeth wrong, etc. The general principle is: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Gal 6:7). But it is disputed whether it is to be applied to the conduct of the masters, or to the servants also. In the former case, it encourages the servants by the fact that their wrongs will be righted; in the latter, it includes the wrong-doing of the servants, their unfaithfulness, as well as the harsh, injurious treatment they suffered. As the admonitions have been addressed to the servants, it seems improper to limit a general statement so as to exclude such a warning here.
And there is no respect of persons. In Eph 6:9, this is applied to masters; but here, according to our view of the previous clause, it is a caution to the other class. It has an important application to the poor and to those employed by others. Men often talk and act as though God always took the part of the poor and of the laboring class. Yet this view makes Him a respecter of persons. Such a mistake will not aid in solving the serious problems of the labor question; problems as real and in some respects as dangerous as those of slavery. But, as God has proven the adaptation of the gospel for all human relations, He will solve these problems also by means of the same gospel.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is “Such servants as have wronged their masters, or such masters as have oppressed their servants, God, who respects no man’s person, and regardeth the rich no more than the poor, will take this time to revenge the injuries and wrong, done by either to each other.”
Note here, The severity and impartiality of divine justice: God, the righteous judge, will revenge the wrong, every wrong, whensoever, and by whomsoever it is done; he will revenge it impartially, he will revenge it proportionably; a just retribution, according to the wrong done, shall be rendered to everyone by the righteous and just God: He that hath done wrong, shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respect of persons.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
“But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
Well, on the other hand we have a down side to all this. If you don’t do the do’s you will find that God will do for your don’ts! No matter whether a master, a husband, a child, a wife or an employee – do wrong and you will receive.
What will you receive? First of all the grammar lets us know that this will certainly happen and it is yet future. We are to assume that it relates to our future reward since that is the direct context, but I assume the thought of chastisement could enter into it if the fault was grievous enough.
Let it be said, that I desire to walk worthy of the Lord so I don’t need to find out what all the verse might mean.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3:25 {15} But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
(15) He requires of masters, that being mindful how they themselves also will render an account before that heavenly Lord and Master, who will avenge wrongful deeds without any respect of masters or servants, they show themselves just and upright with fairness to their servants.