The Pastoral Epistles (New International Greek Testament Com (Eerdmans)) by III George W. Knight

Author:III George W. Knight
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2009-06-26T19:43:00+00:00

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SLAVES: 6:1-2

Paul now turns to slaves as another group, as he regularly does when he deals with different groups of Christians (Eph. 6:5-9; Col. 3:22-4:1; Tit. 2:9, 10), and as Peter does, following a similar pattern (1 Pet. 2:18-20). Paul also has words about slavery in 1 Cor. 7:20-22 and Phm. 10-21, which are written from a different perspective than (here and in the passages just listed) when he addresses one by one different groups of Christians. When he follows that procedure he appeals to God's will for the existence and permanence of certain social relationships: For marriage he appeals to God's creation order (Eph. 5:31) and to the marital relationship that God has instituted (vv. 22, 23; cf. 1 Cor. 11:3, 8, 9); for parents and children he appeals to the fifth commandment (Eph. 6:1-3). But for slavery no appeal is made to God's will for its existence; in fact, Paul encourages slaves to leave that situation, when leaving is possible (1 Cor. 7:21, see K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT II, 272), and masters to free slaves (Phm. 10-21; on the different perspectives see Knight, Role Relationship, 9-15).

Paul, nevertheless, does give counsel to slaves because he is persuaded that one can live as a Christian and bring glory to God even in that difficult situation (1 Cor. 7:20-22). The counsel given in the PE is like that of the Prison letters, written earlier, in focusing on the attitude of a slave toward his master (Eph. 6:5, 7; Col. 3:22-23; 1 Tim. 6:1-2; Tit. 2:9-10; cf. 1 Pet. 2:18). But the PE do not repeat the Prison letters' emphasis on the intrinsic value of work and the counsel that work be done as if for God and Christ (Eph. 6:5-8; Col. 3:22-25; on work as ordained by God cf. 1 Thes. 4:22-23; 2 Thes. 3:6-13). The PE do emphasize the evangelistic and apologetic aspect of the Christian slave's conduct, i.e., that slaves must serve and work in such a way that "the name of God and our doctrine may not be spoken against" (1 Tim. 6:1) and so that "they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect" (Tit. 2:10). Furthermore, 1 Tim. 6:2 introduces a new problem, that of slaves being tempted to be disrespectful to Christian masters, while the earlier letters focus on the intrinsic value of slaves' work with little, if any, regard to whether a slave's master is Christian or not. These differences are generally credited to the different situations of the letters and their stylistic differences. In the case of 1 Timothy, addressed to Ephesus, Paul may have thought it unnecessary to repeat his foundational remarks about the intrinsic value of work made in Ephesians.

At any rate, the decisive factor for both 1 Timothy and Titus is apparently that so many slaves who have become Christians have non-Christian masters. The ever-present concern to evangelize these masters and not to set their minds against Christianity must be taken into consideration by those

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