6:5 Slaves, 10 obey your human masters 11 with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ,
1 tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”
2 tn Or “upon.”
3 sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.
4 tn Grk “and fellow members.”
5 tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”
6 tn Grk “according to.”
7 sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.
8 tn See BDAG 1096 s.v. ψάλλω.
9 tn Or “with.”
10 tn Traditionally, “Servants” (KJV). Though δοῦλος (doulos) is often translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
11 tn Grk “the masters according to the flesh.” In the translation above, the article τοῖς (tois) governing κυρίοις (kuriois) is rendered in English as a possessive pronoun (i.e., “your”) and the prepositional phrase κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) is taken as modifying κυρίοις (indicating that the author is referring to human masters) and not modifying the imperative ὑπακούετε (Jupakouete, which would indicate that obedience was according to a human standard or limitation).