5. O/' douXoi, servants) He here speaks broadly, namely, of slaves, and of freedmen as a species next to slaves, ver. 8, at the end. — rofg xupioi$ Kara ffdpxa, to your masters according to the flesh) It was not proper, after making mention of the true Master [the Lord], ver. 4, that such persons should also immediately be abso lutely called masters; on that account the rather, he adds, according to the flesh. — {Asrd <p6f3ou -/.al rpof^ov, with fear and trem bling) precisely as if threatening s^ so far as believing masters are concerned, were not taken away, ver. 9. He has regard to the condition of slaves in ancient times. — acrXoV?jr/ rv\c, xapdiag,in single ness (simplicity) of heart) So the LXX. for the Heb. IB* 3X>, 1 Chron. xxix. 17. This is explained in the following verses, whe eye-service is chiefly opposed to singleness ; comp. Col. iii. 22. Slavery is subjected [made subordinate] to Christianity, and not to be considered as joined with it [non committenda cum illo].
6. 'ng dvQpu'rrdpsffxoi, as men-pleas ers) The antithesis imme diately follows, as the servants of Christ, doing, etc. Whom does he call the servants of Christ ? Ans. Those who do the will of God. Such persons are anxious to please God (dps wow). We have the same antithesis, Col. iii. 22, where it is thus expressed, fearing God : for doing the will of God, in Eph., and fearing
God, in Col., are parallel. — IK -^vyj^, from the heart [soul~\) So Jx ^VXT,;, Col. iii. 23. So 1 Mace. viii. 25, 27, xapdt'a nXripii and IK -^v/Jnc, are parallel.
6, 7. 'E?e -xJ/u^Sjs t^tr swo!a$,1 from the heart [soul] with good-will) Raphelius well remarks, from the economics of Xenophon, that good-will was considered the principal virtue of a slave, by which he promoted the interests of his master ; and he possesses this virtue, who does not give eye-service, but whose service is from the heart. Xenophon says of the slave that is overseer of a farm, svvoiav ds'/jffsi avrbv s^siv, si ///iXXo/ apx'sffeiv ANTI SOT -TapoJv, it will be necessary that he should have good-will \a hearty regard to thy interests'], if, when being present in THY PLACE, he is likely to give satisfaction [to fill thy place adequately]. Not even the severity of the master extinguishes the good-will which is in the
1 Beng stops, as Lachm. more recently, ®-ov, tx, yv%qs per suvoi'xg dov- hs'jovres, " serving with good will from the heart." Vulg. as Engl. V. puts the comma or semicolon after -J/v^ijj-, " doing the will of God from the heart." — ED.