Colossians 4:1

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

¶Οἱ κύριοι, τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὴν ἰσότητα τοῖς δούλοις παρέχεσθε· εἰδότες ὅτι καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔχετε Κύριον ἐν οὐρανοῖς.

Transliteration

The kyrioi, the dikaion and the isotēta to the doulois parechesthe; eidotes that also you echete Kyrion in ouranois.

Grammar Details

• *kyrioi*: nominative, masculine, plural - masters/lords
• *dikaion*: accusative, neuter, singular - what is just/right
• *isotēta*: accusative, feminine, singular - equality/fairness
• *doulois*: dative, masculine, plural - slaves/servants
• *parechesthe*: present imperative, middle, 2nd plural - provide/grant/offer
• *eidotes*: perfect participle, active, nominative, masculine, plural - knowing
• *echete*: present indicative, active, 2nd plural - you have
• *Kyrion*: accusative, masculine, singular - Lord/Master
• *ouranois*: dative, masculine, plural - heavens

Word Meanings

• *kyrioi*: masters/lords/owners
• *dikaion*: justice/righteousness/what is right
• *isotēta*: equality/fairness/equity/impartiality
• *parechesthe*: grant/provide/supply/furnish
• *Kyrion*: Lord/Master/Owner

Referenced Verses

• Eph 6:8-9 : 8 because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this will be rewarded by the Lord. 9 Masters, treat your slaves the same way, giving up the use of threats, because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. 10 Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, 16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit(which is the word of God). 18 With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints. 19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the right words when I begin to speak– that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.
• Lev 25:39-43 : 39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. 40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 41 but then he may go free, he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. 42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. 43 You must not rule over him harshly, but you must fear your God.
• Matt 24:48-51 : 48 But if that evil slave should say to himself,‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, 50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51 and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• Luke 16:1-9 : 1 The Parable of the Clever Steward Jesus also said to the disciples,“There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him,‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself,‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. 4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first,‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied,‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him,‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another,‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied,‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him,‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. 10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
• Luke 19:15 : 15 When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading.
• Lev 19:13 : 13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. You must not withhold the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.
• Deut 15:12-15 : 12 Release of Debt Slaves If your fellow Hebrew– whether male or female– is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free. 13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 14 You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress– as the LORD your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.
• Deut 24:14-15 : 14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
• Neh 5:5-9 : 5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, and our children are just like their children, still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” 6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. 7 I considered these things carefully and then registered a complaint with the wealthy and the officials. I said to them,“Each one of you is seizing the collateral from your own countrymen!” Because of them I called for a great public assembly. 8 I said to them,“To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say. 9 Then I said,“The thing that you are doing is wrong! Should you not conduct yourselves in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies? 10 Even I and my relatives and my associates are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! 11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.” 12 They replied,“We will return these things, and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials swear to do what had been promised. 13 I also shook out my garment, and I said,“In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied,“So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised.
• Job 24:11-12 : 11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. 12 From the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry out for help, but God charges no one with wrongdoing.
• Job 31:13-15 : 13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants or my female servants when they disputed with me, 14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; when he intervenes, how will I respond to him? 15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb?
• Eccl 5:8 : 8 Government Corruption If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them!
• Jas 2:13 : 13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.
• Jas 5:4 : 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
• Rev 17:14 : 14 They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”
• Rev 19:16 : 16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh:“King of kings and Lord of lords.”
• Isa 58:5-9 : 5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the LORD? 6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke. 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe him! Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! 8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the LORD’s splendor will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call out, and the LORD will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply,‘Here I am.’ You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.
• Jer 34:9-9 : 9 Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. 10 All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them. 11 But later they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again. 12 The LORD’s message came to Jeremiah, 13 “The LORD God of Israel has a message for you.‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. It stipulated, 14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me. 15 Recently, however, you yourselves showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. 16 But then you turned right around and showed that you did not honor me. Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. 17 So I, the LORD, say:“You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the LORD, affirm it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you.
• Mal 3:5 : 5 “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the resident foreigner and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
• Matt 23:8-9 : 8 But you are not to be called‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one your‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
• Isa 58:3 : 3 They lament,‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers.