LIFE TOGETHER Employer and Employees: WORD

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,

6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

John Gill

Not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers—Doing nothing but when under the master’s eye, and then pretending a great deal of diligence and industry, in order to ingratiate themselves into his affections, and neglecting his business when he is absent; whereas they ought to attend his service in his absence, as well as in his presence, and so seek to please him, which is commendable.

But as bondservants of Christ—Acting in like manner as the servants of Christ, who are not people-pleasers; or as if they themselves were serving Christ, as indeed they are, when they are doing that which is the will of Christ:

Doing the will of God from the heart—Meaning not the will of God in a religious, but in a civil sense, yielding a cheerful and hearty obedience to their own masters.

7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

John Gill

Knowing that whatever good anyone does—According to the will of God, from right principles in his heart, and with a view to God’s glory:

This he will receive back from the Lord—That is, he shall receive the fruit and advantage of it, in a way of grace,

Whether he is a bondservant or is free—A servant or a free man, a master or a servant.

9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. EPH 6:5-9

John Gill

Masters, do the same to them—This does not refer to service and obedience, but to singleness of heart, benevolence, humanity, and a regard to Christ, and the will of God, and to the doing of good things, and to the performance of their duty, as they would have their servants do theirs; whose duty, if religious masters, is, with respect to their souls, to instruct them in, and use them to religious exercises, to pray with them, and for them, to set them good examples, to prevent them falling into, bad company, and to allow them proper time for religious duties; and with respect to their bodies, and outward concerns, to provide sufficient food and proper garments for them, or to give them their due wages, to take care of them when sick or lame, and show compassion and humanity to them, to encourage those that are prudent, faithful, and laborious, and to correct the disobedient, and expel the incorrigible:

And stop your threatening—Not that they may not in any sense threaten, but not always, nor too often, nor too much, and with great things on light occasions; nor should they be too forward to execute their threatenings, especially when their servants repent and amend; they should then forbear them and forgive; and so the Syriac version renders it, “forgive their offences”: this is opposed to all hard rigour, and ill usage, either by words or blows. And this is a rule given by the Jews, that a master should not multiply clamour and anger, but should speak him (his servant) quietly, and in a still manner, and he will hear his objections, or arguments and reasons:

Knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven—Meaning Christ, who employs, provides for, and uses well all his servants, and to whom masters must be accountable for their usage of servants; for he is the common master of masters and servants; and the place of his habitation is mentioned, to distinguish him from earthly masters; and the more to move and excite masters to their duty, since he being in heaven overlooks and takes notice of all their actions, as the omniscient God; and being omnipotent, has it in his power to plead and avenge the cause of the injured:

And that there is no partiality with him—As whether they are of this, or the other nation, Jew or Gentile; whether in this, or that state and condition, or in such and such circumstances of life; whether masters or servants, bondservant or free, or whether Canaanitish or Hebrew servants; between which the Jews made a difference, and allowed of rigour to be used to the one, but required mercy and kindness to be showed to the other; and so were respecters of persons.

The apostle Paul called the church to reflect Christ in all their relationships, including that of a bondservant and master. Some people are shocked that Paul had to address slaves in his letter, thinking that he was endorsing slavery. In fact, the opposite is true. By addressing them in his letter, Paul acknowledged their being part of the church and the Christian household. In a society that regarded slaves as no more than living tools, this was a radical idea that would later pave the way for their emancipation. And by addressing the master after admonishing the slaves, Paul was making it clear that both masters and slaves answer to the Lordship of Christ.

The principles in this passage can still apply to us in the context of employment or business. Employers and business owners can abuse and oppress those who work for them, and employees can work insincerely and only when their boss is around. The truth is, if we are followers of Christ, even when our situations are far from ideal, we can still represent Christ. By God’s grace, we can honor him through our thoughts, speech, and life.

You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. LEV 19:13

Bava Kamma 99a:5

The Gemara offers another suggestion: Come and hear a proof from a baraita: With regard to one who gave his garment to a craftsman, and the craftsman concluded the work and notified the owner that the work was complete, even if the owner delays paying the craftsman from now until ten days henceforth, he does not violate, for this delay, the prohibition of: “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning” (Lev 19:13). If the craftsman gave the garment to him at midday, then once the sun has set and the owner has not paid him, the owner does violate, for this delay, the prohibition against delaying the payment of wages.

Bava Metzia 110b:13

GEMARA: The Sages taught: From where is itderived concerning a day laborer that he collects his wages all night? The verse states: “The wages of a hired laborer shall not remain with you all night until the morning” (Lev 19:13). This indicates that he must pay him by the morning, and he has therefore not transgressed the prohibition of delaying the payment of wages until that time. And from where is it derived concerning a night laborer that he collects his wages all day? As it is stated: “You shall give him his wages on the same day” (Deu 24:15).

Bava Metzia 111a:9

The baraita continues. From here the Sages stated: Anyone who withholds the wages of a hired laborer violates these five negative prohibitions and one positive commandment. He violates the prohibition of: “Do not oppress your neighbor” (Lev 19:13), and the prohibition of: “Do not steal” (Lev 19:13), and the prohibition of: “You should not oppress a hired worker who is poor” (Deu 24:14), and the prohibition of delaying payment of wages (Lev 19:13), and he has not fulfilled the positive commandment of: “You shall give him his wages on the same day” (Deu 24:15), and he has violated the prohibition of: “The sun shall not set upon him” (Deu 24:15).

John Gill

You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him—Not oppress him secretly, nor rob him openly and by force, as Aben Ezra; not oppress him in buying and selling, in retaining wages due to him, and refusing to return to him what has been committed to trust, or to repay him what has been borrowed of him: the Vulgate Latin is, “you shall not calumniate him,” or get anything from him, by raising a calumny upon him; nor rob him by coming into his house, or entering into his fields, and taking away his goods, or his cattle without his will, and in a forcible manner; or by meeting him on the highway and demanding his money, and taking it from him:

The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning—Unless he that is hired agrees to it; for then it may be kept two or three days, or a week, or for whatsoever time may be agreed upon between them: this must be understood of one that is hired by the day, whose wages are due at night, and who may want his money to buy food for his family, and therefore should not without his consent be detained from him; and not of one that is hired by the week, or by the year, whose wages are not due until the end of the week or year for which he is hired; and the Jewish writers observe, that this Scripture speaks of a day hireling, or a day labourer, whose wages became due at night; as another Scripture (Deu 24:15); speaks of a night hireling, or a night labourer, whose hire is not due until the pillar of the morning arises, or the sun is up, and therefore it must be paid him before it goes down; to detain the wages of such, or oppress them of it, is a very crying sin; see Jer 22:13; Jas 5:4.

Rashi

You shall not oppress—This refers to one who withholds the wages of a hired worker (Bava Metzia 61a; Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 2 9).

Shall not remain . . . all night—Heb. לֹא תָלִין. This word is feminine gender and refers to the wages.

Until the morning—Scripture speaks here of a person hired for day-work whose departure from work is at sunset. The time for drawing his wages is therefore the whole night (and the law is not infringed provided he pays it before the moment of day break). In another passage (Deu 24:15) it states, “You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets.” There, however, it is speaking of one hired for night-work the end of whose period of work is at day break, therefore the time for drawing his wages is the whole day because the law gave the employer time, namely, an עוֹנָה (one half of the astronomical day; cf. for the meaning of the word Niddah 65b) to endeavour to obtain the money he requires for paying the wages (Bava Metzia 110b).

2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife.

Rashi

On one of their raids—When they go in groups of one hundred or two hundred by themselves, to plunder whatever they find, that is called a band.

A little girl—A little girl from the city of Naaran.

She worked in the service of—Jonathan renders, and she served Naaman’s wife.

3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Rashi

My lord should plead for curing his illness before the prophet. An expression similar to, “and Moses prayed” (Exo 32:11). The supplications of all those who pray for him, will be that the miracle shall come before the prophet.

Plead—i.e., this is the supplication that he needs.

13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 2KI 5:2-3, 13

Rashi

My father—lit., my father, means the same as my master.

Will you not do it?—Wouldn’t you do it, even if he told you to do something requiring exertion?

Actually—By a fortiori conclusion, for he actually said to you to do an easy thing, “Wash, and be clean.”

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, “How have we despised your name?” MAL 1:6

Rashi

A son is required to honor his father, and so a servant his master and you are called sons and slaves. Now, if I am your father, where is my honor?

Says the Lord of hosts to you—You, O priests, who despise my name.

But you say, “How have we despised”—I knew that you would say, “How have we despised?” This is the contempt as follows: