What Does Ephesians 6:5 Mean?
Servants, hear and respond to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, with an unfolded heart, as unto the Anointed One.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;THE KEY
A command from a human master reaches beyond the body: this verse places the servant’s obedience before Christ and calls for singleness of heart.
THE MEANING
When another person holds authority over your embodied labor, this verse names obedience, fear, and trembling plainly. It also places the servant’s inward attention before Christ, the anointed one, in a single-hearted act.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The servant’s inner life does not matter as long as the body obeys; the verse names singleness of heart as part of the obedience it describes.
THE ROOT
ἁπλότητι
haplotēti
GROWS FROM
ἁπλο-
haplo-
Single, simple, unmixed; an undivided quality that can also carry a sense of generosity.
“unfolded” in this verse is haplotēti. “Singleness” can sound like mere simplicity, but its word family also describes liberality elsewhere. Here it points to an inward orientation that is undivided.
ALSO GROWS
haplous: Single, simple, unmixed.
ἁπλοῦς
This branch shows the undivided quality behind the servant’s singleness of heart.
haplotēs: Singleness, sincerity; also liberality or generosity in other passages.
ἁπλότης
The same word family links an undivided heart with openhandedness, adding depth to what “singleness” can carry.
ὑπακούετε
hypakouete
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
Hear or listen; in this compound, hear under another’s authority.
“hear and respond” in this verse is hypakouete. The verb keeps hearing inside obedience: it describes a response formed by listening under authority. That layer of attentive response sits alongside the verse’s explicit fear and trembling.
ALSO GROWS
akouō: Hear, listen.
ἀκούω
This is the hearing word carried inside the command to obey.
hypakoē: Obedience, submission.
ὑπακοή
This related noun shows the same hearing-family expressed as obedience.
Χριστῷ
Christō
GROWS FROM
χρι-
chri-
Anoint; Χριστός names the anointed one.
The title means “the anointed one,” naming the one toward whom the servant’s service is directed. That makes the verse’s stated reference personal within its command about a master’s earthly authority.
ALSO GROWS
chriō: Anoint.
χρίω
This verb is the source of the title used in the verse.
christos: Anointed one.
χριστός
This title names the one to whom the verse directs the servant’s service.
THE PATTERN
Service under human authority is also rendered before God.
Whatever you do, work at it from the living soul, as to the Lord and not to humans.Do not hang back in eagerness. Burn in breath, serving the Lord.Roll your works upon the LORD, and your plans stand firm.THE THREAD
Servants, hear and respond in all things to your masters according to the flesh, not with service of the eyes, as human-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, in awe of God.This verse repeats ὑπακούετε (hypakouete, obey) and ἁπλότητι (haplotēti, in singleness), making obedience and a single heart part of the same structure. Its closing “fearing God” names the deeper reference for service under a human master.
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