What Does Ephesians 6:9 Mean?
And you masters, do the same things to them, releasing the threat, knowing that their Lord and yours is in the heavens, and with him there is no lifting of faces.
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
And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.THE KEY
The same Greek word names both the earthly masters and their Master in heaven, so authority cannot place anyone beyond the reach of impartial judgment.
THE MEANING
Your authority is not absolute: the same Master stands over you and the person receiving your command. The way you treat them is seen by a Master who does not favor rank or status. Threat has no exemption under a judgment that looks past titles.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that power over another makes the powerful person exempt from the standard applied to everyone else.
THE ROOT
κύριος
kýrios
GROWS FROM
κυρι-
kyri-
Master, lord, one who holds authority
“Lord” in this verse is kýrios. The verse uses the same word for the human masters and their Master in heaven. English preserves each title, while Greek makes their shared place in the chain of authority audible: the one who commands is also under command.
ALSO GROWS
kyriotēs: lordship, dominion
κυριότης
This related word names the authority held by a lord, which Ephesians places under a greater authority.
kyriakos: belonging to the Lord
κυριακός
This related form makes the relationship explicit: authority belongs within the Lord’s domain, not outside it.
ἀνιέντες
aniéntes
GROWS FROM
ἵημι
hiēmi
to send, let go; in ἀνίημι, to loosen or let up
“releasing the threat” in this verse is aniéntes. The verb pictures loosening or letting go, not merely adopting a patient mood. Its word family also names relief and release, so the threat is pressure that can be let go from the relationship.
ALSO GROWS
anesis: relaxation, relief
ἄνεσις
This related word describes tension easing, illuminating the release of pressure implied by forbearing threats.
aphiēmi: send away, leave, release
ἀφίημι
This compound shares the ἵημι seed, showing another form of letting go through a different prefix.
προσωπολημψία
prosōpolēmpsía
GROWS FROM
πρόσωπον (prosōpon) + λαμβάνω (lambanō)
face-taking: taking or receiving a face
“lifting of faces” in this verse is prosōpolēmpsía. The phrase is literally face-taking: no face, title, or visible rank earns a privileged hearing. The Greek compound names favoritism as giving people different standing according to how they appear or the position they hold.
ALSO GROWS
prosōpolēmptēs: one who shows partiality, a respecter of persons
προσωπολήμπτης
Acts 10:34 uses this related form to say that God is no respecter of persons.
prosōpolēmpteō: to show partiality
προσωπολημπτέω
James 2:9 uses this related verb for the act of treating people differently by status.
THE PATTERN
Human authority remains under impartial judgment, so rank gives no one a different measure.
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, the awe-inspiring, who does not lift up the face of any and does not take a bribe.How much less to him who does not lift up the face of princes, nor regards the rich above the poor? For they all are the work of his hands.Nor as those pressing down upon the portions, but becoming imprints for the flock.THE THREAD
Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will be held upright, for God is able to make him stand.Romans uses the same Greek word, κύριος (kýrios, “master”), for the one before whom a servant stands; Ephesians gives that word to both the human masters and their Master in heaven. The shared word reveals that an earthly master does not own the servant’s final judgment.
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