What Does Ephesians 6:9 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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
“masters / Master” 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
“forbearing” 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
“respect of persons” 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, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.THE THREAD
Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: 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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