Texts in Conversation
Colossians draws on the traditional Greek household codes, addressing the same three relationships Aristotle names, husband-wife, parent-child, and master-slave, with one party presented naturally ruling the other.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics 8:30
Classical
These things are ascribed to ancestors as well. Further, by nature a father tends to rule over his sons, ancestors over descendants, a king over his subjects. These friendships imply superiority of one party over the other, which is why ancestors are honoured. The justice therefore that exists between persons so related is not the same on both sides but is in every case proportioned to merit; for that is true of the friendship as well. The friendship of man and wife, again, is the same that is found in an aristocracy; for it is in accordance with virtue the better gets more of what is good, and each gets what befits him; and so, too, with the justice in these relations. The friendship of brothers is like that of comrades; for they are equal and of like age, and such persons are for the most part like in their feelings and their character. Like this, too, is the friendship appropriate to timocratic government; for in such a constitution the ideal is for the citizens to be equal and fair; therefore rule is taken in turn, and on equal terms; and the friendship appropriate here will correspond. But in the deviation-forms, as justice hardly exists, so too does friendship. It exists least in the worst form; in tyranny there is little or no friendship. For where there is nothing common to ruler and ruled, there is not friendship either, since there is not justice; e.g. between craftsman and tool, soul and body, master and slave; the latter in each case is benefited by that which uses it, but there is no friendship nor justice towards lifeless things. But neither is there friendship towards a horse or an ox, nor to a slave qua slave. For there is nothing common to the two parties; the slave is a living tool and the tool a lifeless slave. Qua slave then, one cannot be friends with him. But qua man one can; for there seems to be some justice between any man and any other who can share in a system of law or be a party to an agreement; therefore there can also be friendship with him in so far as he is a man. Therefore while in tyrannies friendship and justice hardly exist, in democracies they exist more fully; for where the citizens are equal they have much in common.
Date: 350-325 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Colossians 3:18
New Testament
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become disheartened. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in every respect, not only when they are watching—like those who are strictly people-pleasers—but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, 24 because you know that you will receive your inheritance from the Lord as the reward. Serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the one who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there are no exceptions.
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Notes and References
... the New Testament codes are derived from the Hellenistic discussion 'concerning household management' (peri oikonomias), especially as outlined by Aristotle, Politics I 1253b 1-14. This Aristotelian text outlines relationships between a) three pairs of social classes b) which are related reciprocally, and c) it argues that one social class in each of the three pairs is to 'be ruled.' ... The structured discussion of the domestic relationships of three pairs is found not only in Aristotle, Politics I 1253b 1-14 and Nicomachean Ethics VIII 1160a 23-1161a 10 and V 1134b 9-18, but also in pseudo-Aristotle, Magna Moralia I 1194b 5-28 and in the (pseudo-Aristotelian?) work Concerning the Association of Husband and Wife. It is not surprising that Seneca, Epistles 89.10-11 knows that such philosophical 'economics' is Peripatetic ...
Balch, David L.
"Household Codes" in Aune, David E. (ed.) Greco-Roman Literature and the New Testament: Selected Forms and Genres
(pp. 26-27) Scholars Press, 1988
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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