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Eph_6:6-7. The ἐν ἁπλότητι … Χριστῷ just spoken of is now more precisely described.
μὴ κατʼ ὀφθαλμ . ὡς ἀνθρ .] not after an eye-serving manner as men-pleasers. The word ὀφθαλμοδουλεία occurs nowhere else than here and Col_3:3, but its meaning is, from its composition, clear. Comp. ὀφθαλμόδουλος in the Constitt. Apost. iv. 12. 2. It is the service which is rendered to the eyes of the master, but in which the aim is merely to acquire the semblance of fidelity, inasmuch as one makes himself thus noticeable when seen by the master, but is in reality not such, acting, on the contrary, otherwise when his back is turned. Theodoret: τὴν οὐκ ἐξ εἰλικρινοῦς καρδίας προσφερομένην θεραπείαν , ἀλλὰ τῷ σχήματι κεχρωσμένην .
ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι ] Comp. Psa_53:5; Psalt. Sal. iv. 8. 10, in Fabric. Cod. Pseud, i. p. 929; and see Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 621. The men whom such slaves endeavour to please are just their masters, and the fault of this behaviour lies in the fact that such endeavour is not conditioned by the higher point of view of serving Christ and doing the will of God, but has as its aim simply human approbation. Even of slaves Mat_6:24 holds good. Comp. Gal_1:10.
ἀλλʼ ὡς δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ , ποιοῦντες τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκ ψυχῆς ] but as slaves of Christ, in that ye do the will of God from the heart. The contrast lies in δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ (comp. Eph_6:7), and ποιοῦντες κ . τ . λ . is a modal definition of this their service, whereupon there follows in Eph_6:7 yet a second modal definition. Now to be a slave of Christ and not to do the will of God, and that indeed ex animo (from a genuine impulse of the soul), would be a contradiction, seeing that God is the Father of Christ, has sent Christ, and is the Head of Christ (1Co_11:3; 1Co_3:23). According to Rückert, ὡς δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ is subordinate, and ποιοῦντες τ . θέλ . τ . Θεοῦ ἐκ ψυχῆς forms the contrast: “but doing as Christ’s servants the will of God from the heart.” But after ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι , comp. with Eph_6:5, this subordination of ὡς δοῦλοι Χρ . is altogether arbitrary and opposed to the context. ἐκ ψυχῆς is no doubt attached to what follows by Syriac, Chrysostom, Jerome, Bengel, Koppe, Knapp, Lachmann, Harless, de Wette; but μετʼ εὐνοίας (comp. Xen. Oec. xii. 5. 7), since it expresses the well-meaning disposition, already in fact includes in itself the sense of ἐκ ψυχῆς (ex animi sententia, Col_3:23; Mar_12:30; Mar_12:33; Luk_10:27; Joseph. Antt. xvii. 6. 3; Xen. Anab. vii. 7. 43; Nicarch. epigr. 2; Theocr. Idyll, iii. 35); and it is arbitrary to assume, with Harless, that ἐκ ψ . expresses the relation of the true servant to his service, and μετʼ εὐνοίας his relation to his master.
ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ ] sc. δουλεύοντες , as to the Lord, the true mode of regarding his service as rendered to Christ.
καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρ .] Comp. on Gal_1:1.