In Colossians and Ephesians the household code is laid out. First, it is established how a wife should treat het husband and vice versa. In this code it is said for husbands to, “love your wives and never treat them harshly” (Colossians 4:19). Ephesians reiterates these sentiments by stating, “Husbands should love their wives as they do their own boy, for no one hates his own body” (Ephesians 5:28-29). However, Colossians tells wives to, “be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord” (Colossians 4:18). Ephesians goes on to give more detail concerning how wives should treat their men, “Just as the church is subject to Christ so also wives ought to be, in everything to their husbands” (Ephesians 5:24).
The Colossian letter also has guidelines for how children and parents should treat each other. Colossians demands of children to, “obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord” (Colossians 3:20). The author of Ephesians expands that to read, “Honor your father and mother – this is [your] first commandment” (Ephesians 6:2). The letters continue on like this with how fathers should treat their children. The author of Colossians tells fathers to, “not provoke your children, or they may lose heart” (Colossians 3:21). The author of Ephesians modifies that statement to read, “fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the lord” (6:4). Here the author of Ephesians really lets their true intentions show through, clearly wanting to emphasize that it is the fathers’ duty to raise their children in the “instruction of the lord.”
Lastly the two letters tackle the code of the slave and the master: again we will see how the author of Ephesians embellishes the Colossian authors’ original message. The author of Colossians was very blunt, telling the slaves to do what they were told, because it is really work for the Lord; not the master. The author of Ephesians greatly expands on the original points of the Colossian source document, asking the slaves to now to their work “enthusiastically” because it is really gods work. The author is basically asking slaves to be happy they are property because they are really doing gods work. The two authors have similar sentiments about how the masters should treat the slaves; though it is only one verse in both letters.
The original Colossian letter was a relatively brief guideline of how the typical Christian household should treat each other. The author of Ephesians expands upon almost every point, increasing the length from a few lines, to spanning 2 chapters. The Ephesian author clearly wanted to change the letter to better suit what they were teaching at the time. The Ephesian author asks a lot more of each person than the original document.
In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul conveys what he believes the family structure should look like. To summarize, Paul tells people that, “each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband”, he continues to condemn adultery and encourages one anther to, “not deprive one another… [unless] by agreement for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer” (1 Corinthians 7:2-6). Paul is very resolute in his Corinthian letter about how married couples should act, Colossians mirrors this sentiment in less words. Furthermore, Paul goes on to discuss virgins being celibate until marriage, a topic which both of the above letters didn’t touch on. Lastly, Paul has this message for men, “he who refrains from marriage will do better” (1 Corinthians 7:38). I am unsure why Paul is advising against marriage here. I Don’t think Colossians or Ephesians ever weighed in on whether or not one should marry it just assumed people would get married.
Jackson OConnell