Slave
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G3610, oikétēs, is a Greek noun for a household servant or an enslaved domestic worker. The term belongs to the social world of ancient households, where people could live under another person's legal and economic power.
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Full entry for οἰκέτης (G3610) · Open the biblical lexicon
G3610, oikétēs, is a Greek noun for a household servant or an enslaved domestic worker. The term belongs to the social world of ancient households, where people could live under another person's legal and economic power.
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include servant (2), servants (2), household (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 24:45. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (1), Acts (1), Luke (1), Matthew (1).
G3610, oikétēs, is a Greek noun for a household servant or an enslaved domestic worker. The term belongs to the social world of ancient households, where people could live under another person's legal and economic power. It should not be softened into modern employee as though the relations were equivalent, and its presence in Scripture does not make slavery good. Matthew uses the household servant in a parable about accountable readiness and providing food. Luke uses the figure to show that no household servant can belong in service to both God and money. Acts names servants in Cornelius's household as trusted messengers within the story that welcomes Gentiles.
Romans uses the household relation figuratively to restrain believers from condemning one another over disputed food and days: another's servant answers to the Lord, who is able to make that person stand. The verse protects fellow believers from contempt and unauthorized judgment; it does not shield leaders or alleged wrongdoing from evidence, church discipline, safeguarding, or lawful investigation. Matthew's faithful servant is entrusted to feed others at the proper time, and the surrounding warning condemns a servant who beats fellow servants and exploits delay. Authority within the household image is accountable and oriented toward provision, not domination.
First Peter directly addresses household servants under good and unreasonable masters and speaks about unjust suffering in relation to Christ. This is an elevated-risk text. The apostle gives moral agency and Christ-centered hope to people living within an oppressive institution; he does not declare slavery just, grant masters ownership of human dignity, or command people today to remain in abuse. The passage must not be used to oppose emancipation, excuse trafficking, spiritualize workplace exploitation, or silence reports of violence. Christian application should side with the dignity and safety of people under power, expose unjust mastery, distinguish endurance from enabling harm, and use every lawful and wise means toward protection, freedom, restitution, and accountable service under the Lord.
G3610 appears in household stewardship, divided allegiance between God and money, Cornelius's trusted messengers, restraint against judging fellow believers, and an address to enslaved domestic workers facing unjust masters.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?
The entrusted servant's task is timely provision for others while awaiting the master's return. The following contrast condemns beating fellow servants and self-indulgent misuse of delay.
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
The household relation illustrates exclusive allegiance. Jesus addresses hearers who must use wealth faithfully and exposes love of money as rival mastery.
When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among his attendants.
Cornelius entrusts household servants with the mission to find Peter after explaining what occurred. They participate in the narrative movement toward Gentile welcome.
Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Paul uses the relation to restrain contempt and condemnation among believers over disputed practices. The Lord's acceptance and power, not peer superiority, secure the servant's standing.
Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable.
Peter addresses people under household slavery and names unreasonable masters and unjust suffering. The exhortation gives suffering believers agency before God but does not morally approve slavery or abusive mastery.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Household slave bound to domestic service, distinct from διάκονος which emphasizes functional service role
Household slave bound to domestic service, distinct from διάκονος which emphasizes functional service role
(οἰκέω), [in LXX for עֶבֶד ;] a house-servant: Luk.16:13, Rom.14:4; pl., Act.10:7, 1Pe.2:18 (In Plat., Hdt., Sir.4:30 6:11, the pl. includes all the inmates of the house, the familia, οἰκετεία.) SYN.. see: διάκονος
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a household servant
Read versea household servant
Read versea household servant
Read versea household servant
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 4 lexical occurrence verses.
οἰκέτης is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G3610 brings household service under the searching lordship of God. In Jesus' parable, the faithful servant uses entrusted authority to provide food, while the wicked servant beats others and indulges himself. In Luke, the servant image exposes money as a rival master. Acts includes household servants as trusted agents in the movement toward Gentile welcome.
Romans uses the relationship to stop believers from treating one another with contempt over disputed practices, because each belongs to the Lord who can make the servant stand. First Peter then speaks directly to enslaved domestic workers enduring unreasonable masters and locates their unjust suffering in relation to Christ. The canon neither erases their constrained condition nor turns oppression into virtue.
Faithful teaching must tell the historical truth, reject human ownership and trafficking, protect those under coercive power, distinguish voluntary service from enslavement, and hold every steward accountable for provision rather than harm. Endurance can witness to God, but it never makes abuse righteous or removes the pursuit of safety and freedom.
Rom.14.4
G3610 is a Greek masculine noun related to household dwelling and refers to a domestic servant or slave. The governed BSB word table includes five verses, while the selected artifact and morphology witness preserve four, omitting Matthew 24:45 from their count. Singular and plural forms occur in several cases. The word differs from broader service vocabulary by emphasizing the household relation.
Translating it as employee can hide ancient coercion, while translating every figurative use only as slave can obscure a parable's or metaphor's immediate point; historical and literary context must work together.
The Old Testament regulates forms of servitude in its ancient world while also grounding Israel's identity in deliverance from the house of slavery and condemning kidnapping. The New Testament addresses enslaved people as morally responsible members of the church, places masters under the same Lord, and seeds relationships of siblinghood. These truths support dignity and liberation, not a defense of chattel slavery or trafficking.