All who are under the yoke of slavery is literally “all slaves who are under yoke.” The yoke is the wooden frame placed over the necks of animals, as for instance over two oxen in order to join them together, either for plowing or for pulling a cart. But the yoke was not solely for animals; sometimes it was used on people who were taken captives in battle, or people who were sold into slavery. It is this background that has led to the figurative usage of the yoke as a symbol of absolute subjection and dependence.
There is no unanimity regarding the relationship between “all slaves” and “who are under yoke.” Some interpret these two expressions as two ways of saying the same thing. This means that both expressions together refer to all the Christian slaves, with “who are under yoke” stressing the continuing situation of bondage of these slaves, in spite of the fact that they have found spiritual freedom in Christ. Others hold that the slaves who are “under yoke” refer to a segment of Christian slaves, namely, those who are owned by nonbelieving masters and thus would suffer much more than those who are fortunate enough to be working under Christian masters. Many modern translations take the first of these two positions (in addition to Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, compare also New English Bible “all who wear the yoke of slavery”). And since “under the yoke” is interpreted as equivalent to “slaves,” it is even possible to treat it as redundant information and omit it in translation, as Good News Bible has done (compare Phillips “Christian slaves”). A “slave” is a person who is the property of someone else. He or she has no rights and must show complete obedience and loyalty to their owner. Possible alternative translation models for this word in cultures where slaves are unknown are “a person who belongs to (or, is the property of) another” or “a person who is bound to a master.”
Masters refers to all slave owners, whether Christian or not. Regard is literally “to think,” that is, to have an opinion regarding something, hence to “consider” (Good News Translation). This is obviously related to the way in which slaves would act toward their masters; however, the focus here is not on action but on mental attitude. For worthy see discussions on 5.17 and 18. For honor see discussion on 5.3. In the present context the emphasis is on extending to them the “respect” (Good News Translation) and honor that is due them as masters.
The purpose of this respectful attitude toward slave owners is in order that God and the Christian message may not be regarded with disrespect in any way. For slaves to act in a disrespectful way toward their masters, and to refuse to obey them as slaves should, would bring dishonor not only to the slaves but to the Christian faith itself.
The expression the name of God occurs only here and in two other places in the New Testament (Rom 2.24 and Rev 16.9). In the Old Testament the name of God was sometimes understood as the secret of God’s power, and that name was made known to Moses (see Exo 3.14). In the present context the name stands for the nature and character of God; in fact it can be interpreted as equivalent to God himself, and in certain languages it will be more natural to translate “say evil things about God,” omitting the phrase the name of.
One further comment needs to be made, and that is that the expression “the name of God” is very often used in connection with saying something evil against God. This may be the reason why the Jews forbade even the mention of the name of God so as to avoid any possibility of insulting or defaming God himself.
The teaching is used in the Pastoral Letters to refer to the Christian faith in general, and in a specific sense to a body of Christian doctrine. For further discussion see comments on “doctrine” in 1.10; 4.6; and see comments on “teaching” in 4.13, 16; 5.17.
Defamed is literally “blasphemed”; the Greek word pertains to harmful or insulting speech, that is, speaking in such a way as to harm or destroy someone’s reputation. Blasphemy can be directed to both human and divine beings, but it is more often directed to God. The implicit agents, that is, the ones doing the blaspheming, are most probably people in the community who are not members of the Church, that is, non-Christians; this information can be made explicit in translation, although a generic form can be used as well (for example, Good News Translation “no one”). For the idea of defamed or “blasphemed,” see 1.13.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .