The injunction to the slaves closes with a statement which, though directed specifically to them, may have a broader application, with both slaves and masters in view. Wrongdoer translates a participle “one who does evil,” “one who wrongs (another).”
Will be repaid (for other places where this verb occurs see Matt 25.27, 2 Cor 5.10): the future refers to the Day of Judgement.
A literal translation of will be repaid might suggest that a wrongdoer will actually be compensated for his wrongs. It may, therefore, be necessary to translate will be repaid as “will have to suffer” or “will be punished,” but in order to suggest that the punishment is somehow related to the degree of wrong, one may translate the first clause of verse 25 as “everyone who does wrong will be punished in proportion to the wrong things he has done.”
God judges everyone by the same standard translates the Greek “there is no partiality” (Revised Standard Version). For the noun see Rom 2.11, Eph 6.9, James 2.1; see also Acts 10.34, 1 Peter 1.17; for a similar statement in the OT see Deut 10.17, Psa 62.12. At the Day of Judgement God will not show favoritism or partiality to anyone, but will apply the same standard to all.
Serious misunderstandings have arisen as the result of literally translating this last clause in accordance with more traditional renderings. For example, a literal translation of the King James Version “there is no respect of persons” has resulted in renderings which suggest that God pays no attention to people. Some translators have rendered “there is not partiality” (Revised Standard Version) as “God has no special friends.” In a strictly idiomatic context, this might be satisfactory, but it has been interpreted to mean that God is not really friendly with anyone. Even a literal translation of God judges everyone by the same standard could suggest that everyone receives precisely the same sentence. In some instances, one may use some such expression as “God uses the same measuring stick when he decided whether people have been good or bad.” In a number of languages, however, lack of favoritism or partiality is expressed idiomatically, for example, “God doesn’t look on people’s faces when he is judging their hearts,” or “God pays no attention to people’s reputation when he judges what they have really done,” or “whether a man is big in people’s eyes makes no difference to God when he judges.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .