“where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:11).
Consider the things that compel us to make distinctions among various groups. Those distinctions might include differences in culture, age, social stranding, nationality, race, language, personality, and a host of other dissimilarities. Judging from the passage quoted above, it seems that such distinctions were as common in the ancient world as they are today.
Colossians 3:11 lists several groups of people from varying backgrounds, each with their own distinctive qualities. For instance, the Greeks and Jews of the first-century era generally represented the upper-classes of that period, each in their own way. However, the uncircumcised, the Barbarians, and the Scythians were a different story.
To the Jewish mindset, the uncircumcised were outside the covenant that God established with Israel as His special people. To the Greeks, the Barbarians were foreigners who had failed to adopt the customs and practices of a civilized society. Their unintelligible speech sounded like babbling among the intellectual and sophisticated, hence the name bar-bar-rian.
Scythians were thought to be among the lowest of the barbarian nomads. One source identifies the Scythians as “…an uncultured slave class drawn from tribes around the Black Sea. Scythians were lampooned in Greek comedy because of their uncouth ways and speech, and the first-century Jewish historian Josephus called them ‘little better than wild beasts.'” (1) Another source tells us that the Scythians were more barbarious than the barbarians and goes on to elaborate further…
“To the Jew the whole world was divided into Jews and Greeks, the privileged and unprivileged portions of mankind, religious prerogative being taken as a line of demarcation. To the Greek and Roman it was similarly divided into Greeks and Barbarians, again the privileged and unprivileged portion of the human race, civilization and culture being now the criterion of distinction.
Thus from one point of view the Greek is contrasted disadvantageously with the Jew, while from the other he is contrasted disadvantageously with the Barbarian. Both distinctions are equally antagonistic to the spirit of the gospel. The apostle declares both alike null and void in Christ.” (2)
So despite these differences, Christians then and now are one in Christ. These divisions no longer exist for it is Jesus who forms the thread who unites us together. While we may differ in racial composition, cultural upbringing, age, gender, experience, and personality, every genuine Christian is a part of “…the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27).
(1) Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 2126). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust.
(2) Kenneth S. Wuest, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament [note on Colossians 3:9-11] Copyright © 1942-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.