“The Scythians Do Still Scare Us”

In Col 3:11, through tightly contrasting couplets, we are told that everyone can enjoy God’s grace. Though the passage seemingly involves no difficulty, doubts may be raised about the opposition between barbarians and Scythians, both being uncivilized nations. Yet the savagery of the latter, unparalleled among the barbarians, was their well-known hallmark. Even though this picture of the Scythians seems to have become commonplace in Greek and Roman literature, it might be inferred from epigraphical evidence that this barbarian nation was still a reason for disquiet in Asia Minor at the time when the Letter to the Colossians was delivered.