Greek word · G5514
Χλόη
chloē
Chloe
"Those of Chloe": an article plus a name in the genitive, a common Greek shorthand for people connected to someone. It can mean family members (children), slaves, freedpeople, employees or business agents.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 1 Corinthians 1:11
- Range of meaning
"Those of Chloe": an article plus a name in the genitive, a common Greek shorthand for people connected to someone. It can mean family members (children), slaves, freedpeople, employees or business agents.
- Against the English
KJV adds "[which are of the house]" in italics. BSB, WEB and NIV have "household", ESV and NRSV "Chloe's people". "Household" is a fair reading of an ancient household, which included slaves and freed dependants. A modern reader, though, may picture only Chloe's relatives. The Greek simply says "Chloe's", which is why ESV and NRSV keep the vaguer "people".
- How it drifted
"Household" today suggests a nuclear family. An ancient household was a unit of family, slaves, freedpeople and business dependants.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The same construction appears in Rom 16:10–11, which greets "those of Aristobulus" and "those of Narcissus". These are usually taken as slaves or freedmen of those households. G. Theissen and W. Meeks argue that Chloe's people were probably slaves or freedmen travelling on her business between Corinth and Ephesus.
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 1
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1 Corinthians 1:11 Χλόης of Chloe
My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
Here: A woman whose people were known to the Corinthians. The Greek name means 'green shoot' and was also a title of the goddess Demeter. She is mentioned nowhere else, and the text does not say whether she lived in Corinth or Ephesus.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.