They Called Themselves Slave: A Brief Study of the English Translation of the Koinē Greek Word doūlos (slave) in the New Testament in the Context of Love and Obedience

By Donald Brown

The book is an easily readable book which shows that the English translation of dolos (slave) as servant (diakonos) is incorrect. The argument put forth is well documented, researched, and clearly presented to those of any religious or non-religious persuasion and academic level.

“Interpretation is an explanation of what is not immediately plain in the Bible…because of the multifaceted character of the Bible, and its interpretation takes a variety of forms. …A basic requirement for the understanding of these documents is the grammatico–historical interpretation or exegesis bringing out of the text the meaning the writer intended to convey and which their readers were expected to gather from it…the meaning of the text for hearers today must be related to its meaning for the hearers to whom it was first addressed.”
F. F. Bruce

“Scholars who deal seriously with literary texts have a name for texts that do not correspond to the actual words of an author. Such a text is called a corrupt text. It is defined as a text that has been changed from its original and reliable form to something different from that standard—a text that has been altered from the original, intentionally or unintentionally.”
Leland Ryken

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664205543

Donald Brown

Donald and Diane live in Midland, TX, and worship at Christ Church Anglican. After High School, Donald enlisted in the US Navy. Upon release from active duty, Donald attended Texas Tech University graduating with a BBA. After graduation he worked for several years in various industries at various levels of management. He married but being a work-a-holic his marriage ended in divorce. His lovely daughter Elizabeth was born from that union. Donald and Diane were married in 1986 at St. Paul’s Bakersfield, CA on the first Sunday after Easter. In 1990 Donald received an MDiv from Trinity (Episcopal) School for Ministry and subsequently, in 1996, he was ordained Deacon and Priest in the one holy catholic and apostolic Church (Episcopal/Anglican communion). He is presently retired from active parish leadership.

Book preview

Dedication

All who know me and the story of my efforts to write this book know, without a doubt, that the completion of writing this book is a consequence of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit guiding and directing my efforts to obey him. In my mind, this is his book. Alongside the Holy Spirit, the loving support of my helpmate Diane, encouraging me each step of the way, is a testimony of her love for me. Without her encouragement, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit this book would have never seen the light of day. Even when I diverted my attention to other things, the Holy Spirit graciously worked through Diane and many others to constantly encourage me to continue working on the manuscript. In the initial days of writing this book, my thanks go to Timothy Frieberg for his invaluable patience helping me make the transition from WordPerfect to MSWord. In the final days of editing the manuscript, my special thanks to Dian Ray for her valuable assistance. Also, very special thanks to Professor John M. G. Barclay, University of Durham, who helped me focus on the book’s purpose: to equip the douloi Christou Iēsou (slaves of Christ Jesus) to faithfully fulfill their baptismal promises as they live out their gifts for ministry.

May God be glorified, honored, and praised with the publication of this study.

Donald Brown+

Pascha 2022

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1Beginnings

Chapter 2What Do The Texts Say?

Chapter 3Citations of Texts Containing the Literal and Metaphorical Use of doulos and diakonos and Cognates

Chapter 4Loving Obedient Slaves

Chapter 5Conclusion

Epilogue

Bibliography

Appendix A–Part A

Table of each instance of doūlos and diakonos with cognates as translated in the Vulgate and three early English Bibles.

Appendix A–Part B

Table of each instance of doūlos and diakonos with cognates as translated in in four current English Bibles.

Appendix B

Canonical Books of the

Bible with Apocrypha

Appendix C

Instances of 2 Corinthians 4:2

Translation in 60 English Bibles

Abbreviations

ABD. The Anchor Bible Dictionary

AGNT. Analytical Greek New Testament

AINT. A An Introduction to the New Testament

AV. Authorized Version (KJV)

BAGD. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament

ca., circa. approximate date

cf. compare or see also

CED. Collins English Dictionary

CLD. Cassell’s Latin Dictionary

CNTG. Concordance to the Novum Testamentum Graece

GDNTT. Greek Dictionary of New Testament Theology

EDT. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology

GELNT. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament

GNT. Koinē Greek New Testament

ISBE. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

KJV. King James Version (AV)

LXX. Septuagint [the Koinē Greek Old Testament]

MT. Masoretic text of the Hebrew Old Testament

NIDNTT. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology

NIV. New International Version of the OT and NT (English)

NT. New Testament (English)

NTW. New Testament Words

NRSV. New Revised Standard Version of the OT and NT Bible (English)

NAGENT. Nestle-Aland Greek-English New Testament

OED. Oxford English Dictionary

OSB. Orthodox Study Bible

OT. Old Testament (English)

PGL. Patristic Greek Lexicon

RSV. Revised Standard Version (of the OT and NT Bible)

TDNT. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

TDNTA. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Abridged

WPNT. Word Pictures in the New Testament

Introduction

Some years ago, after Evening Prayer, I had a casual conversation with Fr. Ed Murphy, the then Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Merced, California, where I was regularly worshipping at the time. In that conversation, he commented on a particular passage in the New Testament. He said that the correct translation of a particular word in the text was slave, not "servant." He pointed out that in almost all instances in English Bibles, the English translation of the Koinē Greek word doῡlos is servant; however, the Koinē Greek word for servant is diakonos. God used that casual conversation to prick my curiosity. From that time forward, I had an insatiable curiosity about doūlos and why it had consistently been translated in English translation as servant instead of slave.

As my initial response to this revelation went from simple curiosity to intentional research of the Koinē Greek word doῡlos, I became more and more convinced that God wanted me to produce the fruits of that research and study in the form of this book. I confess I have not always been obedient to God’s call to put my thoughts down on paper (read computer), but he is merciful, and at long last, by his grace and the leading and direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit, I have completed the study after numerous lengthy interruptions, diversions, and detours [chasing too many rabbits down too many rabbit trails]. Along the way, I began to think about how different my relationship might have been with my Lord and Savior if I had lived out a life of a loving, faithful, obedient, humble, loyal enslavement to Jesus, the Christ? Would the Church, the body of called-out believers, be different from what we find today if all of its members embraced the reality that we are called to be loving, faithful, obedient, humble, loyal slaves of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master?

It is important for the understanding of the thrust of this study of doūlos, that the sense of the term in the Koinē Greek New Testament is metaphorical except where the text is clear that the term is used literally. Chapter 3 will help those who may not have a clear understanding of the use of metaphor in the Greek or English New Testament. Up until recent times the RSV was the only English Bible that translated doūlos as slave [some 42 times out of 126 instances].

Here, in the beginning, I categorically state that this book is written for all the lay folk in the pews of their local worshiping congregations or parish churches, especially those who have had no formal training in reading Koinē Greek. Some of you will not know, but many will know, this is the language in which the Septuagint (LXX¹) and the Greek New Testament were originally written. The reader will find a few Koinē Greek words in the text, but do not despair. I have provided English transliterations and translations for those terms so that the reader will not get lost or feel this book is too scholarly and beyond their language capabilities. I purposefully included some Koinē Greek terms because it is necessary for the argument I will be presenting to be more comprehensible. I also believe that learning a bit of the original language used by the human authors of Holy Scripture will benefit our life in Christ.

It is a well-known fact that words in every language change in meaning and usage over time. Each of us could suggest one or more terms that have changed in the course of our lifetime. However, while we might all agree with the above, we also need to take notice that even though some might wish to take a term and change its definition and usage, claiming current usage, some important biblical and theological words, for Jews and Christians alike, need to remain consistent in definition and usage through the years to consistently convey what was intended by the Divine Author, addressing us through the human authors. This study focuses on one such term. In the Koinē Greek of the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament, that term is doūlos. In biblical times, this term was used to identify a person who was a slave, either literally or metaphorically. Pais is a similar term since, in certain contexts, it also means slave, albeit possibly a young slave. In this study, it will be shown that from the earliest times of English translation of the Greek New Testament, English translators have tended to translate doūlos as some form of servant, even though there is a different Koinē Greek term for servant, namely diakonos, as noted above. I will provide evidence to support my argument that translating doūlos as servant is misleading and was not the original authors’ intent nor, I dare say, God’s intent.

Some of the translations I will make of doūlos and diakonos may seem inaccurate, stilted, or even foreign to the eye and ear. I make no apology for this. My overall intent is to be as faithful to the Greek New Testament as possible [essentially literal], without getting ridiculous in the translation. I ask readers to move beyond what they are accustomed to reading and hearing and consider my translations of doūlos. I then ask that they carefully think if they are faithful to the intent of the biblical authors. By God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, all of these authors were faithful and obedient to the superintendency of God, the Divine Author, in the writing of their texts.

Since we are dealing with a term that, in our post-biblical culture, is loaded with negative meanings and emotional baggage, there will be brief references to slavery in biblical times to place the term in its historical setting. The references will not be extensive because the study of ancient slavery is not the intent of this book. There are numerous excellent studies of ancient slavery available for the interested reader.

Doūlos and its cognates are found throughout the Greek New Testament and are recorded on the lips of Jesus, our Lord and Master.² Chapter 3 is a complete survey of the passages where the term and its cognates are found. Time spent by readers carefully thinking through these passages will be rewarding for those who want to grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus and his relationship with him.

Readers may be interested in learning how often the term doūlos and its cognates are found in the New Testament—some 175 times. There are several Scripture passages where the term is more meaningful than others and, surprisingly, mind-opening.

There are discussions in some scholarly circles that take exception to a consistent literal translation of each occurrence of the doūlos term as slave. The position I take in this study is that in all the cases in the Greek New Testament, it is seen that doūlos and diakonos are not synonymous. Each term must be viewed and understood in its particular context and carry its distinct translation; therefore, the English translation of doūlos must also follow the initial Koinē Greek usage, i.e., doūlos is to be translated slave, not servant.

The three most recent English Bibles with wide circulation are the English Standard Version (ESV, 2001), the Holman Christian Bible (HSCB, 2004), and the Christian Standard Bible (CSB 2017). The ESV and the CSB make a concerted effort to lead the reader into thinking that the term we are focusing on is synonymous with diakonos by use of a footnote or by translating doūlos directly as servant or bondservant. Are translators and translation committees tampering with, falsifying, or distorting³ the translation of doūlos when they purposefully mistranslate doūlos as servant or bondservant? It seems to me that they are [see appendix C].

In the real estate industry, the mantra is location, location, location. In biblical studies, a similar mantra exists: context, context, context. The proper context for doūlos is ownership, obedience, and love (agape).⁴ Any attempt to wrestle with the biblical concept of the slave of God or Christ outside of the context of ownership (lord or master), obedience (to hear and obey one’s lord and master), and love (of the commands of the lord or master) will prove fruitless. I am fully persuaded that the biblical reader’s understanding of doūlos within the context of ownership, obedience, and love will yield an abundantly deeper understanding of what it is to live a life in the image and likeness of God as the slave of God the Father and Jesus his Son.

Readers who resist the idea they are slaves of God might deeply ponder Jesus’s words from Matthew 11:26–30 (RSV), especially verse 30:

Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

These are not the words of a slave master the great majority of Christians and non-Christians have in their minds when they think of being the slave of God.

Because we are studying a Greek term, it is best to use Greek terms in the discussion; consequently, Greek terms are used with definitions in the text, obtained primarily from BAGD’s Greek-English Lexicon. In each case, an English transliteration is given for each Greek word, and the context will explain its use.

Most readers will intuitively know that in this kind of study, an author may take certain positions that others may dispute. The translations and positions I take, I take unabashedly and with intent. The single most important position I take, without reservation, is that the whole of the Bible as the one holy, catholic,⁵ and apostolic church has received it is that it is the aspirated⁶ (breathed-out) written Word of God. When Jews read the Hebrew texts and Christians [and possibly even some non-Jews or non-Christians] read the whole of the Bible, they hear God speak to them. The term Bible is, of course, ambiguous. Because this is so, chapter 1 will establish what the word Bible means in this study and how the Bible came to be, that is, the role played by Jewish and Christian worshipers gathered in community, bringing the Bible to us today—something on the order of a brief history of the Bible’s development for the church.

In the New Testament, there are three main terms [in Koinē Greek or English] used to identify God’s family, namely, disciples, mathētēs—261 times; slave, doūlos—126 times; and servant, diakonos—29 times. Each term has its distinct definition and usage in the Scriptures. In our reading and study, we must carefully keep these terms separate within their context to make sure we fully understand exactly what God is saying to us, individually and corporately.

As readers carefully and deeply ponder how God’s Word identifies Christians who devoutly search the Holy Scriptures seeking a deeper insight into exactly what the Bible says about their identity in their relationship to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, my prayer is that this book will become a companion to whatever Bible they presently use. As they read through their Bibles, this book might enable them to come to acknowledge more fully that a more conservative, accurate, [literal] translation of doūlos enables them to understand more fully their relationship with God. I say this with the firm conviction and understanding that God is the Divine