2025/03/27 by Anders Martinsen, Martijn Stoutjesdijk · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Byzantine Studies and History #Historical and Linguistic Studies
paper · doi:10.1515/jbr-2024-0002
openalex publication_date 2025/03/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/22
Abstract Translations of the New Testament have historically rendered the word δοῦλος as servant instead of slave, even if δοῦλος is not an ambiguous term. In more recent translations, δοῦλος is increasingly, but still not consistently, translated as slave. The effect of these translations has been to obscure slavery in early Christianity and to overlook the political and colonial legacy of the Bible in legitimising (colonial) slavery. This article provides an overview of translations in English, German, Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian from the Middle Ages to contemporary Bible editions. It shows that the way δοῦλος is translated extends beyond philological analyses of the Greek term or historical reconstructions of slavery in early Christianity, but ties in with the political discourses of slavery, for instance debates about colonial slavery and abolition. In the article, we argue that translating δοῦλος as slave could encourage a much-needed discussion about NT slavery and its legacy.