Obscuring New Testament Slavery: A Study of the Translation History of Δοῦλος

Anders Martinsen; Martijn Stoutjesdijk

doi:10.1515/jbr-2024-0002

Article

Obscuring New Testament Slavery: A Study of the Translation History of Δοῦλος

Anders Martinsen and Martijn Stoutjesdijk

Published/Copyright: March 28, 2025

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From the journal Journal of the Bible and its Reception Volume 12 Issue 1

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.

Keywords: δοῦλος; slavery; New Testament; Bible translations; reception history

Corresponding authors: Anders Martinsen, Oslo Metropolitan University, Postboks 4, St. Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway, E-mail: andmar@oslomet.no; and Martijn Stoutjesdijk, Protestant Theological University, Janskerkhof 12, 3512 BL Utrecht, The Netherlands, E-mail: mjstoutjesdijk@pthu.nl

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Published Online: 2025-03-28

Published in Print: 2025-05-26

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jbr-2024-0002

Keywords for this article

δοῦλος; slavery; New Testament; Bible translations; reception history