Obscuring New Testament Slavery: A Study of the Translation History of Du͂los
Obscuring New Testament Slavery A Study of the Translation History of Δοῦλος
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 obscur...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
|
| In: |
Journal of the bible and its reception
Year: 2025, Volume: 12, Issue: 1, Pages: 23-56 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Doulos
/ Slavery
/ New Testament
/ Translation
/ Reader-response criticism
|
| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Slavery
B δοῦλος B Bible translations B New Testament B Reception History |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | 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. |
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| ISSN: | 2329-4434 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of the bible and its reception
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/jbr-2024-0002 |
