In Front | Eved in Translation, Part 2

The King James, Bible, translated and 1611, uses the word “slave” only twice. The translators of this version were reluctant to use “slave”. For example, in the Leviticus passage, the terms “bondmen” and “bondmaids” are used instead.

Recent translations of the Bible have become more comfortable rendering the word “slave” in the Bible text. This trend is evident in other languages as well, in German and Spanish translations, for example. With this being the case, the likelihood of confusing the biblical meaning of “slave” or “slavery” with our own conceptions is increased. But in fact, the local slavery was very unlike the modern Transatlantic slavery that we are more familiar with, and it was also very unlike the Roman slavery from the time of the New Testament. We’ll talk more about this when we get behind the text.

Reference: Adapted directly from a Peter Williams lecture with his permission.

Dr. Peter J. Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House, a Cambridge-based research institute housing one of the world’s most advanced libraries for biblical scholarship. To learn more, visit https://tyndale.house.com.