Grant Slaves Equality: Re-Examining the Translation of Colossians 4:1
This essay offers a fresh challenge to the widely accepted translation of Colossians 4:1. Though isotes normally means "equality", most scholars insist that in Colossians 4:1 the term must instead mean "fairness", for the author evidently assumes the continuation of slavery in th...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Tyndale House
[2017]
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| In: |
Tyndale bulletin
Year: 2017, Volume: 68, Issue: 1, Pages: 59-71 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Kolosserbrief 4,1
/ Slave
/ Equality
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| Further subjects: | B
Slavery and the church
B Peer reviewed B Church History 0030-600 B Greek Language Terms Isótes B Bible. Colossians |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This essay offers a fresh challenge to the widely accepted translation of Colossians 4:1. Though isotes normally means "equality", most scholars insist that in Colossians 4:1 the term must instead mean "fairness", for the author evidently assumes the continuation of slavery in the Christian community. Thus English versions render the command "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly" (RSV). In support of this translation, scholars routinely cite a handful of texts that are purported to demonstrate that the term isotes could mean "fairness" instead of "equality". In this essay, I challenge such an interpretation of these texts. Furthermore, by demonstrating that a first-century moralist could exhort masters to treat their slaves as equals without thereby recommending the abolition of slavery, I challenge the assertion that the context of Colossians 4:1 requires a meaning of isotes other than the one well attested in the extant Greek literature. I conclude that Colossians 4:1 should be rendered as follows: "Masters, grant slaves justice and equality." This conclusion has important implications not only for Bible translators, but also for scholars attempting to reconstruct the situation at Colossae or describe early Christian attitudes towards slavery. |
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| ISSN: | 0082-7118 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Tyndale bulletin
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