The Rhetoric and Ethic of Translating and Representing Enslaved Persons in New Testament and Early Christian Studies

Ancient Mediterranean literature and artistic depictions portray enslaved persons as diminutive, marginal, and non-descript—when they are portrayed at all. In this article, we ask how scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity might navigate texts that deal with enslavement and/or enslaved...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal for the study of the New Testament Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 5 - 32
Main Authors Bonar, Chance, Cobb, Christy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2025
Subjects
slavery studies
translation theory
slavery
enslaved persons
Early Christianity
New Testament
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ISSN0142-064X
1745-5294
DOI10.1177/0142064X251326121

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Summary:Ancient Mediterranean literature and artistic depictions portray enslaved persons as diminutive, marginal, and non-descript—when they are portrayed at all. In this article, we ask how scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity might navigate texts that deal with enslavement and/or enslaved persons, and offer a guide to ethical translational theory pertaining to ancient slavery. We begin by offering an overview of key theoretical and methodological innovations from scholarship on slavery in the Atlantic World that might be applied to enslavement in the ancient Mediterranean. We then turn to four Greek terms—doulos/doulē, pais, paidiskē, and kurios—both to show how scholars have typically translated these words and to suggest how a ‘agency-centered’ translational approach might help validate the humanity of enslaved persons in antiquity as well as more accurately describe their experience of enslavement.
ISSN:0142-064X
1745-5294
DOI:10.1177/0142064X251326121