G1401: Doulos: Slave, bond-slave, servant

<p>TDNT of OT/Jewish usage of doulos: The relation to this root shows that doúlos emphatically denotes the slave and the status of slavery. &nbsp;doúlos carries the thought is that of the illegality and unreason of the service. &nbsp;Since the word group denotes restrictive service, it is the proper term for the relation of ruler and subjects, for it expresses both the power demanded on the one side and the subjection and bondage experienced on the other.

TDNT of NT usage of doulos: &nbsp;the total commitment of doúloi and the total claim of the kýrios serve here to illustrate the unconditional lordship of God and the unconditional responsibility of believers to him. Thus if slaves have two masters, as might happen, they cannot show the same commitment to both. Similarly, one cannot be a true doúlos of God without throwing off mammon (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Mt+6%3A24">Matt. 6:24</a>). &nbsp;

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume.

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