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ABSTRACT
This paper interprets the concept of δοῦλος in 1 Timothy 6:1-2 in the context of socio-economic slavery in Nigeria. Using the liberation hermeneutics approach, the paper argues that the concept of δοῦλος in 1 Timothy 6:1-2 is a typical reflection of injustice and oppression to the person or group being socio-economically exploited. The resonance of the text with the Ibibio narrative of socio-economic slavery in Nigeria is the similarity of treatments accorded the δοῦλος in domestic and economic affairs in first-century Greco-Roman setting. Drawing on existing literature and the text in view, it interrogates the meaning of δοῦλος in a Greco-Roman setting and the status accorded the δοῦλος in the original and contemporary socio-economic settings of the study. The result shows that δοῦλος is interpreted to mean slavery. It recommends that the Church and state should put resources together to carry out economic and educational empowerment for the youth.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Jean-Marc Ela, African Cry (Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 1986), § 3; 28–38.
2 Albert Nolan, God in South Africa: The Challenge of the Gospel (Grand Rapids: Erdmann; Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press, 1988), § 7–30.
3 Matthew Schoffeleers, “Black and African Theology in Southern Africa: A Controversy Re-Examined”, Journal of Religion in Africa 18, no. 2 (1988), 99–124.
4 Allison Calhoun-Brown, “The Image of God: Black Theology and Racial Empowerment in the African American Community”, Review of Religious Research 40, no. 3 (1999), 197–212.
5 Solomon A. Ikunga, “The Impact of Missionaries on Slavery and Slave Trade to the Development of Oron People – Nigeria 1800–2000: A Historical Imperative.” International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences & Work Place Ergonomics in Africa 11, no. 6 (2018),15–22. Esp.15.
6 Ikunga, “The Impact of Missionaries on Slavery”, 15.
7 See Jahor S. Azarkievič, “Social Stratification According to Marx and Weber: Comparison of the Theories and Modern Relevance”, June 22, 2015. Available at http://www.academia.edu/19721451/Social_Stratification_According_to_Marx_and_Weber_Comparison_of_the_Theories_and_Modern_Relevance [Accessed March 10, 2017]. See also, Abdul Aziz, “The operational value of human capital theory and cultural capital theory in social stratification”, Citizenship, Social and Economics Education 14, no. 3 (2015), 230–224. Esp. 231–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047173416629510. See also, Rajendra Pandey, “Max Weber's Theory of Social Stratification: Controversies, Contexts and Correctives”, Sociological Bulletin 32, no. 2 (1983), 171–203. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23619228.
8 T. Parsons, “Equality and inequality in modern society, or social stratification revisited,” Sociological Inquiry 40, no. 2 (1970), 13–72.
9 Gerald West, “Biblical hermeneutics in Africa,” available at http://www.chora-strangers.org/files/chora/west2008_Parratt.pdf [Accessed March 10, 2017]. See also, Ephraim Tshuma, “Liberation as a Paradigm for Full Humanity in Africa”, Perichoresis 14, no. 1 (2016), 3–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/perc-2016-0001.
10 West,“Biblical hermeneutics in Africa.” See also, Itumeleng J. Mosala, Biblical hermeneutics and black theology in South Africa (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 67.
11 West. “Biblical hermeneutics in Africa.”
12 T. Mofokeng, “Black Christians, the Bible and liberation”, Journal of Black Theology 2 (1988), 3442. Also see. Mosala, Biblical hermeneutics and black theology in South Africa, 41.
13 Peter Kirby, "1 Timothy," Early Christian Writings, 2017, available at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/1timothy.html, Accessed June 6, 2017.
14 S.J.Felix, “The Pastoral Epistles: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus,” Available in http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Paul-Pastorals.htm, accessed June 6, 2017.
15 Felix, “The Pastoral Epistles.”
16 For more details on arguments for Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles (PE), see E.Y. Hincks, “The Authorship of the Pastoral Epistles”, Journal of Biblical Literature 16, no. 1 (1897), 94–117. See also, Stanley E. Porter, “Pauline Authorship and the Pastoral Epistles: Implications for Canon”, Bulletin for Biblical Research 5 (1995), 105–23. See also, Christopher M. Date, “By Command of God Our Savior: A Defense of the Pauline Authorship of the Pastoral Epistles”, Diligence: Journal of the Liberty University Online Religion Capstone in Research and Scholarship 1, no. 1 (2016), Article 5. Esp. § 12–16. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/djrc/vol1/iss1/5 pp. 12–16.
17 Felix, “The Pastoral Epistles.”
18 Helmut Koester, History and Literature of Early Christianity (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2000), 304–06.
19 Doug Heidebrecht, “Reading 1 Timothy 2:9–15 in Its Literary Context“, Direction 33, no. 2 (2004), 171–84.
20 Richard I. Pervo, “Romancing an Oft-Neglected Stone: The Pastoral Epistles and The Epistolary Novel”, Journal of Higher Criticism 1 (1994), 25–47.
21 Uwem Jonah Akpan, “Law and Public Governance in the Ibibio Traditional Society”, Research Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies 3 no. 2 (2017), 1–12. Esp.1. Also see Daniel Offiong, Witchcraft, Sorcery, Magic & Social order Among the Ibibio of Nigeria (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1991).
22 For more information on the Old Cross River State, see Joseph Robert Bassey, “The British Palm Oil Trade, Judicial Development and Denial of Fundamental and Socio-economic Rights in Old Calabar, 1813–1906: A Study in Legal History of Nigeria”, The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies 5 no. 5 (2017), 80–92.
23 This number is according to the 2006 official population census conducted in Nigeria.
24 “Akwa Ibom State- Land Of Promise”, in https://www.cometonigeria.com/region/south-south/akwa-ibom/ Accessed June 23, 2018.
26 John A.Ottuh, “The Church and Community Development in Nigeria: The Church in Etinan as an Illustration”, Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 4, no. 6 (2014), 1–8.
27 Solomon A. Ikunga, “The Impact of Missionaries on Slavery”, 15.
28 Ikunga, “The Impact of Missionaries on Slavery”, 15.
29 Ikunga, “The Impact of Missionaries on Slavery”, 15–16.
30 Ekaette U. Ekong, “Coastal Trade in Awa, Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria 1900–1970.” Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 4, no. 4 (2014), 134–42. Esp. 138.
31 Ekong, “Coastal Trade in Awa”, 138.
32 Ekong, “Coastal Trade in Awa”, 139.
33 Ekong, “Coastal Trade in Awa”, 140
34 Ekong, “Coastal Trade in Awa”, 140.
35 Ikunga, “The Impact of Missionaries on Slavery and Slave Trade”, 16.
36 Daniel A. Offiong, The Status of Slaves in Igbo and Ibibio of Nigeria.” Phylon (1960-) 46, no1 (1985), 49–57. Esp. 49.
37 Godswill Akpabio, “Akwa Ibom: The Story of Uncommon Transformation”, Published: 08/10/11. Available online in http://www.pointblanknews.com/Speech/os5373.html. Accessed June 23, 2018.
38 While Hope Waddell Training Institute was established in 1895 in Calabar (Effik land), Etinan Institute was established in 1915 in Etinan (Ibibio land). The separation of the ststae from the former Cross River State make Etinan Institute the oldest educational institution in Ibibio land.
39 See Canaan Banana, “The Biblical Basis for Liberation Struggles”, From his book, The Gospel According to the Ghetto (Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo press, 1990), 42–55; Originally published in: The International Review of Mission 1979, 417–23 and written while still in detention. See also, Jean-Mark Ela, African Cry (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986). See also, Nolan, God in South Africa. See also, Biblical Hermeneutics and Black Theology in South Africa by Itumeleng J. Mosala. See also, Benjamin A. Nireh, “Africa in the New Testament”, in Interpreting the New Testament in Africa, edited by Mary N. Getui, Knut Holtner & Victor Zinkuratire (Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 2001), 68–82.
40 Catherine Hezser, Jewish Slavery in Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 439pp. Cited in Carmichael, “Jewish Slavery in Antiquity”, 222.
41 Hezser. Jewish Slavery in Antiquity.
42 See Calum Carmichael’s Review on “Jewish Slavery in Antiquity, by Catherine Hezser (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) 439pp.” In Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 26, no. 3 (2008), 222–24. 10.1353/sho.0.0187.
43 Solomon Zeitlin, “Slavery During the Second Commonwealth and the Tannaitic Period”, Jewish Quarterly Review 53 (1962–3), 194–97. Esp.197.
44 Zeitlin. “Slavery During the Second Commonwealth.”
45 Ephraim E. Urbach, “The Laws Regarding Slavery as a Source for Social History of the Period of the Second Temple, the Mishnah and Talmud”, in Papers of the Institute of Jewish Studies, edited by J. G. Weiss vol. 1 (Jerusalem: University College London, 1964), 4. Cited by Hezser, Jewish Slavery in Antiquity, 6.
46 Hezser, “Jewish Slavery in Antiquity”, 6.
47 Keith Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves: Sociological Studies in Roman History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), 8–13.
48 Hezser, “Jewish Slavery in Antiquity”, 9. Also See Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study, Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1982), 39.
49 Hezser, “Jewish Slavery in Antiquity”, 6.
50 David Meager, “Slavery in Bible Times.” Cross†Way Issue Autumn 102 (2006): http://archive.churchsociety.org/crossway/documents/Cway_102_Slavery1.pdf. Accessed November 14, 2017.
51 Meager, “Slavery in Bible Times.”
52 Meager., “Slavery in Bible Times.”
53 Meager, “Slavery in Bible Times.”
54 Meager, “Slavery in Bible Times.”
55 Punt, Postcolonial Biblical Interpretation, 8.
56 Martin Rumscheidt, Feminist Biblical Interpretation: A Compendium of Critical Commentary on the Books of the Bible and Related Literature (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012), 843.
57 See Stephan J. Joubert, “Managing the Household Paul as Paterfamiliars of the Christian Household group in Corinth.” In Modeling Early Christianity: Social-Scientific Studies of the New Testament in its Context, edited by Philip Esler (Lodon and New York: Routledge, 2002), 213–22; Esp. 214.
58 Thayer's Greek Lexicon, “Strongs NT 1401: δοῦλος”, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. Also available online in http://biblehub.com/greek/1401.htm. Accessed June 25, 2018. Also see the Greek “δέω” Vine's Expository Dictionary. Available online in https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G1210&t=KJV.
59 Ronald F. Youngblood, ed., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1995), 1185.
60 The Encarta, “slave”, in Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993–2008 Microsoft Corporation.
61 Emmanuel K. E. Antwi, “Church Involvement in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Its Biblical Antecedent vis-à-vis the Society’s Attitude to Wealth”, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 44, no. 2 (2018), 10. https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/3245.
62 Antwi, “Church Involvement”, 10.
63 Scott S. Bartchy, "Slaves and Slavery in the Roman World", in The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, edited by Joel B Green and Lee Martin McDonald (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 169–178. Esp. 169,171. See also, Albert J. Harill, "Slavery", in Dictionary of New Testament Background, edited by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 1124–1127. Esp.1126.
64 Antwi, “Church Involvement”, 10.
65 Antwi, “Church Involvement”, 10.
66 Youngblood, ed., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1186.
67 Karl Heinrich Rengstorf, “δοῦλος”, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard Kittel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 2; 261–80.
68 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Thessalonians (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008), 186–87.
69 Robert H. Thune, Deacons: A Theological Study (2007), 2. Available online in http://bobthune.s3.amazonaws.com/Deacons_%20A_Theological_Study.pdf. Accessed June 27, 2018.
70 Hermann W.Beyer, “διάκονος”, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard Kittel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 2; 261–80. See also, Ralph Martin, The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, an Introduction and Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 57–58. See also, Charles A. Hodgman, “Servant”, in Wycliffe Dictionary of Theology, edited by Everett F.Harrison, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Carl F.Henry (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2004), 480–81.
71 J. Thayer, “Οἰκονόμος”, Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
72 W. Grundman, “δοῦλος”, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich and Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing,1985), 1:182–89. Esp.182.
73 Grundman, “δοῦλος”, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 182.
74 Driver B. Brown, “עָ֫בֶד”, Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.
75 Brown, Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon.
76 Thayer and Smith, "Greek Lexicon entry for Therapon", The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, (1999). Available online in https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/therapon.html. Accessed June 27, 2018. Also see Frederick William Danker, Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), 101. δοῦλος occurs more than 300 times in the Septuagint. It occurs 124 times in the Greek New Testament.
77 Driver Brown et al, Hebrew Lexicon entry for “`abad.” The NAS Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon. Available https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/abad.html. Accessed March 26, 2020.
78 E. Hatch and H.A. Redpath, Concordance to the Septuagint (Graz: Akademische Druck-U. Verlagsanstalt, 1954), 345.
79 Adam Clarke, “Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:1”, The Adam Clarke Commentary. Available in https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/1-timothy-6.html. 1832. Accessed March 18, 2018.
80 R. Trench, “despotés: lord, master.” HELPS Word-studies, 96. Available online in http://biblehub.com/greek/1203.htm. Accessed March 19, 2018.
81 Clarke, “Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:1."
82 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise (NRSV).
83 Ilaria Ramelli, Social Justice and the Legitimacy of Slavery: The Role of Philosophical Asceticism from Ancient Judaism to Late Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 112–13.
84 Richard Gamauf, “Slaves doing business: the role of Roman law in the economy of a Roman household,” European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire 16/3 (2009), 331–46. See also, Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion: The Invisible institution in the Antebellum South (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
85 Katherine Ann Shaner, Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 102.
86 It reads: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold” (NRSV).
87 Adam Donaldson, Peasant and Slave Rebellions in the Roman Republic. Ph.D Dissertation (Tucson, AZ, USA: Department of History, The University of Arizona, 2012), 7. Available in http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/268576/1/azu_etd_12565_sip1_m.pdf. Accessed March 18, 2018
88 George Whitefield, Three Letters from the Reverend Mr. G. Whitefield (Philadelphia: Franklin, 1740), 14. Also see George Whitefield, The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A. Late of Pembroke-College, Oxford, And Chaplain to the Rt. Hon. The Countess of Huntingdon Containing All his Sermons and Tracts, vol. 2 (London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry; and Messrs. Kincaid and Bell, at Edinburg. 1771), 404. See also John Pollock, George Whitefield and the Great Awakening (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972), 126.
89 Kevin W. Simon, The Truth Shall Set You Free: The Bible, the Revolution, and the Debate Over Slavery in the American South, M.A. Thesis (Lynchburg, Virginia: Liberty University, 2012), 20–21. Also see chapter three
90 Kopano Ratele and Leswin Laubscher, “Making white lives: neglected meanings of whiteness from apartheid South Africa”, Psychology in Society 40 (2010), 40, 83–99. Also see Paul Maylam, “Explaining the apartheid city: 20 years of South African urban historiography”, Journal of Southern African Studies 21 no. 1 (1995 & 2007), 19–38.
91 Simon, 39. See also, Chris Livesey, Social Inequality-Theoretical Perspectives: Weber. A-Level Sociology Teaching Notes. Avaiable online in http://www.sociology.org.uk/notes/siweber.pdf. Accessed June 28, 2018.
92 Those who have gone through this experience, share their experiences with their pastors and relatives in Etinan, Akwa Ibom State.
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Notes on contributors
John Arierhi Ottuh
John Arierhi Ottuh, My training is in Biblical Interpretation in African Context mainly New Testament literature and theology. At my Ph.D level, my research encompasses peace building and liberation paradigm from the perspective of Luke 4:16-22 in the context of the Niger Delta conflict handling in Nigeria. The conflict is seen in the context of the text as something caused by myriads of issues such as health dangers emanating from environmental degradation, and oppression as a result of deprivations and marginalisation. This arouses the need for liberation from health problems and oppression by way of peaceful engagements. At the master’s level, drawing on John 8:1-11, my thesis focuses on the liberation of the oppressed from cultural and religious oppression especially as it relates to women. John 8:1-11 was interpreted in the context of adultery from Urhobo indigenous Religious and Cultural settings. In my lecturing and research experiences, I have developed a special interest in Comparative Literature (New Testament and African literature) and Church Community Hermeneutics, leading to the literary analysis of biblical texts and their contextual application in African milieus. My most recent publications include a monograph on “Towards Ethnic Liberation Theology in Nigeria: A Polemic in a New Testament Perspective" (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019) and articles on “Was Samson a Promiscuous Man (Judges 13-16)? Viewing Samson as a Human Figure in a Theoretical Approach” (KIU Journal of Social Sciences, 2019); “Okonkwo’s Tragic Flaws in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Judas Iscariot in the New Testament: Paradigm for Nigerian Politicians” (KIU Journal of Humanities, 2018); presently, I have completed my monograph on “Church Community Hermeneutics: A Case Study of Galatians 3:26-28 in an Anglophone-Urhobo African Context” which is currently under peer review. My current research projects which are near completion include (1) “Metaphor of Kinship in New Testament and African Literature and their Contextual Interpretation in African Socio-Cultural Setting,” attempting to answer two fundamental questions. The first question bothers on showing what constitutes New Testament and African literature and whether New Testament and African literature are familiar with the study of kinship. The second question bothers on how kinship is directly or indirectly represented and their possible interpretation in the context of African socio-cultural setting. (2) “Ethno-Religious Conflict and Diversity Management for Sustainable Peace in Nigeria” attempting to show how ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria are caused by mismanagement of religious and ethnic diversity. Using the field, analytical, and historical approaches, it intends to draw inferences on the field and historical antecedence of ethno-religious conflicts to show how religious and ethnic discriminations lead to disproportionate distribution of available resources and unhealthy ethno-religious rivalries in Nigeria. This project will contribute to existing literature in the area of peace-building and diversity management. Since my assumption of lecturing in 2011, I have been teaching courses on New Testament literature, language, theology and other related areas in higher education institutions in Nigeria. In the next five years, I intend to attend more international conferences, publish my completed monographs, do collaborative research with some scholars in other climes, and complete at least three of my ongoing researches.