Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-04-16
Is.
The New Testament Gse and Nean-
ing of 'bDOuIOs.''

The question may arise. IF Pau
had desired to exprerss (iu [ Tim.
6: y the idea hireG S4rCa5lt, could he
have found any other word than
dOuloS?" We answer. in the first
place, that, whether he could have
found it or not, he could not have
used this word doui0S Words, like
other facts, are stubborn thiDge; and
when their meaning has been settled
by the regular usage Of centuries, We
| cannot give them new meaning,
without giving any lntlmatlOn that we
mean by them, not what others mean,
but something totally different from
the established usage. Now the word
| dOul0s nCCcr means hired SCrtant. In
| the whole range of Greek literature
| there IS not an authenticated case III
which the word has that meaning; and
therefore, even If there had been as
great dearth III the Greek language,
as there actually is an abundance OF
words for the expression of the idea
htreti'g; and even If Paul had been
as much distinguished for carelessnoss
as he is for care IN the selection Of his
words, still we could not suppose that
| he could have used lO1t}0S IN the sense
of hireting without apprlslng Us Of the
| liberty he was taking.
But the absurdity Of the interprc-
tation hireting for the word deulD&, IS
manifest from the comparison IF other
| passages, III which the same, or cog
nate idea is expressed. We have
| found the expression hired servant
IN nine passages in our English yer
sion; Ex. II: 45: "a hired servant
shall not eat thereof" Here the Greek
OF the Septuagint Is (uot dDuiDs butt
natsthotOs-one who Is paid Tor ServI-
c9s rendered. So also in Lev. o.: 10.
In Lev. %: 6, the term hired &errUit
is used in such a connection as 10 bring
out vi b special clearuess the differ
ence upon which we have been insist
ing. Our version has it, And the
Sabbath of the land shall be meat for
you; for thee; and for thy servant, and
for thy maid, and for thy hired ST
want" In the SeptuagInt the Greek
word here for SerraJtj IS D0iS-Er-
giish boy" for maid. l3ajdi@hr,, but
%: 40, So, and in Duet. 10: Is, ouE
version has hired scrrat, aud the 6.lt
uagint misthotOs. In Duet. II ii, car
version hired scrra1tt, and the Sepsu-
agint nisthon. In Mark LEO, and
cu1ts, and the Greek, III the first case,
is nlith0tOa, and in the second Hti&fhioi
The word Iirt ling We have found
eight times III the Bible, namely, job
7:I,2: 14:16; Isa 1914; 21:l6; Mad. 50;
John 1913; and in every case but one
the Greek Is n3jSthOtOs. The exception
is IN Job 7:2, where the LAA have
Merdp0a. Thus We see that III some
rrI:.l,
has hired Serraltt, or hirCiing, the
word d0ulOs is not once used as its
Greek equivalent.
But let US examine the term utaafet,
as used IN the original. The Greek
word is dcspotcs,. and under this word
we find III Liddell 4 SCOTS Lexicon,
"A master, lord, strictly IN respect of
slaves; so that the address Of a slave
to his master was O HcSi)Dt cl4ar:
hence despot, absolute ruler, whose
subjects are slaves" Now this is the
word used in | Tim. 6:1 to mean mus
ter. Compare Herodotus Ill, Ill:
3:S9; Thucydides 6:77; Euripides,
Iypp, So; Nenophon's -t7aabGsiS 3D.;
1877; and 4:lO.
Now, if III spite of all these facts, 2
translator, or commentator UW per
vert the Scriptures, and mlslead the
ignorant and the unsuspecting, teach
ing them to believe that when Paul
writes on the relative duties OF master
and slave, he does not mean master
and slave, but something else, which
the words never did mean any where
else, then such translators and com
mentatOrs must bear the blame. Ii
the facts stated above do not dlsproye
the statement that the word stare is
special and distinctive meaning OF
the word" dOuiOs, then we do not sec
how any pathological error can be
disproved by linguistic authority and
evidence.
But what reason does Paul give for
exhorting slaves to honour tnell OWL
ers +? Il is, that the name of God
and His doctrine be not blasphemed. "
The thought is evidently this: eli the
Christian slaves do not attend to their
duties as slaves, and do not honour
their owners, the unbelieving world
will think lightly of, and viii bias
phemo the religion which produces 40
better fruits than these. Compare
Rom. 2:24, and Titus 2:5.
Those, then, who withstand
Pauls doctrine here set forth,
and who contend that the owl
er, as such, has no rights which
the slave is bound to respect,
and that one man cannot lawfully owe
servile obedience to another, are OPP
posing the doctrines of Christ, for We
find Paul, in this same passage. Urg
ing Timothy to eXhort the people il
the doctrine of obedience OF slaves to
their owners; and we see that he calls
this doctrine Wholesome words,
even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ. :"
We have no hesitation in saying
that our views on this subject are
part Of our religion; for before Coium-
bus was born; before this coItinet was
dreamed of; even when the ,Iaraeite5
were iourneying through the wilder
ness, God saw tit to legislate on this
subject; and amidst the dense smoke
and vollied thunders Of SinaI's awful
scenes, there came forth the tables Of
stone, containing mot the ceremonial
buD the ntOrdi law-the Tar for al
tie ayes written with the tinger OF
the Lord G., d omUipotent, declaring
to man that he shouId not coTet ms
neighbor's wife, nor hiS house, nor hiS
man-servant, nor anything that va
his ueighbOr'S.
Slavery had its religious significance
for thousands of years before Ne7v
England was heard of; aud We must b.
pardoned if We prefer the pia'n word
Of God to all the modern theorle@
about the esprit of the age, ''the
logic of events" or the necessity for
''accepting the situation" And even
if we are not pardoned, We will do or
endeavors to possess our souls III such
patience as an unpardoned renti
against the fashionable notions of the
day can Be expected to exercise.
But Paul proceeds to say, that, If
auy man teach otherwise. and consent
not to wholesome words, even tLe
words Of our Lold Jesus Clrlet, nd
to the doctrine which Is acc0rilng to
godliness, he i proud, knowing moth
lg, but doting about questions aud
strifes of words, whereof cometii envy,
strife, ratings evil surmisIn3s, per-
verse disputings of men OF corrupt
minds, and destitute OF thu truth,
supposing that gam is godiiness. We
L.