Bondage

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Δουλεία (Strong'S #1397 — Noun Feminine — douleia — doo-li'-ah )

akin to deo, "to bind," primarily "the condition of being a slave," came to denote any kind of bondage, as, e.g., of the condition of creation,  Romans 8:21; of that fallen condition of man himself which makes him dread God,  Romans 8:15 , and fear death,  Hebrews 2:15; of the condition imposed by the Mosaic Law,  Galatians 4:24 . See Serve.

B — 1: Δουλεύω (Strong'S #1398 — Verb — douleuo — dool-yoo'-o )

"to serve as a slave, to be a slave, to be in bondage," is frequently used without any association of slavery, e.g.,  Acts 20:19;  Romans 6:6;  7:6;  12:11;  Galatians 5:13 . See Serve.

B — 2: Δουλόω (Strong'S #1402 — Noun Masculine — douloo — doo-lo'-o )

different from No. 1, in being transitive instead of intransitive, signifies "to make a slave of, to bring into bondage,"  Acts 7:6;  1—Corinthians 9:19 , RV; in the Passive Voice, "to be brought under bondage,"  2—Peter 2:19; "to be held in bondage,"  Galatians 4:3 (lit., "were reduced to bondage");   Titus 2:3 , "of being enslaved to wine;"  Romans 6:18 , "of service to righteousness" (lit. "were made bondservants"). As with the purchased slave there were no limitations either in the kind or the time of service, so the life of the believer is to be lived in continuous obedience to God. See Enslaved , Give , Servant.

B — 3: Δουλαγωγέω (Strong'S #1396 — Verb — doulagogeo — doo-lag-ogue-eh'-o )

"to bring into bondage" (from A, above, and ago, "to bring"), is used in  1—Corinthians 9:27 , concerning the body, RV, "bondage," for AV, "subjection."

B — 4: Καταδουλόω (Strong'S #2615 — Verb — katadouloo — kat-ad-oo-lo'-o )

"to bring into bondage," occurs in  2—Corinthians 11:20;  Galatians 2:4 .

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

‘Bondage’ in the English Versionuniformly represents δουλεία, which can equally well be rendered ‘slavery.’ Note the Vulgate servitus and Wyclif’s corresponding term, ‘servage.’

1. So far as literal slavery is meant in the use of this and kindred expressions, see articleSlavery.

2. ‘Bondage’ has an important figurative use in the Epistles in relation to spiritual experience. It denotes the state of sin. The place filled by slavery in the social structure of that age made such a figure natural and forceful. St. Paul conspicuously employs this description of the sinful state in his discussion of human sin in Romans 5-7. It is evident that he was far more deeply interested in man’s spiritual bondage and his deliverance than in slavery as an institution open to challenge in the cause of humanity. No slavery in his view was comparable with that of a man ‘sold under sin,’ whether lord or slave. This became a commonplace in the thought of the early Church. The writings of St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom notably furnish many instances of its vigorous enforcement. Similar sentiments, it should be added, were held by Plotinus (3rd cent.) and the Neo-Platonic School of Alexandria. (In the NT note the description of man as enslaved to sin,  Romans 6:17; or to passions and pleasures.  Titus 3:3; cf.  Titus 2:3.)

The bondage of the will (‘the will, deprived of liberty, is led or dragged by necessity to evil’ [Calvin, Inst . iii. 2]), a theologoumenon figuring so largely in the Augustinian and the Reformed theology, strains Pauline teaching and finds little or no illustration in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.

3. The righteous life, on the other hand, is also described as a bondage ( Romans 6:18). This servitude, which is that of the δοῦλοι of God, or of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 7:22 f. etc.), is freedom in relation to that of sin (as per se , cf. ‘Whose service is perfect freedom,’ Book of Common Prayer ), and vice versa . But St. Paul surely uses a gentle irony in representing sinners as ‘free’ from the bondage of righteousness ( Romans 6:20).

4. The term is used of other forms of religious life in contrast to the liberty of the Christian life. Thus in the allegory, wrought out in Rabbinical fashion, in  Galatians 4:21 ff., Judaism spells bondage; the gospel, freedom. In  Galatians 4:3 and  Galatians 4:8-10 slavery ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου includes apparently reference both to Jewish legalism and to Gentile devotion to false gods. In this connexion must be noted  Romans 8:15 (cf.  Galatians 4:4-7) with its striking contrast between the servile temper of fear characterizing life under law, so vividly depicted in Romans 7, and the filial spirit of happy confidence pertaining to Christian experience. For another instance of the association of bondage with fear and the antithesis between the filial and the servile condition, see  Hebrews 2:14 f.

5. In  Romans 8:21 all creation is represented as being in bondage-‘servitude to decay’-but hoping for deliverance and for that freedom which characterizes ‘the glory of the children of God.’ With this contrast the reference in  2 Peter 2:19 to ‘the bondage of corruption’ as=moral degradation.

J. S. Clemens.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

This is a word in Scripture of strong meaning. It is not unfrequently made use of for the whole of spiritual slavery, in those who are under a covenant of works. They are said to be in bondage to sin, to Satan, to their own consciences, to the law of God, to the justice of God, to the fear of death, and eternal judgment. Whereas, those that are brought into the liberty of the gospel, are said to be delivered "from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God." Hence the Lord Jesus, in allusion to this blessed change, saith, ( John 8:36) "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." The Holy Ghost by his servant the apostle Paul, ( Galatians 4:22-31,) hath exemplified both these doctrines in a beautiful allegory, in the instances of Sarah and Hagar.

King James Dictionary

BOND'AGE, n. Slavery or involuntary servitude captivity imprisonment restraint of a person's liberty by compulsion. In ancient English law, villenage.

1. Obligation tie of duty.

He must resolve not to be brought under the bondage of observing oaths.

2. In scripture, spiritual subjection to sin and corrupt passions, or to the yoke of the ceremonial law servile fear.  Hebrews 2Gal 2Rom 8

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (a.) Obligation; tie of duty.

(2): (a.) Villenage; tenure of land on condition of doing the meanest services for the owner.

(3): (a.) The state of being bound; condition of being under restraint; restraint of personal liberty by compulsion; involuntary servitude; slavery; captivity.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 1 Corinthians 7:15 (a) This refers to the burden of trying to observe a course of conduct when it is really unnecessary to do so.

 Galatians 5:1 (a) Here we see the burden of trying to keep the law to be saved when there is always a conscious knowledge that it is being broken.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 2:23,25 5 Isaiah 14:3 Ezra 9:8,9

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Bondage. See Slave .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bon´dā̇j  : Used in two senses in Scripture, a literal and a metaphorical sense.

(1) In the former sense it refers ( a ) to the condition of the Hebrews (עבדה , ‛ăbhōdhāh ) in Egypt ( Exodus 1:14 the King James Version;   Exodus 2:23 and often) which is frequently called "the house of bondage" ("slaves," עבדים , ‛ăbhādhı̄m ),  Exodus 13:3 ,  Exodus 13:14;  Exodus 20:2;  Deuteronomy 5:6 and often. It also refers to the condition of the Hebrews in Babylonia (  Isaiah 14:3 , the King James Version) and in Persia ( Ezra 9:8 f), where a slightly different form of the same root ( עבדוּת , ‛abhedhūth ) is used in the original. In both these cases the bondage was not so much personal as national. As a rule individuals were not subject to individuals, but the whole Hebrew people were subject to the Egyptian, Babylonian and the Persian states. They were forced to labor on public works, and otherwise, and were denied their own freedom when the exigencies of state seemed to demand it. The former word ‛ăbhōdhāh is also used in  Nehemiah 5:18 as descriptive of the subject and depressed conditions of the Hebrews in Palestine during the earlier years after their return from captivity, when they were still living under Persian suzerainty. ( b ) The word bondage ( ‛ăbhādhı̄m ) is also used to describe the slavery into which the poor Jews were being forced by their more prosperous brethren in the earlier years under the Persians in Palestine ( Nehemiah 5:5 ). Here true personal, though temporary, slavery is meant. ( c ) Marriage is once referred to as a bondage ( 1 Corinthians 7:15 ) (verb δουλόω , doulóō ).

(2) It is used in the metaphorical sense only in New Testament. ἡ δουλεία , hē douleı́a , "bondage," is the power of physical corruption as against the freedom of life ( Romans 8:21 ), the power of fear as over against the confidence of Christian faith ( Romans 8:15;  Hebrews 2:15 ), and especially is it the bondage of the letter, of the elements, of a ceremonial and institutional salvation which must be scrupulously and painfully observed, as contrasted with the freedom of the sons of God, emancipated by faith in Jesus Christ. This bondage is a peculiarly Pauline idea since he was fighting for Christian freedom ( Galatians 2:4;  Galatians 4:3 ,  Galatians 4:9 ,  Galatians 4:24 ,  Galatians 4:25;  Galatians 5:1 ). In  2 Peter 2:19 the idea is essentially different. Libertinism, masquerading under the name of freedom, is branded as bondage, in contrast with the true freedom of righteous living. See Slavery .