What with the ESV translation committee’s concern that the word “slave” (translation of the Greek doulos) has “irredeemably negative associations and connotations,” I wondered how my preferred translation, the New American Standard Bible, handled the same word (and the prefixed version, sundoulos, which generally they translate by adding “fellow,” as in “fellow slave.”). The NASB mostly renders it “slave,” but at a number of places, it has “bond-servant,”—a fact which stood out to me when I began preaching through the book of James a few years ago. James 1:1: “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,…”.
Here’s the frequency of each of the NASB’s various translations of doulos (including the plural form and both singular and plural of sundoulos):
“Slave(s)”—103 times
“Bond-servant(s)”—25 times
“Bondslave(s)”—6 times
“Servant(s)”—4 time
I was curious about the variety, so I emailed the Lockman Foundation to ask for an explanation. Here’s the response:
The use of the term “slave” is a complex issue, one which we continue to review given its connotations. The NASB has the terms “bond-servant” and “bondslave” in places where “slave” might sound harsh for the context, though the three words all mean the same thing since “bond” refers to “bondage”. Of course “fellow” is included for the Greek sundoulos. The NASB translators felt that in all of these places a softer term than “slave” was justified because the relationship is one of voluntary submission to deity, though the duties and obligations are not thereby mitigated.
When you look through the specific verses, a pattern emerges that confirms their explanation…
