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Old 03-14-2009, 04:06 PM
Bill Bill is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: las vegas
Posts: 59
Default Selectively Changing "Servant" to "Slave"

Reading the books of the New Testament from Romans through Revelation in the KJV and the NIV and noting where the word "servant" in the KJV has been replaced by the word "slave" in the NIV and where it has not been changed, it can be seen that the word servant has been left as servant where it would apply to religious authorities and changed where it would apply to a person under religious authority (laity).
The following verses are where the word servant would apply to lay people and has been changed to slave: Romans 6:16-22 (eight times); 1Corinthians 7:21-23 (four times) and 9:19; Galatians 4:1,7; Ephesians 6:5,6; Colossians 4:1; 1Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:9; Philemon verse 16; 1Peter 2:18.
The following verses are where the word servant would apply to a religious authority and has not been changed: Romans 1:1, 16:1; 2Corinthians 4:5, Philippians 1:1, 2:7; 2Timothy 2:24; 1Peter2:16; Hebrews 3:5; James 1:1; 2Peter 1:1; Jude verse 1; Revelation 1:1, 2:20, 7:3, 10:7, 11:18, 15:3, 19:2,5,
22:3,6.
There are more books of the Bible to be read for this type of word change. I think the word servant is used in the Bible over 860 times. There are some changed verses which I find ambiguous as to the positions of the people they describe and there are some unchanged verses such as Romans 14:4 which I think could apply to either authorities or laity, and 2Peter 2:19 where the word servant is correlated with bondage to sin and the change seems in line with the meaning of the verse. The translation changes are not total but extensive enough to show an intended patters. The verses with clear, unambiguous association with either religious authorities or laity are selectively changed according to the pattern.
The KJV uses the word bond, or bondage, as an equivalent to slave. Galatians 3:28 contrasts bond with free, as does Ephesians 6:8, Colossians 3:11, Revelation 19:18, and 1Corinthians 12:13. Hebrews 2:15, in agreement with Romans 8: 15-21 says that the fear of death causes bondage; a condition from which God delivers. Ephesians 6: 5-9 applies the word "master" to both a Christian with organizational authority and to God, which show that it indicates a voluntary arrangement. The KJV has the necessary terminology to describe the condition of slavery and does not apply it to a Christian life.

Last edited by Bill; 03-14-2009 at 04:08 PM. Reason: punctuation