Greek word · G558
ἀπελεύθερος
apeleutheros
freedman
A freedman: a person who had been a slave and was legally released (manumitted) by an owner. It is a status word, distinct from eleutheros ('free, freeborn'). In the Roman world a freedman normally remained the client of his former master, now his patronus (patron).
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 1 Corinthians 7:22
- Range of meaning
A freedman: a person who had been a slave and was legally released (manumitted) by an owner. It is a status word, distinct from eleutheros ('free, freeborn'). In the Roman world a freedman normally remained the client of his former master, now his patronus (patron). He owed him respect and loyalty and often agreed days of labour or services, and he usually took his patron's family name.
- Against the English
BSB, NASB and ESV have 'freedman' (NIV 'freed person'), which is exact. The KJV's 'freeman' and the WEB's 'free man' blur it into 'a free person'. In older English 'freeman' could even mean a citizen with civic privileges. The NLT turns it into a state ('free in the Lord') and loses the picture of a released slave who now belongs to a patron.
- How it drifted
English has no everyday word for a freed slave, because the institution of the freedman class does not exist in modern society. 'Freeman' and 'free man' sound like a plain contrast with 'slave', so the in-between status Paul chose is lost.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Common in Greek inscriptions and papyri for manumitted slaves, and the Greek equivalent of the Latin libertus. Ignatius of Antioch (c. AD 110), Romans 4.3, picks up this verse: 'if I suffer, I shall become a freedman of Jesus Christ.' The Latin Vulgate renders it libertus Domini, again exact.
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 1
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1 Corinthians 7:22 ἀπελεύθερος a freedman
For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
Here: Not simply 'a free man' but a technical word for a former slave who has been manumitted (formally released). Such a person kept lasting ties and duties to the patron who freed him. This is the only use of the word in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.