δούλῳ
doûlos
servant’s
Fundamentally denotes a person bound in servitude to another, typically one lacking personal freedom and under the authority of a master; most commonly rendered 'slave.' In broader usage throughout Greek sources, can indicate a variety of dependent or subordinate statuses, from literal enslaved persons to metaphorical service or devotion (e.g., allegiance to a deity, commitment to a cause or leader). Context determines whether the sense is strictly legal (chattel slavery), domestic (household servant), or figurative (spiritual or moral subjection).
John 18:10 · Word #25
Lexicon G1401
| Lemma | δοῦλος |
| Transliteration | doûlos |
| Strong's | G1401 |
| Definition | Fundamentally denotes a person bound in servitude to another, typically one lacking personal freedom and under the authority of a master; most commonly rendered 'slave.' In broader usage throughout Greek sources, can indicate a variety of dependent or subordinate statuses, from literal enslaved persons to metaphorical service or devotion (e.g., allegiance to a deity, commitment to a cause or leader). Context determines whether the sense is strictly legal (chattel slavery), domestic (household servant), or figurative (spiritual or moral subjection). |
Morphology N DAT M SG
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | N — Noun — A person, place, thing, or idea |
| Case | DAT — Dative — Indirect object, means, or location |
| Gender | M — Masculine — Grammatical masculine |
| Number | SG — Singular — One |
Common Translation
| Phrase | servant’s |
| Literal | servant-Dat.M.Sg. |
Lexical Info
| Lemma | δοῦλος |
| Strong's | G1401 |
SIBI-P1 Translation G1401-02
to a slave
| Morphological Notes | Noun, masculine, singular, dative (Gr,N,,,,,DMS): denotes an indirect object or relational function such as "to/for/by a slave." |
| Rendering Rationale | The dative masculine singular form indicates "to/for a slave" or "by/with a slave" depending on syntactic use, but without context the core sense is preserved as "to a slave." "Slave" best reflects the root idea of one bound in absolute subjection, aligning with the δουλ- stem. |
View full lexicon entry for G1401 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
servant
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | 'to a slave' is less fitting here; since the referent has already been specified, 'servant' is sufficient and fits the context. |