quibus actiones ipsæ significentur; adeoque a verbis sic proprie dictis. 'Quumque actiones infinitæ, sive nulli certæ personæ adsignatæ, per rei naturam antecedere debeant iis quæ certæ personæ attribuuntur, verba infinitiva' simplicissima proprie primas linguæ Græcæ origines continere certum est. "Harum autem plurimæ, quum jam a longissimis temporibus, una cum plerisque notionibus propriis, ex usu ceciderint, ac difficillimæ sæpe indagatu sint, quo certiores progredi possimus, id semper tenendum est, ne quidquam admittamus quod constanti analogiæ linguæ repugnet; dein etiam, ut ex ipsis linguæ reliquiis, rite inter se comparatis, inquiramus a quo verbo originali vocabulum quodque oriatur: etiam tum, quum minus ipsum verbum originale superstes sit. "Ubi enim in sequentibus agetur de 'simplicissimis' verbis 'primitivis,' id non ita accipiendum est quasi ea omnia, sicut etiam multa derivata simpliciora, florente lingua Græca, in sermone Græcorum adhuc exstitisse vellem; sed tantum, in primo linguæ Græcæ ortu, aut exstitisse revera aut saltem existere potuisse. Neque enim, in hoc linguæ Græcæ defectu, æque certo sciri potest, an tanta copia, quantam fingere verborum per linguæ naturam constanti analogiæ ductu liceat, prima linguæ Græcæ ætate reipsa viguerit." Our object is here to present the Greek scholar, who may not have reflected on the subject, such suggestions as will lead him to perceive that dou2o5, doulos, is an original Greek word, not borrowed; and although he may not agree with us in the derivation of the term, yet that he may readily satisfy himself what is the true derivation. It is true, Scheidius, in his "Animadversiones ad analogiam linguæ Græcæ," has criticized the views of Lennepius, and has devoted near thirty pages to that which is our quotation from him; and we did fancy, upon its examination, that he had rather established than weakened the argument of Lennepius: in fact we did propose to quote him as authority; but to the most of us long quotations, in a language to us unknown, are quite objectionable. We therefore refer to his work, pp. 246 to 275, apud Paddenburg et filium, 1790, "Traiecti ad Rhenum." It has been said. by some of those who contend that dovλos, when found in the Greek Testament, does not mean slave, that the Greek, like all other languages of modern date, is a compilation from the more ancient ones; and since the Greeks at an early day had no slaves, it is evident, it is good proof that the more ancient tribes, from whom they and their language descended, had none; and in all such early periods of the world men never had words in their language to express things which did not exist among them, of which they could have no idea. Therefore Sov205 could not have meant slave," an idea of which they had no notion." Even if this statement were true, we do not perceive how it proves their proposition. To show the futility of such argument, we consent, for the moment, that dovλos is not an original Greek word, but was borrowed from some other language, in which it meant something distinct from the idea of slave: say, a freeman, if you choose. Language, and all its parts, has ever been found to conform itself to the habits and wants of those who use it. Wherefore we often find a term, which some centuries ago expressed a certain distinct idea, now to express quite a different one. We therefore cannot say, with any propriety, that, because the word dou2os meant a "freeman," at the age of Noah, that it also meant the same thing at the age of Alexander. If it meant a "freeman" at the age of Noah, we are to determine that fact by its use at that period; if otherwise, we should be able to prove that our word slave does not mean a slave now, but a proud and lofty distinction. It is a term borrowed from the Schlavonic, where its significance was fame, renown, &c.; but the Schlavonians going into bondage to other nations, upon their inroads on Europe, the term implying fame in their ancient national distinctions came to signify in succeeding ages the condition of bondage. But although, as we have seen, a language is modified by the habits of those who apply it, yet this liability to change ceases when the language ceases to be the common vehicle of thought. Such substantially has been the case with the ancient Hebrew, since the era of the prophets; and such has, emphatically, been the case with the ancient Greek since the breaking down of the Roman Empire. And even at the age of the apostles, the Greek had already arrived at the very highest point of its cultivation. No history, no writer gives proof of any subsequent improvement. If, then, we desire with seriousness and truth to determine the significance of any term then in use, the same is alone to be found by an investigation of the Greek literature of that age. There are two modes by which an idea expressed in one language is explained in another. Where both languages contain words of synonymous meaning, then the expressing the idea through the medium of the words in another language, is properly what we mean by "translation." But in many instances, the second language contains no word or words which are synonymes of the term by which the idea is expressed in the language which we wish to translate. In that case we can accomplish the object only by transferring the term expressing the idea from the one language to the other. Example:-When the French exhibited to the natives here a padlock, the natives associated the thing with their idea of the tortoise, from the fancied mechanical resemblance, and with them the name of the one became the name of the other also. But when we exhibited to them a steamboat, they found their language destitute of any word to express their idea of the thing exhibited; consequently, they transferred into their own language the word steamboat, to express the new idea. With a view to be enabled to come to a truthful decision as to the definiteness of the idea intended to be conveyed by the word doulos, when used in the writings of the apostles, let us make a suitable inquiry among the Greek authors read and studied at their time, regardless of what may be the result as to the establishment of any peculiar theory or favourite notion. Let a development of the truth be the sole object of the research, careless of what else may stand or fall thereby. And since all have not chosen to burden themselves with the toilsome lesson necessary in a preparation for such examination, we consent that such may pass it by with the same indifference with which they regard the study. LESSON IV. WE commence our quotations from the Greek authors with the Cebetis Tabula, from the Gronovius edition, Glasgow, 1747: Ρ. 17. —διὸ καὶ ὅταν ἀναλώσῃ πανθ' ὅσα ἔλαβε παρά τῆς τύχης, ἀναγκάζεται ταύταις ταῖς γυναιξὶ δουλεύειν, καὶ πάνθ' ὑπομένειν, καὶ ἀσχημονεῖν, καὶ ποιεῖν ἕνεκεν τούτων ὅσα ἐστὶ βλαβερά. Ρ. 34. Τοὺς μεγίστους, ἔφη, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα θηρία, ἃ πρότερον αὐτὸν κατήσθιε, καὶ ἐκόλαζε, καὶ ἐποίει δοῦλον. Ταῦτα πάντα νενίκηκε, καὶ ἀπέρριψεν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ κεκράτηκεν ἑαυτοῦ, ὥστε ἐκεῖνα νῦν τούτῳ δουλεύουσι, καθάπερ οὗτος ἐκείνοις πρότερον. Æschylus, Prometheus Chained. Line 463: κάζευξα πρῶτος ἐν ζυγοῖς κνώδαλα ζεύγλαισι δουλεύοντα. In his Chöphoroi line 75: ἐκ γαρ οίκων πατρῴων δούλιον ἐσᾶγον αἶσαν, δίκαια καὶ μὴ δίκαια, πρέποντ' ἀρχαῖς βίου, βίᾳ φερομένων αἰνέσαι πικρόν φρενῶν στύγος κρατούσῃ. Burney translates this passage thus: Etenim e domo paterna servilem induxeram sortem, stat juste et injuste, convenienter origini meæ, eorum qui vi agunt laudare acerbum mentis odium coërcenti. Line 133. καγω μὲν ἀντίδουλος —which the same author translates, Et ego quidem pro serva habeor. Anacreon, Sur l' Amour Esclave : Αἱ Μοῦσαι τὸν Ἔρωτα Δουλεύειν δεδίδακται. Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods—Jove, Asculapius, and Hercules: ἐγὼ δε, εἰ καὶ μηδέν ἄλλο, οὔτε ἐδούλευσα ὥσπερ σύ. Translation: Ego vero, si nihil aliud, neque servivi quemadmodum tu, &c. Mercury and Maia: —ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν γῇ κακῶς δουλεύοντες, Ut in terris solent, qui malam servitutem serviunt. Charon sive Contemplantes. Mercury : Οὐ γὰρ οἶσθα ὅσοι πόλεμοι διὰ τοῦτο, καὶ ἐπίβουλαι, καὶ λῃστήρια, καὶ ἐπιορκίαι, καὶ φόνοι, καὶ δεσμά, καὶ πλοῦς μα κρὸς, καὶ ἐμπορίαι, καὶ δουλεῖαι; Nescis enim quot propterea bella existant, et insidiæ, latrocinia, perjuria, cædes, vincula, navigatio longinqua, mercaturæ, servitutes denique ? Cataplus sive Tyrannus: Clotho.—"Ακουε· μᾶλλον γὰρ ἀνιάσῃ μαθών. Τὴν μὲν γυναϊκά σοι Μίδας ὁ δοῦλος ἕξει, καὶ πάλαι δέ αὐτὴν ἐμοίχευεν. Audi, magis enim iis auditis lugebis: uxorem tuam Midas habebit, servus qui olim adulterio illi cognitus est. Megapenthes.—Κἂν ἰδιώτην με ποίησον, ὦ Μοῖρα, τῶν πενή των ἕνα, καν δοῦλον, ἀντί τοῦ πάλαι βασιλέως. Vel privatum me facito, Parca, pauperum unum, vel servum, pro eo, qui rex nuper fui. Necyomantia, Menippus: * * * ἐκολάζοντό τε ἅμα πάντες, βασιλεῖς, δοῦλοι, σατράπαι, πένητες, πλούσιοι· καὶ μετέμελε πᾶσι τῶν τετολμη μένων. ἔνιους δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐγνώρισαμεν ἰδόντες, ὁπόσοι ἦσαν τῶν ἔναγχος τετελευτηκότων. οἱ δε ἐνεκαλύπτοντο καὶ ἀπεστρέφοντο· εἰ δὲ καὶ προσβλέποιεν, μάλα δουλοπρεπές τι, καὶ κολακεύτικον· καὶ ταῦτα, πῶς οιει, βαρεῖς ὄντες καὶ ὑπερόπται παρὰ τὸν βίον; Unà autem omnes puniebantur, reges, servi, satrapæ, pauperes, divites, mendici; cunctosque ponitebat patratorum ; nonnullos agnovimus etiam conspicati, eorum de numero scilicet qui nuper vitam finierant; illi vero præ pudore vultus tegebant seseque avertebant; quod si forte respicerent, valde quidem servilem in modum, atque adulatorie, illi ipsi, qui fuerant quàm putas graves et superbi aliorum contemtores in hac vita. Deorum Comitia: Momus: *** τοιγαροῦν οἱ Σκύθαι καὶ οἱ Γέται ταῦτα ὁρῶντες αὐτῶν, μακρά ἡμῖν χαίρειν εἰπόντες, αὐτοὶ ἀπαθανα τίζουσι, καὶ θεοὺς χειροτονοῦσιν, οὓς ἂν ἐθελήσωσι, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὅνπερ καὶ Ζαμολξις, δουλος ὤν, παρενεγράφη, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως διαλαθών. |