atilitate sive alia qualitate ducta. Ex quo porro apparet, quo plures res ab aliquo populo inveniantur, eo ditiorem et uberiorem eorum linguam fieri, ut adeo mirandum non sit tantam esse linguæ Græcæ copiam et ubertatem, quum exculta ea fuerit a populo ingeniosissimo, cui omnes artes et disciplinæ non tantum primordia sua, sed etiam omnem fere splendorem, debent. Linguas itaque diligenter consideranti, idem quod in artibus, in iis quoque usu venire apparebit: eas nimirum a paucis simplicissimisque initiis profectas, non nisi sensim et progressu temporis ad eam qua postea patuerunt amplitudinem pervenisse. Quum autem hominum natura ita sit comparata, ut primum eas res circumspiciat, quæ necessario ad vitam sustentandam, et cum aliis quibuscum homo societatis vinculo conjunctus est secure agendam, requirantur, dein vero ea excogitat quæ vitam jucundiorem possint reddere, valde verisimile fit vocabula ea in linguis antiquissima esse quibus res designantur ad vitam degendam necessariæ, si recesseris ab iis vocabulis, quæ in antiquissimorum vocabulorum locum deinceps substituta sunt, ut revera hujus generis multæ vocabulorum formæ inveniantur, quæ verborum obsoletorum locum occupaverunt. "Porro non alienum erit hic observasse non tantum ejusmodi vocabula antiquissima existimari debere, sed etiam ipsas' significationes verbis subjectas tanto antiquioris usus esse, tantoque magis proprias esse habendas, quanto sunt propiores iis rebus quas corporis sensibus percipimus. Ab iis enim semper servata quadam similitudine ad reliquas quascumque verborum significationes progrediendum est: ut adeo appareat, paucissimas revera esse proprias verborum significationes,' nec alias esse nisi corporeas, sive eas quibus res sensibus externis expositæ designantur. "E contrario autem, translatarum significationum copiam immensam, quæ ex propria notione, tanquam ex trunco arboris rami, quaquaversum pateant; manente similitudine inter eas omnes et propriam seu primam stirpis significationem, similiter atque rami, utcumque dispersi, et communem et communis trunci naturam retinent. "Ex his præterea intelligitur ea verba, quæ ovouala nɛñoiueva a Græcis vocantur, sic dicta quia a 'nomine' vel 'sono' formentur, propriam' eam significationem quæ soni, unde facta sunt, naturam referat. Quorum verborum numerus ingens revera in linguis est, et longe major quam vulgo credi solet. Sed, ut ad propositum redeamus, ex iis quæ supra dicta sunt, clare apparet, simplicissimas origines non posse repeti nisi ab ejusmodi verbis, 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 douλos, 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 dou20s, 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 Sou205 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 douλos 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 66 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 and lofty distinction. a proud 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: P. 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. ρον Ρ. 34. Τοὺς μεγίστους, ἔφη, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα θηρία, ἅ πρότεαὐτὸν 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. Eschylus, Prometheus Chained. Line 463: κάζευξα πρῶτος ἐν ζυγοῖς κνώδαλα ζεύγλαισι δουλεύοντα. In his Chæphoroi line 75: ἐκ γαρ οίκων πατρῴων δούλιον ἐσᾶγον αἶσαν, δίκαια καὶ μὴ δίκαια, πρέποντ' ἀρχαῖς βίου, βίᾳ φερομένων αἰνέσαι πικρόν φρενῶν 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, Esculapius, and Hercules: ἐγὼ δε, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν 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. |