Strong’s G1398 · Greek

δουλεύω
douleúō

Definition

to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary)

Etymology

from G1401 (δοῦλος);

Where the KJV renders it

  • be in bondage
  • (do) serve(-ice)

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.