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.