Abstract
In I Cor. 7:23b Paul commands, me ginesthe douloi anthropon, “Do not become slaves of human beings.” His injunction comes at the end of one of the most controversial passages of the Pauline corpus, I Cor. 7:21, to which an entire monograph has been devoted. The prevailing translation of this pericope ostensibly reads as a Pauline commandment for Christian slaves not only to remain in bondage but to reconcile themselves to their status as an appropriate exercise of their faith. The implications of this interpretation of Paul’s words were not lost on subsequent commentators in slaveholding societies. It is on the basis of this passage that Theodoret, in his commentary on I Corinthians, forbids flight from servitude on the pretext of religion.
Commenting on verse 21 he writes, Grace knows not a difference between slavery and lordship. Therefore, do not flee from slavery as [being] unworthy of the faith. But if it happens that you may be free, continue being a slave.