[Kolokotronis]

"Doulos is really a servant."

Sorry; nope, a slave, not a σκλαβος, more of a what we think of as a servant but a slave nevertheless, Kosta mou. Brainwashing, compulsion, rape etc is not at all implicated by the word, however, which might well be implicated by σκλαβος.

[kosta50]

Sorry; nope, a slave, not a σκλαβος, more of a what we think of as a servant but a slave nevertheless, Kosta mou

Thank you, Kolo mou, on the clarification. I realize that, and perhaps I should have said obligated servant, but I was trying to avoid any confusion with the term indentured servant, which is someone forced.

The Slavonic equivalent is ряб (ryab) which means slave in the vernacular. Thus a priest using vernacular no longer uses the term ryab but слуга (sluga) which means an obligated servant, literally "one who obeys [or listens]," because it is derived from the verb to obey служити , and from which the word for service (includig the muilitary service, as well as divine service, the litugy) is derived, служба (sluzhba), and the word слушати (slushati), to listen (as in obey).

I believe the modern meaning of doulos is different from the ancient one but I may be mistaken. The NT dictionary mentions bondsman as one definition which seems to fit the term obligate servant. Other definitions mention a slave as well as a servant.