# δοῦλος



## JerAyala

Hi there.

My friend just recently got a Biblical Koine Greek tattoo completed.  He's happy with the outcome but the final part came out off-center (δοῦλος).  There's a gap of space left before the word and he's trying to figure out how to amend it.  I'm kind of at a loss, myself, as my knowledge of Greek is limited.  I was wondering if anyone with a more comprehensive understanding of the language could give any ideas on what could be put before δοῦλος.  It's basically supposed to be a simple statement that he is a servant.  I'd say there's about two or three characters worth of space.  Thanks for any and all responses.


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## spyroware

"εἷς" means one, so the tattoo would read "a servant".

But I'd rather hear the whole text before saying something definite.


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## JerAyala

That part of it just the the word δοῦλος by itself.


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## ireney

Hmmm, how about "Σοῦ δοῦλος" (Your servant), "your" referring to God in this case?


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## elliest_5

You might want to add an adjective before δουλος, such as "πιστός" which means faithful - so that "*πιστός δοῦλος*" would mean "faithful servant".

Well, to tell you the truth, I doubt that a person who knows greek would ever want to get a tatoo writing "δουλος" because the meaning of the word is closer to "slave" than "servant"... 

Now if it's a matter of religion he might want to make it "*Θεοῦ δοῦλος*" which means "servant of God" and as far as I know it is a common expression in the Bible.

But if it's not a religious matter, he might want to reverse the meaning of "slave" by adding something that negates it as in "*ποτέ δοῦλος*" = "never a slave"


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## JerAyala

Yeah, we're well aware that the literal translation of "δοῦλος" means "slave".

But thanks for all the suggestions so far.

Elliest, I like your suggestions.  Unforunately, I don't think there's enough space for any of them.

Spyro and Ireney, thank you as well.  I'll pass those along.  Any other suggestions are still welcome also.


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## orthophron

ireney said:


> Hmmm, how about "Σοῦ δοῦλος" (Your servant), "your" referring to God in this case?


Also: Σὸς δοῦλος (Your servant) and, I think, Σοὶ δοῦλος (Σοὶ: objective dative) if you think it can take less space ...

Just to verify the correctness of the dative structure I 'll cite an example from the Bible I came across:
Septuagint: 1 Kings Chapter 12 (Masoretic numbering) or 3 Kings Chapter12 (Alexandrian numbering)
7 δοῦλος τῷ λαῷ
24β δοῦλος τῷ Σαλωμών


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## JerAyala

"Σοὶ δοῦλος" still translates roughly the same, correct?


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## elliest_5

JerAyala said:


> "Σοὶ δοῦλος" still translates roughly the same, correct?


yep, that would be "servant to you"


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## orthophron

Σοῦ δοῦλος or Σὸς δοῦλος = Thy servant
Σοὶ δοῦλος = [a] servant to Thee


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