Prisoner of Faith

For the LORD listens to the needy, and His captives He has not despised.  Psalm 69:34 [Hebrew Bible]  Robert Alter

Captives – Paul often introduces himself as doúlos christóu which is typically translated “bond-servant.”  But that’s not what it really means.  A doúlos is a slave—compulsory, bound service.  In the Greek world, this designation was reserved for human beings who had the status of property, like furniture or rugs on the floor.  No rights!  None!  Sold as goods in the market.  In fact, in a famous Platonic dialogue there is a debate about whether a master should be held liable for killing a slave.  After all, the dead man was of no more worth than a bag of fertilizer.

Of course, the Hebraic concept of slavery isn’t like the Greek concept (and certainly not like the contemporary idea of slavery).  Hebrew slaves taken in war or indentured servants (paying off debt) had personal status and human rights.  They could not be treated like furniture.  We must keep this in mind when we read the Hebrew ʾāsîr, “prisoner, bondman.”  God has slaves, but they are not held in contempt (bāzâ).  In other words, God values His captives.  They are of inestimable worth to Him.  How do we know this?  The entire history of Israel is a witness to the high regard God has for His people.  Despite all their rebellions, God never lets them go.

What does it mean “to be a prisoner of God”?  First we must realize that there were no “prisons” in our modern sense in the ancient world.  Men were not incarcerated as punishment for crimes.  No restitution occurred because someone was held in a confined space for some period of time.  Confinement did occur but only as a temporary location until the actions of restitution could be determined.  What matters is atonement, not confinement, and atonement was determined by the injury caused to another.  So, when David pens ʾāsîray, he does not mean “held in heavenly jail.”  He means under the sovereign control of the master until the debt is paid.  In this case, the debt is life itself, given by God to each of us, and therefore, to be a captive of God is to belong to Him, not as a conquered person but as one who recognizes his debt and commits to honor it.

According to this verse, God’s captives are also ʾebyônim.  Unfortunately, “needy” doesn’t do justice to this word.  There are four related words for “poor”; the distinctions are crucial.  ʿonî means “afflicted,” and is sometimes translated into English with the same word as ʾebyôn.  dal also means “poor,” but in the sense of financial hardship.  Finally, rāš means “weak,” but is again often translated as “poor.”  ʾebyôn stresses the desperate destitution of the subject.  These distinctions are particularly important in Yeshua’s statement (mistranslated as), “Blessed are the poor . . .”  He is not addressing the financially strapped, the oppressed, or the weak.  He is addressing those who are desperate beggars for God.  These are God’s captives and God has a special place in His heart for them.  A captive of the Lord is a person who knows that he or she can’t survive without benevolence; without an outright, unmerited gift of mercy.  The prisoner of faith is a hostage of grace.

Topical Index: doúlos, slave, ʾāsîr, indentured, ʾebyôn, destitute, Matthew 5:3, Psalm 69:34