{"id":93324,"date":"2026-02-18T06:45:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=93324"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:08:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:08:54","slug":"enslaved-scribes-new-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/ancient-cultures\/ancient-rome\/enslaved-scribes-new-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"Enslaved Scribes and the New Testament"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John dictating his Gospel (Armenian manuscript, 1495). CC-BY 4.0\u202fInternational\/Wellcomecollection.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Slavery is hard to sit with. It exposes grave horrors in how people have treated each other and challenges core beliefs about human worth and goodness. Confronting slavery means confronting the gap between professed ideals and historical realities, and asking how societies remember\u2014or suppress\u2014uncomfortable truths. That tension becomes intensified when slavery appears within texts that shape moral and theological formation, like the Bible.<\/p>\n

Given the sensitivity of this topic, it is important to be clear: Examining the role of enslaved scribes in the composition of the New Testament is not meant to excuse or justify slavery in any form, but to provide historical context for the texts.<\/p>\n

The New Testament Was Produced by Enslaved Labor<\/h4>\n

In her column \u201cThe Hidden Hands Behind the New Testament\u201d<\/em><\/a> in the Winter 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review<\/em>, Candida R. Moss points out that, when we imagine the authors of the New Testament, we picture apostles and evangelists\u2014Paul dictating theology, Mark recording Peter’s memories, and scribes preserving sacred words. What we almost never picture, the University of Birmingham professor writes, are the enslaved persons whose labor made those texts possible. Yet without them, the New Testament would not exist. It\u2019s a provocative claim.
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\r\nIn the free eBook<\/em> Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus<\/strong><\/a>, top scholars discuss the historical Israelites in Egypt and archaeological evidence for and against the historicity of the Exodus.<\/em>\r\n
Early Christianity emerged within the Roman Empire, a society dependent on slavery. Literacy was rare, and advanced writing was typically handled by trained professionals, many of whom were enslaved. The early church, despite its message of spiritual equality, operated within this system.<\/p>\n

Readers generally reckon with the presence of slavery in the New Testament in one of three ways: by treating slavery as historical context rather than moral endorsement; by acknowledging that the early church accommodated slavery and therefore reflects complicity; or by arguing that the gospel offers a program of human dignity that ultimately undermines slavery, even if it does not call for immediate abolition.<\/p>\n

Evidence from Paul\u2019s Letters<\/h4>\n

Paul\u2019s letters explicitly acknowledge scribal involvement in the composition of what would later form part of the New Testament. Romans 16:22 names Tertius\u2014Latin for \u201cthird\u201d\u2014as the one who wrote the letter. This fits a Roman convention for enslaved persons to be named a number. In several letters, Paul recounts writing \u201cwith his own hand\u201d (Galatians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18). These notices would be unnecessary if Paul wrote all letters himself.<\/p>\n

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FREE ebook: Paul: Jewish Law and Early Christianity<\/strong>. Paul\u2019s dual roles as a Christian missionary and a Pharisee.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t