What Does Titus 2:9 Mean in the King James?
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “servants” names people bound to a master, and the verse places even their speech under that authority.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to a person held in service under a master: obedience, pleasing conduct, and no contradiction are the terms it lays down. It reaches into speech as well as action, placing the servant’s voice under the master’s authority.
THE ROOT
δούλους
doulous
GROWS FROM
δουλ-
doul-
Bondage or enslavement; being bound to another’s service.
The KJV’s “servants” translates doulos, a word for a slave or bondservant. Its word-family includes douleia, “slavery” or “bondage,” showing that the text’s subjection is part of the word’s force, not just a description of someone’s work.
ALSO GROWS
douleuō: To serve as a slave; to be enslaved.
δουλεύω
The verb carries the same bond of service into the act of serving.
douleia: Slavery; bondage.
δουλεία
This noun names the condition behind the servant’s relation to a master.
ἀντιλέγοντας
antilegontas
GROWS FROM
λεγ-
leg-
To say or speak.
“answering again” in this verse is antilegontas. The Greek verb means to speak against or contradict, so the phrase reaches beyond repeating an answer. The verse places a limit on contradiction itself, bringing the servant’s speech within the authority it describes.
ALSO GROWS
legō: To say; to speak.
λέγω
This verb carries the basic act of speech contained in the phrase.
logos: Word; message; account.
λόγος
The related noun names spoken content, echoing the verse’s concern with what the servant says.
THE PATTERN
Scripture’s instructions to servants name submission as the governing posture within a master’s household, even under harsh authority.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.THE THREAD
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.Both verses use δοῦλος (doulos, “slave” or “bondservant”) for “servants.” Peter makes the pressure of that relation explicit: submission extends even to masters described as “froward,” sharpening the force of the authority named here.
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