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This article aims to construct the rights and duties of slave-owners in antiquity as part of the socio-historical context of the New Testament. In order to achieve this aim, the primary sources referring to Greek, Roman and Jewish law of slavery will first be described. Three aspects of the law of slavery, namely legal definitions of freedom and slavery, the legal status of slaves, and the rights of slave-owners are investigated in Greek, Roman and Jewish law. Relevant texts from these sources are then identified, analysed and interpreted. The results of this process of analysis and interpretation are used to construct the legal context within which the exhortations directed at slave-owners in the New Testament should be read. We submit that Jewish law provided a sound alternative legal and religious context to the writers of the New Testament addressing Christian slave-owners. This alternative context functioned as a counterweight to the strict legal contexts provided by Greek and Roman law. Hierdie artikel het ten doel om die regte en verpligtings van slawe-eienaars in die antieke tyd te konstrueer as onderdeel van die sosio-historiese konteks van die Nuwe Testament. Ten einde hierdie doel te bereik, word die primêre bronne van Griekse, Romeinse en Joodse reg eerstens beskryf. Drie aspekte van die reg op slawerny word in Griekse, Romeinse en Joodse reg ondersoek, naamlik regsdefinisies van vryheid en slawerny, die regstatus van slawe en die regte van slaweeienaars. Relevante tekste uit hierdie bronne word vervolgens geïdentifiseer, geanaliseer en geïnterpreteer. Die resultate van hierdie proses van analise en interpretasie word gebruik om die regskonteks waarbinne die oproepe tot slawe-eienaars in die Nuwe Testament gelees moet word, te konstrueer. Ons doen aan die hand dat Joodse reg 'n gegronde alternatiewe regs- en godsdienstige konteks vir die skrywers van die Nuwe Testament gebied het waarbinne met Christen slawe-eienaars gepraat is. Hierdie alternatiewe konteks het as 'n teenwig gefunksioneer teen die streng regskontekste van die Griekse en Romeinse reg.

PhD (New Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus This study aims to interpret freedom in Galatians by constructing the socio-historical context of slavery and adoption imagery in the first century AD. The central theoretical argument is that a valid understanding of the concept of freedom held by first readers is essential for a valid interpretation of the letter to the Galatians and that taking into account slavery and adoption imagery enables a valid interpretation of the meaning of freedom in the letter. The study applies metaphorical theory as well as philological methodology for the analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of the collected material. Chapter 1 provides the problem statement and an outline of the study. Chapter 2 first defines a study filter to delimit the semantic domain of freedom, slavery, and adoption in Galatians and then describes the relationship between the concept freedom and the imagery of slavery and adoption. The diachronic meaning of slavery and adoption is analysed in subsequent chapters to identify the various backgrounds to Paul’s usage. In chapter 3 the slavery and adoption context is constructed by analysing primary texts from the Old Testament. In chapter 4 the primary texts on slavery in the first-century Jewish cultures are investigated. In chapter 5 the law on slavery and adoption in the first-century Graeco-Roman is analysed and subsequently the contribution of the philosophical writings is investigated. In chapter 6 the results of the analysis of slavery and adoption imagery in the preceding chapters are utilised in the relevant interpreatation of these concepts in Galatians. Chapter 7 summarises the findings and conclusions of the study. This study has concluded that Paul’s Jewish background, including some elements of pre-rabbinical Jewish literature, influenced the letter to the Galatians regarding the relationship between the concept of freedom and the imagery of slavery and adoption (sonship). Since Paul was writing to a gentile audience in order to persuade them to return to the true gospel, metaphors of slavery and adoption, because they are embedded within the Graeco-Roman household, are effective communication bridges to reach his audience. Within this framework, Israel’s God is depicted as a caring father in the household who redeems all human beings from the status of slaves to that of children, with full rights of inheritance. God has achieved this by sending his Son Jesus Christ to restore the relationship between God and humanity, by giving himself up as a ransom for all. In the light of the slavery and adoption imagery used in the letter and through the Lord Jesus Christ, freedom in Galatians is shown to be not a movement from slavery to freedom, but a movement from (negative) slavery to (positive) slavery, resulting in the dual identities of sons of God (vertical) and slaves of Christ to serve the familial members in love (horizontal). Doctoral