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BOND, BONDAGE
Anything that fastens or restrains; subjection or slavery. The basic concept in Hebrew and Greek words translated “bond” or “bondage” is “loss of freedom.” The concept connotes servitude to another. The OT uses several words for bondage to describe the period of Israelite servitude in Egypt as well as the Babylonian captivity and Persian domination. Some English versions use the word “bond” to denote a state of individual servitude, such as the conditions of indenture permitted under the laws of Moses (Lv 25:39-44, KJB). The archaic term “bondmaid” is used to denote a concubine or secondary wife. The concept is used metaphorically to describe the control that God exercises over the nations of the world (Ps 2:3).
In the NT the bondage metaphor has positive and negative aspects. Negatively, it indicates spiritual subjection to sin or Satan (Heb 2:14-15; 2 Pt 2:19), to the flesh (Rom 8:12-14), or to the Law (Gal 2:4; 5:1). Human beings are enslaved when forces hostile to their well-being control their actions. The term is also used to picture the subjugation of creation to physical decay (Rom 8:21), which itself is the result of human sin.
The positive aspect draws upon the broader use of bondage in the Bible to denote servanthood, especially service to God as an obligation or vow (Nm 30:2-15; Ez 20:37). The term describes the necessity and value of suffering (Heb 10:34; 13:3). Paul especially uses it in a double sense (calling himself a “prisoner of Christ”) to associate his physical bonds with his spiritual bondage to Christ (Eph 3:1; Phil 1:7-14; 2 Tm 1:8; 2:9; Phlm 1:9-10, 13).
See also Slave, Slavery.