free/freedom
eleutheros describes persons who are not slaves or who stand released from a binding claim or relationship.
The adjective most often identifies persons in contrast with slaves, whether in social classifications or paired descriptions of slave and free. It also describes release from a marital law and appears in clauses that contrast being free with slavery to sin, evil, or God.
Senses in use
-
A person contrasted with a slave · dominant
The nominative forms occur in repeated slave/free pairings: in 1 Corinthians 12:13 the APB renders the paired groups “slaves or free,” and in Galatians 3:28 it places the pair among distinctions said not to remain. In Galatians 4:22 the genitive feminine form distinguishes the “free woman” from the maidservant, while Revelation 13:16 includes free persons and slaves among those compelled to receive a mark.
-
Released from a binding law or relationship · occasional
In 1 Corinthians 7:39, the nominative singular feminine form describes a wife after her husband dies, in a clause the APB renders “she is free to be married to whom she wishes.” In Romans 7:3, the same morphology occurs after the husband’s death, where the APB renders her as “free from that law.”
-
Freedom stated within moral or relational contrasts · common
In John 8:36, the nominative plural masculine form occurs in the outcome of the Son setting people free; the APB renders the result “you will indeed be free.” Romans 6:20 describes being free in regard to righteousness while being slaves of sin, and 1 Peter 2:16 contrasts free persons with using freedom as a covering for evil while calling them slaves of God.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “free” in slave/free contrasts and in statements of release, while 1 Corinthians 7:39 expands the clause as “free to be married.” These English expressions confirm the clauses' overall contrasts rather than establish a separate rendering for every occurrence.