¹ NRSV, here and elsewhere in this study. Most manuscripts of Matthew have οὐδɛίς with a few manuscripts containing the additional οἰκέτης. Luke has οὐδɛὶς οἰκέτης with NA²⁸ recording no textual variants for the Lukan verse. Partial forms of the saying with Greek and Coptic words for ‘slave’ occur in 2 Clem 6.1 and Gos. Thom. 47 respectively. On the question of the saying's oldest form, see the summary of different views in D. T. Roth, The Parables in Q (LNTS 582; London: T&T Clark, 2018) 247 n. 95.

² On the legitimacy of using documentary papyri, which come predominantly from Egypt, as evidence for daily life in other Roman provinces and the study of the NT, see P. Arzt-Grabner, Philemon (PKNT 1; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2003) 45–56, who also discusses criteria for comparing papyri with the NT; S. R. Huebner, Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019) 1–7 and the literature she cites on p. 139 n. 13. Worth noting is that the Gospels presuppose a number of slave-related situations similar to those in Roman Egypt: e.g. slaves act as go-betweens (e.g. Matt 21.34–6; BGU 1.37, 50 ce), work in agricultural settings (e.g. Luke 17.7; P.Fay. 110–12, 94–9 ce), prepare their masters’ meals (Luke 17.7–10, P.Wisc. 1.5.31–3 (with BL 13.131), 185 ce), conduct business for their masters (Matt 25.14–30; BGU 4.1079.15–20 (with BL 2.23), 41 ce), manage their masters’ households/estates including other slaves (Matt 24.45; P.Lond. 3.1213–15, 65–6 ce), etc.

³ For an analysis of this two-part structure, see Roth, Parables, 248–50. Exceptions to the consensus include Safrai, S. and Flusser, D., ‘The Slave of Two Masters’, Immanuel 6 (1976) 30–3Google Scholar, who see here the rabbinic concept of the human struggle to serve the creator and one's own inclination (Ruth Rab. 3.1); see also Bovon, F., Luke 2: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 9:51–19:27 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2013) 462Google Scholar. For a critique of this interpretation, see Keener, C. S., The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2009) 233 n. 203Google Scholar. A few others seek to either downplay or cast doubt on a reference to slavery in the Matthean version, which lacks a noun for ‘slave’ in the running text: Betz, H. D., The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49) (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) 455–9Google Scholar; Schnackenburg, R., The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2002) 71Google Scholar; Munari, M., ‘“No One Can Worship Two Lords” (Matt 6:24a): Freeing the Logion from the Imagery of Slavery’, Liber Annuus 65 (2015) 125–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Without going into a detailed evaluation of these interpretations, it should be said that none of these authors takes into account Matthew's comparison of God to human slave owners in other passages (13.24–30; 18.23–35; 21.33–46; 22.1–14; 24.45–51; 25.14–30). This makes it more likely than not that the combination of κύριος and δουλɛύω in Matt 6.24 refers to human slavery as an analogy for enslavement to God.

⁴ McNeile, A. H., The Gospel according to St Matthew: The Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Indices (London: Macmillan, 1928) 85Google Scholar; Hill, D., The Gospel of Matthew (NCBC; Grand Rapids/London: Eerdmans/Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1972) 143Google Scholar; Blomberg, C. L., Matthew (NAC; Nashville: Broadman, 1992) 124Google Scholar; cf. Betz, Sermon, 456, who thinks that cases of joint ownership are exceptions to a ‘legal provision’ against its practice.

⁵ Other examples, apart from documentary papyri discussed below, include Jewish sources (e.g. T. Jos. 14.2; m. Pesaḥ 8.1; m. Ed. 1.13; m. Gitt. 4.5; b. Ḥag. 2a–2b; b. ‘Arak. 2b; b. Gitt. 42a; b. B. Qam. 90a), Greek and Roman literary and legal sources (e.g. Dio Chrysostom, Or. 66.13; Dig. 14.3.13.2; 15.1.15–16; 41.1.37.1; 45.3), and inscriptions (e.g. IG 8.3325, 2^nd cent. bce; IG 9(2).1282, 50 bce). For discussion on some Jewish sources, see C. Hezser, Jewish Slavery in Antiquity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) 106–8, 290, 374; for co-ownership in the context of κοινωνία, i.e. partnerships in which multiple persons pooled resources together for a common purpose, particularly within Greek cultural and legal frameworks, see U. Roth, ‘Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus: A Christian Design for Slave Mastery’, ZNW 105 (2014) 102–30, at 117–120; for jointly owned slaves in the imperial household, see P. R. C. Weaver, Familia Caesaris: A Social Study of the Emperor's Freedmen and Slaves (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972) 53, 62–8. The evidence from rabbinic sources, the Digest and the imperial household challenge Betz’ aforementioned claim about a ‘legal provision’ against co-ownership of slaves.

⁶ This assumes that the saying describes a slave who is actually owned by two masters. Munro, W., Jesus, Born of a Slave: The Social and Economic Origins of Jesus’ Message (SBEC 37; Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1998) 340–1Google Scholar, suggests that the saying refers to a slave who has one owner but whose services are hired out to another individual. However, the analogy with service to God and mammon supports the view that the saying describes enslavement to two (competing) owners.

⁷ E.g. Dupont, J., ‘Dieu ou Mammon (Mt 6,24; Lc 16,13)’, Études sur les Évangiles synoptiques (2 vols.; BETL 70B; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1985) ii.551–567, at 551Google Scholar; Nolland, J., Luke 9:21–18:34 (WBC 35B; Dallas: Word Books, 1993) 807Google Scholar.

⁸ E.g. A. Sand, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (RNT 1; Regensburg: Pustet, 1986) 138; W. Wiefel, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (THKNT 1; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1998) 141–2; J. J. Hatter, ‘Slavery, the Enslaved, and the Gospel of Matthew: A Narrative, Social-Scientific Study’ (PhD diss., Loyola University of Chicago, 2021) 237–40.

⁹ E.g. B. Witherington III, Matthew (SHBC; Macon: Smyth and Helwys, 2006) 150–1: ‘The Aramaic comparative mechanism seems to be at work in v. 24b with the love/hate contrast really referring to being more devoted to the one than to the other’. Scholars frequently note this ‘Aramaic comparative mechanism’ as Witherington calls it. U. Luz, Matthew 1–7: A Commentary (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007) 335, thinks that this interpretation is unnecessary in Matthew since readers would have immediately associated ἀγαπάω with the commandment to love God. However, this is questionable since, with the exception of Matt 22.37, Matthew always uses ἀγαπάω for human-to-human ‘love’ (5.43–6; 19.19; 22.39).

¹⁰ E.g. Hatter, ‘Slavery’, 243–5; M. J. Smith, ‘Slave Parables in Luke and the Antebellum South’, Luke 10–24 (B. E. Reid, and S. Matthews; Wisdom Commentary 43B; Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2021) 458–9, at 459.

¹¹ W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (3 Vols.; ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988) i.642; R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church under Persecution (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994²) 115.

¹² E. P. Groenewald, ‘God and Mammon’, Neot 1 (1967) 59–66, at 62.

¹³ S. van Tilborg, The Sermon on the Mount as an Ideological Intervention: A Reconstruction of Meaning (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1986) 148–52; J. Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005) 303; Hatter, ‘Slavery’, 239, 245.

¹⁴ J. A. Glancy, Slavery in Early Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) 107–8; R. B. Vinson, Luke (SHBC; Macon: Smyth and Helwys, 2008) 525.

¹⁵ Like the Gospel saying, most papyri provide the slave owner's perspective.

¹⁶ To my knowledge Glancy, Slavery, 107–8, has gone the furthest in bringing documentary papyri to bear on the saying, but her assessment is brief. C. Spicq, ‘Le vocabulaire de l'esclavage dans le Nouveau Testament’, RB 85 (1978) 201–226, at 205 n. 2; and Keener, Matthew, 233, go no further than citing papyri as evidence for the joint inheritance of slaves.

¹⁷ I focus on slaves with multiple legal owners, not on slaves with one legal owner but who nevertheless serve or have a relationship with other free persons (e.g. P.Brem. 63.9–11, Teeus in 19–23, 116 ce?; SB 24.16257.1–20, 123 ce; P.Oxy. 3.496.5–6, 127 ce; P.Tebt. 2.407, after 199 ce?) nor on under-slaves (e.g. the vicarii in O.Berenike 2.184–188, 50–75 ce). Abbreviations of papyrus editions are taken from the Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic, and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca, and Tablets (ed. J. F. Oates, R. S. Bagnall, S. J. Clackson, A. A. O'Brien, J. D. Sosin, T. G. Wilfong, and K. A. Worp) https://papyri.info/docs/checklist#Papyri. I rely on the texts of the Papyrological Navigator (https://papyri.info/), which incorporate the corrections in the Berichtigungsliste der Griechischen Papyrusurkunden aus Ägypten (BL). Dates of cited papyri are derived from Trismegistos (https://www.trismegistos.org/). I cite commentaries in editions following the conventions employed in the Papyrologische Kommentare zum Neuen Testament (PKNT) series: editor name ‘in’ name of edition (abbreviated), volume number (where applicable), page number. Translations are mine unless otherwise noted.

¹⁸ To be sure, not all cases of joint ownership by siblings are the result of inheritance: see e.g. P.Mich. 5.264–5.8–9, 37 ce, in which a mother sells one-fifth of a slave to her two children.

¹⁹ I. Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage dans l’Égypte gréco-romaine: Période romaine (2 Vols.; Archiwum Filologiczne 35; Wroclaw/Warzawa/Kraków/Gdańsk: Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 1977) ii.124–8.

²⁰ M. Hombert and C. Préaux, ‘Les papyrus de la Fondation égyptologique Reine Élisabeth, V: Fragment de κατ’ οἰκίαν ἀπογραφή’, CdE 14 (1939) 161–70, at 164–5; cf. W. L. Westermann, Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 40; Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1955) 122 n. 49. Cf. P.Lond. 2.360 (with BL 8.177–8), 151 ce, in which a certain Stotoetis releases one-fifth of a pledged slave to his sisters after they repay one-fifth of their mother's debt.

²¹ In such cases, the slave owners could decide to divide the slaves among themselves, which may result in individual ownership of slaves (e.g., P.Mich. 5.323–325, 47 ce; SB 20.14258, 59 ce; P.Oxy. 44.3197.1–17, 111 ce). R. Zelnick-Abramovitz, ‘Half-Slave, Half-Free: Partial Manumission in the Ancient Near East and Beyond’, HSCP 110 (2019) 1–58, at 9–10, thinks that such divisions were for the purpose of avoiding legal disputes.

²² Apparently, this practice of partial manumission, which is also attested in rabbinic sources, was not permissible in Rome, where the share of a slave relinquished by one owner was passed on to the other owner(s). Its practice in the Greek poleis is also a matter of dispute. See J. A. Straus, ‘Slaves and Slavery in the Roman Period’, Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest: A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introduction and Commentary (ed. J. G. Keenan, J. S. Manning, and U. Yiftach-Firanko; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014) 452–61, at 460–1; Zelnick-Abramovitz, ‘Half-Slave’, 7, 12–13.

²³ Cf. J. A. Straus, ‘L'esclavage dans l'Egypte romaine’, ANRW 2.10.1 (1988) 841–911, at 885. These are, of course, legal issues, which may not always translate into actual practice.

²⁴ Cf. Benaissa's comment on the aforementioned P.Oxy. 86.5558: ‘The testamentary disposition presumably means that Claudia was to serve Plemis for a third of her time, e.g. ten days each month or four months each year’ (A. Benaissa in P.Oxy. 86 p. 92).

²⁵ B. A. van Groningen in P.Fam.Tebt. p. 134; Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage, ii.130; Straus, ‘L'esclavage’, 885–6.

²⁶ P.Oxy. 34.2713, 297 ce, would also seem to fit the fourth scenario since all co-owners appear to live in the same house (ll. 11–12).

²⁷ B. A. van Groningen in P.Fam.Tebt. p. 134; Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage, ii.130–1.

²⁸ Since Horaiane is not among those declared in the census return, it is likely that both sisters lived apart from each other. To be sure, the text of P.Brux. 1.19 is incomplete, but only the top, where male members of the household would have been listed, is missing: see R. S. Bagnall and B. W. Frier, The Demography of Roman Egypt (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time 23; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994) 200.

²⁹ Straus, ‘Slaves and Slavery’, 459.

³⁰ Hombert and Préaux, ‘Papyrus’, 163, 165. That both slaves are domestic workers is suggested by their lack of occupations: cf. Bagnall and Frier, Demography, 71.

³¹ The opening portion of the text which would normally mention the declarant's name is missing. G. Nachtergael in P. Brux. 1 p. 46, assumes that Laberia is the declarant. However, R. S. Bagnall, ‘Notes on Egyptian Census Declarations, V,’ BASP 30 (1993) 35–56, at 38, argues that her husband is the declarant.

³² Trans. Straus, ‘Slaves and Slavery’, 460.

³³ Hombert and Préaux, ‘Papyrus’, 165; I. Bieżuńska-Małowitz, ‘Les esclaves en copropriété dans l'Egypte gréco-romaine’, Aegyptus 48 (1968) 116–29, at 121; Straus, ‘L'esclavage’, 885. On the relationship between census returns and tax payments, see Bagnall and Frier, Demography, 27–8.

³⁴ However, see Bieżuńska-Małowitz, ‘Esclaves en copropriété’, 121, who thinks that all the slaves reside exclusively with Laberia.

³⁵ Dioskoros is also attested in his son's tax receipts, where he is consistently referred to as ‘Dioskoros, slave of Laberia’ (Διοσκόρου δούλου Λαβɛρίας, P.Harr. 2.180–9, 134–46 ce). This could be another indication of Dioskoros’ greater service to Laberia, or it could be that Horaiane had died or relinquished her share of Dioskoros to Laberia.

³⁶ See the list of declarants in Bagnall and Frier, Demography, 179–325.

³⁷ M. Hombert and C. Préaux, Recherches sur le recensement dans l'Egypte romaine (P. Bruxelles inv. E. 7616) (Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava 5; Leiden: Brill, 1952) 58–9.

³⁸ It is thought that a fourth slave, who was named first in the list of slaves, is no longer preserved in the papyrus: see J. E. Powell in P.Harr. 1 p. 42 and Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage, ii.127, who speak of four slaves. However, see S. Llewelyn, ‘P. Harris I 62 and the Pursuit of Fugitive Slaves’, ZPE 118 (1997) 245–50, at 248, who disputes this.

³⁹ See Llewelyn, ‘Pursuit’, 246–50 for discussion.

⁴⁰ There is some missing text following the reference to Arabion (ll. 9–10), but this would have contained the name of Arabion's village (ἀπὸ κώ[μης . . . . . . . ]), with not enough space for references to other co-owners.

⁴¹ Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage, ii.127.

⁴² The same would be true if it were assumed that the slaves resided with all co-owners.

⁴³ See the list of wet-nursing contracts and receipts in M. Parca, ‘The Wet Nurses of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt’, Illinois Classical Studies 42 (2017) 203–26, at 218–23.

⁴⁴ Cf. P.Mich. 3.202.12–15, 105 ce.

⁴⁵ Cf. Zelnick-Abramovitz, ‘Half-Slave’, 6. Both partners may have found it advantageous to invest in only a part of a slave – slaves were a risky investment as they could escape, get sick, or die, and a commonly owned slave might mean that the co-owners share the burden of tax payments: Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage, ii.131.

⁴⁶ However, B. A. van Groningen in P.Fam.Tebt. p. 140, prefers to think of these as separate events, which would mean that Martilla was taken not once but twice.

⁴⁷ Bieżuńska-Małowitz, ‘Esclaves en copropriété’, 123 and Zelnick-Abramovitz, ‘Half-Slave’, 10, share the suspicion that cases of co-owners manumitting, selling off, or auctioning off their shares in a slave (P.Freib. 2.8.10–16, 144 ce; P.Oxy. 4.716, 186 ce etc.) are the result of difficulties arising from joint ownership or attempts to avoid legal complications arising from co-ownership.

⁴⁸ Other cases of family disputes that involve jointly owned slaves in the first three centuries ce include: P.Oxy. 34.2713, 297 ce, a petition in which Aurelia Didyme complains that her uncles took her share of their joint and undivided inheritance, including slaves (ll. 12, 24); P.Cair.Isid. 62.16–19, 297 ce, in which two sisters dispute their step-mother's claim on half a share of their late father's slave. Neither case suggests that the slaves play active roles in the disputes.

⁴⁹ It has been suggested that Sarmates was actually a freedman or at least thought himself to have been freed from all obligations by Aurelia's parents: J. Frösen in P.Oxy.Hels. p. 104; J. Rowlandson, ed., Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998) 194. Conversely, A. L. Connolly in New Docs. 4 p. 102, thinks that since Aurelia appears to have been widowed, Sarmates may have considered her too weak to pursue her ownership claims.

⁵⁰ Cf. P.Bingen 74.11–14 (after 130–99 ce), which mentions that a certain Eros (possibly a slave) has been detained over his non-payment of ἀποφορά to ‘the orphans’ (possibly his owners).

⁵¹ It is possible that Luke's οἰκέτης refers specifically to domestic slaves: H. Klein, Das Lukasevangelium (KEK 1/3; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006) 543; E. Baasland, Parables and Rhetoric in the Sermon on the Mount: New Approaches to a Classical Text (WUNT 351; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015) 366; cf. Acts 10.7, where οἰκέτης could also have this meaning. However, the context does not make this clear, and οἰκέτης could be a general reference to slaves. In literary and documentary sources, οἰκέτης is often used interchangeably with other slave terms (cf. the earlier discussed P.Oxy.Hels. 26.10, 15, 16) and is used for both domestic and non-domestic slaves even by the same authors: see Bieżuńska-Małowitz, L'esclavage, ii.11; J. G. Gibbs and L. H. Feldman, ‘Josephus’ Vocabulary for Slavery’, JQR 76 (1986) 281–310, at 288–9, 294–5; R. Zelnick-Abramovitz, ‘Greek and Roman Terminologies of Slavery’, The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Slaveries (ed. S. Hodkinson, M. Kleijwegt, and K. Vlassopoulos; Oxford University Press, 2018) https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199575251.013.41.

⁵² See also Dupont, ‘Dieu ou Mammon’, 562; Nolland, Luke 9:21–18:34, 807; M. Wolter, Das Lukasevangelium (HNT 5; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008) 551. Cf. John Chrysostom Hom. Matt. 21.1, who says that the love-hate, devoted-despise contrasts are meant to show that it is possible and easy for those who are enslaved by wealth (ἐδουλώθην ἅπαξ, ἐτυραννήθην ὑπὸ τῶν χρημάτων) to transfer themselves to God and vice versa.

⁵³ The verb ἀντέχω does not occur anywhere else in either Gospel.

⁵⁴ Matt 5.43–6; 10.22; 18.10; 19.19; 22.37, 39; 24.9; 24.10; Luke 1.71; 6.22, 27, 32, 35; 7.5, 42, 47; 10.27; 11.43; 14.26; 19.14; 21.17. The verbs do not occur in Acts.

⁵⁵ Cf. Munro, Jesus, 340–1, who considers it plausible that the saying reflects Jesus’ own experience as a former slave, who was hired out to other individuals.

⁵⁶ Groenewald, ‘God and Mammon’, 60 and Baasland, Parables, 367, do rely on rabbinic texts, Dio Chrysostom and Acts 16.16 for their respective claims that serving two masters was ‘considered undesirable’ and considered by most readers to be ‘impossible’. However, neither Chrysostom, the rabbis, nor Acts says anything about the slave's greater loyalty to one master, and, therefore, cannot be used to support the gospels’ particular claim. Nolland, Matthew, 304, relies on Varro's prescription on the proper treatment of slaves (Rust. 1.17.6–7) for his claim that ‘the slave owner who engendered affection was likely to get more than his fair share of the efforts of the shared slave’. Varro, however, does not discuss jointly owned slaves and is describing an ideal situation from his perspective, not necessarily reality.

⁵⁷ L. Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary (TNTC 3; Leicester/Grand Rapids: InterVarsity/Eerdmans, 1988) 273.

⁵⁸ D. L. Turner, Matthew (BECNT; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008) 197.

⁵⁹ C. A. Evans, Matthew (NCBiC; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012) 156.

⁶⁰ J. R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Luke (PilNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015) 458.

⁶¹ See also M. J. Harris, Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Devotion to Christ (NSBT 8; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1999) 113; M. Davies, Matthew (Readings; Sheffield: Phoenix, 2009²) 64; Keener, Matthew, 233. But see the more nuanced comments in F. W. Beare, The Gospel according to Matthew: A Commentary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1981) 183.

⁶² Note also van Tilborg's critique: ‘Everyone seems to act as if the saying expresses a reality, i.e. one lets oneself be deceived by the rhetoric of the words, or rather one allows the point of view of the narrator to coincide with one's own. This is a fallacy.’ (Sermon, 148).

⁶³ Glancy, Slavery, 108.

⁶⁴ J. B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 597. Cf. Gundry, Matthew, 114; Hatter, ‘Slavery’, 238, who consider this possibility.

⁶⁵ Hatter, ‘Slavery’, 244–5, makes this connection in Matthew.

⁶⁶ Cf. F. E. Udoh, ‘The Tale of an Unrighteous Slave (Luke 16:1–8 [13])’, JBL 128 (2009) 311–35, at 331.

⁶⁷ J. A. Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social and Moral Dimensions (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006) 25–6; Id., ‘The Psychology of Slaves in the Gospel Parables: A Case Study in Social History’, BZ 55 (2011) 63–74; M. J. Stoutjesdijk, ‘“Not Like the Rest of the Slaves”? Slavery Parables in Early Rabbinic and Early Christian Literature’ (PhD diss., Tilburg University, 2021) 135–66.

⁶⁸ Harrill, Slaves, 25–6; Id., ‘Psychology’, 66–8.

⁶⁹ Already in Classical Greece, the figure of a slave whose loyalties are divided between two owners is attested in one of Lysias’ speeches (Lysias 4: On a Wound by Premeditation 8, 17). On the unreliability of Lysias’ characterisation of this slave, see S. C. Todd, A Commentary on Lysias, Speeches 1–11 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) 374, who notes a contradiction in Lysias' statements about the slave; A. Glazebrook, Sexual Labor in the Athenian Courts (New York: University of Texas Press, 2021) 30–42. It might be that this idea was current as a slave stereotype when and where the gospels were written.

⁷⁰ Admittedly, papyri also contain slave stereotypes, but the everyday nature of these documents sets them apart from the more intricate literary shaping of slave conduct that frequently occurs in literary texts.