Reference: Servant
American
This word sometimes denotes a man who voluntarily dedicates himself to the service of another. Thus Joshua was the servant of Moses; Elisha of Elijah; and Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Paul were servants of Jesus Christ. The servants of Pharaoh, of Saul, and of David, were their subjects in general, and their court officers and counselors in particular. The Philistines, Syrians, and other nation were servants of David, that is, they obeyed and paid him tribute. The servants of God are those who are devoted to his service and obey his holy word.
In its primary sense, the word usually means in the Bible either a hired servant, or one whose service was the property of his master for a limited time and under various restrictions. Joseph is the first whom we read of as sold into bondage, Ge 37:27-28. The households of some of the early patriarchs contained many servants, who were apparently treated with kindness and justice; the highest trusts were sometimes confided to them, and they might inherit their master's estate, Ge 14:11-16; 15:2-4; 24:1-10. They shared the religious privileges of the household, Ge 17:9-13,27; 18:19, and were not transferred to other masters.
At the establishment of the Hebrew commonwealth, involuntary servitude was everywhere prevalent; and so far as it existed among the Jews, Moses sought to bring it under the restrictions demanded by religion and humanity. The mildest form of bond-service was that of a Hebrew in the house of another Hebrew. He might become bound to this service in various ways, chiefly through poverty, Ex 21:7; Le 25:39-47; to acquit himself of a debt he could not otherwise pay, 2Ki 4:1; to make restitution for a theft, Ex 22:3; or to earn the price of his ransom for captivity among heathen. This form of service could not continue more than six or seven years; unless, when the Sabbatical year came round, the servant chose to remain permanently or until the Jubilee with his master, in token of which he suffered his ear to be bored before witnesses, Ex 21:2,6; 25:40. The Hebrews servant was not to be made to serve with rigor, nor transferred to any harder bondage; he had an appeal to the tribunals, a right to all religious privileges, the power of demanding release on providing a pecuniary equivalent, and a donation from his master at his release, Le 25:47-55; De 15:12-18. Compare also 2Ch 28:10-11; Ne 5:1-13; Jer 34:8-22. The law likewise provided for the deliverance of a Hebrew, who was in bondage to a resident foreigner, Le 25:47-54.
From the heathen around and among them, especially from their captive enemies and the remains of the Canaanites, the Hebrew obtained many servants. These were protected by law, De 1:16-17; 27:19, and might become proselytes, attend the festivals, enjoy religious instruction and privileges, Ex 12:44; De 12:18; 29:10-13; 31:10-13. The servant who was mutilated by his master was to be set free, Ex 21:26-27; the refugee from foreign oppression was to be welcomed, De 23:15-16; and kidnapping or man stealing was forbidden on pain of death, Ex 21:16; De 24:7; 1Ti 1:10.
Roman slavery, as it existed in the time of Christ, was comparatively unknown to the Jews. The Romans held in bondage captives taken in war, had purchased slaves. Their bondage was perpetual, and the master held unquestioned control of the person and life of his slaves. Yet large numbers were set free, and in many instances Roman freedmen rose to the highest honors.
The allusion of the Bible to involuntary servitude, imply that it is an evil and undesirable condition of life; yet the bondman who cannot obtain his freedom is divinely exhorted to contentment, 1Co 7:20-24. Meanwhile the Bible give directions as to the mutual duties of masters and servants, Eph 6:5-9; Col 3:22; 4:1; Tit 2:9; Phm 1:1-25; 1Pe 2:18; and proclaims the great truths of the common origin of all men, the immorality of every human soul, and its right to the Bible and to all necessary means of knowing and serving the Savior-the application of which to all the relations of master and servant, superior and inferior, employer and employed, would prevent all oppression, which God abhors, De 24:14; Ps 103:6; Isa 10:1-3; Am 4:1; Mal 3:5; Jas 5:4.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And they took all the property of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and departed. And they took Lot and his property, Abram's brother's son, and departed. For he dwelt in Sodom. read more. And one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. And he dwelt by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner. And these were Abram's allies. And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive; and he led out his trained servants, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them as far as Dan. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is to the left of Damascus. And he brought back all the property, and brought again his brother Lot and his property, and the women also, and the people.
And Abram said, Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me? seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, Lo, to me thou hast given no seed, and behold, a son of my house will be mine heir. read more. And behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that will come forth out of thy body shall be thine heir.
And God said to Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee that every male among you be circumcised. read more. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and that shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. And at eight days old shall every male in your generations be circumcised among you he who is born in the house, and he who is bought with money, any stranger who is not of thy seed. He who is born in thy house, and he who is bought with thy money, must be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
and all the men of his house, born in his house, or bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.
For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him.
And Abraham was old, and advanced in age; and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the eldest of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put thy hand, I pray thee, under my thigh, read more. and I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou take not a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am dwelling; but thou shalt go to my land and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac. And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land: must I, then, bring thy son again in any case to the land from which thou hast removed? And Abraham said to him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. Jehovah the God of the heavens, who took me out of my father's house, and out of the land of my nativity, and who has spoken to me, and who has sworn to me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land he will send his angel before thee, that thou mayest take a wife for my son thence. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be quit of this my oath: only, bring not my son thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore unto him concerning that matter. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; now all the treasure of his master was under his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.
Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites; but let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened to him. And Midianitish men, merchants, passed by; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver-pieces; and they brought Joseph to Egypt.
but every man's bondman that is bought for money let him be circumcised: then shall he eat it.
If thou buy a Hebrew bondman, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall be his bondman for ever. And if a man shall sell his daughter as a handmaid, she shall not go out as the bondmen go out.
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall certainly be put to death.
And if a man strike the eye of his bondman or the eye of his handmaid, and it be marred, he shall let him go for his eye. And if he knock out his bondman's tooth or his handmaid's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth.
If the sun be risen on him, there shall be blood-guiltiness for him; he should have made full restitution: if he had nothing, he would have been sold for his theft.
And see that thou make them according to their pattern, which hath been shewn to thee in the mountain.
And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: as a hired servant, as a sojourner, shall he be with thee; until the year of jubilee shall he serve thee. read more. Then shall he depart from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my bondmen, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as men sell bondmen. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; and thou shalt fear thy God. And as for thy bondman and thy handmaid whom thou shalt have of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and handmaids. Moreover of the children of them that dwell as sojourners with you, of them may ye buy, and of their family that is with you, which they beget in your land, and they shall be your possession. And ye shall leave them as an inheritance to your children after you, to inherit them as a possession: these may ye make your bondmen for ever; but as for your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigour. And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family,
And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family,
And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family, after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him.
after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him. Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his next relations of his family may redeem him; or if his means be sufficient, he may redeem himself.
Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his next relations of his family may redeem him; or if his means be sufficient, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of the years, according to the days of a hired servant shall he be with him.
And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of the years, according to the days of a hired servant shall he be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them shall he return his redemption money out of the money that he was bought for;
If there are yet many years, according unto them shall he return his redemption money out of the money that he was bought for; and if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his remaining years of service shall he give him back his redemption money.
and if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his remaining years of service shall he give him back his redemption money. As a hired servant shall he be with him year by year; his master shall not rule with rigour over him before thine eyes.
As a hired servant shall he be with him year by year; his master shall not rule with rigour over him before thine eyes. And if he be not redeemed in this manner, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him.
And if he be not redeemed in this manner, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him. For the children of Israel are servants unto me; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and him also that sojourneth with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment: ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the matter that is too hard for you shall ye bring to me, that I may hear it.
but before Jehovah thy God shalt thou eat them in the place which Jehovah thy God will choose, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God in all the business of thy hand.
If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty; read more. thou shalt certainly furnish him from thy sheep, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of what Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee with shalt thou give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day. And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee, -- then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear and into the door; and he shall be thy bondman for ever. And also unto thy handmaid thou shalt do likewise. Let it not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for double the worth of a hired servant hath he been to thee, in serving thee six years; and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.
Thou shalt not hand over to his master a bondman that hath escaped from his master unto thee: he shall dwell with thee, even in thy midst, in the place that he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it seemeth good to him; thou shalt not oppress him.
If a man be found who hath stolen one of his brethren of the children of Israel, and who hath treated him as a slave and sold him, that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.
Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners who are in thy land within thy gates:
Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow! And all the people shall say, Amen.
Ye stand this day all of you before Jehovah your God: your chiefs of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, as well the hewer of thy wood as the drawer of thy water; read more. that thou mayest enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into his oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day; that he may establish thee this day for a people unto himself, and that he may be to thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the set time of the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel cometh to appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he will choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their ears. read more. Gather the people together, the men, and the women, and the children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Jehovah your God, and take heed to do all the words of this law; and that their children who do not know it may hear it and learn, that they may fear Jehovah your God, as long as ye live in the land, whereunto ye pass over the Jordan to possess it.
And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen.
And now ye think to subjugate the children of Judah and Jerusalem as your bondmen and bondwomen. Are there not with you, even with you, trespasses against Jehovah your God? And now hear me, and send back the captives again, whom ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of Jehovah is upon you.
And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. And there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many, and we must procure corn that we may eat and live. read more. And there were that said, We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth. And there were that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and vineyards; yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and behold, we must bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already; neither is it in the power of our hand to redeem them, for other men have our fields and our vineyards. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. And I consulted with myself; and I remonstrated with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother! And I set a great assembly against them. And I said to them, We, according to our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the nations; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? And they were silent and found no answer. And I said, The thing that ye do is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, so as not to be the reproach of the nations our enemies? I also, my brethren and my servants, we might exact usury of them, money and corn. I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive-gardens, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye have exacted of them. And they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house and from his earnings, that performeth not this promise: even thus be he shaken out and emptied! And all the congregation said, Amen! And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.
Jehovah executeth righteousness and justice for all that are oppressed.
Woe unto them that decree iniquitous decrees, and to the writers that prescribe oppression, to turn away the poor from judgment, and to take away the right from the afflicted of my people; that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! read more. And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the sudden destruction which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help, and where will ye leave your glory?
The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them: that every man should let his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, go free, that none should exact service of them, that is, of a Jew his brother. read more. And all the princes and all the people that had entered into the covenant obeyed, every man letting his bondman and every man his bondmaid go free, that none should exact service of them any more: they obeyed, and let them go. But afterwards they turned, and caused the bondmen and the bondmaids whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for bondmen and for bondmaids. And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you over to be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, the calf which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf; them will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I command, saith Jehovah, and I will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink:
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hired servant in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Let each abide in that calling in which he has been called. Hast thou been called being a bondman, let it not concern thee; but and if thou canst become free, use it rather. read more. For the bondman that is called in the Lord is the Lord's freedman; in like manner also the freeman being called is Christ's bondman. Ye have been bought with a price; do not be the bondmen of men. Let each, wherein he is called, brethren, therein abide with God.
Bondmen, obey masters according to flesh, with fear and trembling, in simplicity of your heart as to the Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers; but as bondmen of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, read more. serving with good will as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing that whatever good each shall do, this he shall receive of the Lord, whether bond or free. And, masters, do the same things towards them, giving up threatening, knowing that both their and your Master is in heaven, and there is no acceptance of persons with him.
Bondmen, obey in all things your masters according to flesh; not with eye-services, as men-pleasers, but in simplicity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Masters, give to bondmen what is just and fair, knowing that ye also have a Master in the heavens.
For there are many and disorderly vain speakers and deceivers of people's minds, specially those of the circumcision,
bondmen to be subject to their own masters, to make themselves acceptable in everything; not gainsaying;
Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timotheus the brother, to Philemon the beloved and our fellow-workman, and to the sister Apphia and to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the assembly which is in thine house. read more. Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, always making mention of thee at my prayers, hearing of thy love and the faith which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus, and towards all the saints, in such sort that thy participation in the faith should become operative in the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in us towards Christ Jesus. For we have great thankfulness and encouragement through thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Wherefore having much boldness in Christ to enjoin thee what is fitting, for love's sake I rather exhort, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also prisoner of Jesus Christ. I exhort thee for my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus, once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me: whom I have sent back to thee: but do thou receive him, that is, my bowels: whom I was desirous of keeping with myself, that for thee he might minister to me in the bonds of the glad tidings; but I have wished to do nothing without thy mind, that thy good might not be as of necessity but of willingness: for perhaps for this reason he has been separated from thee for a time, that thou mightest possess him fully for ever; not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother, specially to me, and how much rather to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord? If therefore thou holdest me to be a partner with thee, receive him as me; but if he have wronged thee anything or owe anything to thee, put this to my account. I Paul have written it with mine own hand; I will repay it: that I say not to thee that thou owest even thine own self also to me. Yea, brother, I would have profit of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in Christ. Being confident of thine obedience, I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt do even more than I say. But withal prepare me also a lodging; for I hope that I shall be granted to you through your prayers. Epaphras salutes thee, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus; Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workmen. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Fausets
na'ar, meshareth. In our sense, "a free, voluntary attendant", as Joshua of Moses (Ex 33:11; so 2Ki 4:12,43; 5:20; 6:15 margin "minister"; 2Sa 13:17-18; 1Ki 20:14-15). 'Ebed on the other hand is "a bondservant or slave".
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. And he returned to the camp; but his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from within the tent.
Then he called his young man that attended upon him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her. Now she had a vest of many colours upon her; for so were the king's daughters that were virgins apparelled. And his attendant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.
And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him.
And his attendant said, How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare.
And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him.
And when the attendant of the man of God rose early and went forth, behold, an army surrounded the city, with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
Hastings
Morish
1. The words ebed and ?????? (those most commonly used for 'servant') convey the idea of bondmen or slaves. Some were bought with money and some were taken in war: cf. also Ex 22:3. Such a servant, if circumcised, might among the Israelites eat of the Passover
See Verses Found in Dictionary
but every man's bondman that is bought for money let him be circumcised: then shall he eat it. A settler and a hired servant shall not eat it.
If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone.
If the sun be risen on him, there shall be blood-guiltiness for him; he should have made full restitution: if he had nothing, he would have been sold for his theft.
But if a priest buy any one for money, he may eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they may eat of his food.
and saying, Lord, my servant lies paralytic in the house, suffering grievously.
And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit that thou shouldest enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant shall be healed.
And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and as thou hast believed, be it to thee. And his servant was healed in that hour.
Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul has found its delight. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew forth judgment to the nations.
and said to his servants, This is John the baptist: he is risen from the dead, and because of this these works of power display their force in him.
And Peter followed him at a distance, even to the palace of the high priest, and entering in sat with the officers to see the end.
and straightway he called them; and leaving their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, they went away after him.
And Peter followed him at a distance, till he was within the court of the high priest's palace; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself in the light of the fire.
And some began to spit upon him, and cover up his face, and buffet him, and say to him, Prophesy; and the officers struck him with the palms of their hands.
and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant;
Wherefore neither did I count myself worthy to come to thee. But say by a word and my servant shall be healed.
Blessed are those bondmen whom the lord on coming shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he will gird himself and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them.
But if that bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken,
And coming to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have abundance of bread, and I perish here by famine.
I am no longer worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will cleave to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
For which is greater, he that is at table or he that serves? Is not he that is at table? But I am in the midst of you as the one that serves.
but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep. Now he who serves for wages flees because he serves for wages, and is not himself concerned about the sheep.
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants had fought that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence.
The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he had judged that he should be let go.
To you first God, having raised up his servant, has sent him, blessing you in turning each one of you from your wickedness.
who hast said by the mouth of thy servant David, Why have the nations raged haughtily and the peoples meditated vain things?
For in truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hadst anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and peoples of Israel, have been gathered together in this city
in that thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders take place through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.
And when the angel who was speaking to him had departed, having called two of his household and a pious soldier of those who were constantly with him,
Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own master he stands or falls. And he shall be made to stand; for the Lord is able to make him stand.
For the bondman that is called in the Lord is the Lord's freedman; in like manner also the freeman being called is Christ's bondman.
fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers; and if any other thing is opposed to sound teaching,
And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house, as a ministering servant, for a testimony of the things to be spoken after;
Smith
Servant.
[SLAVE]
See Slave
Watsons
SERVANT. The word generally signifies a slave. For formerly among the Hebrews, and the neighbouring nations, the greater part of servants were slaves, that is to say, they belonged absolutely to their masters, who had a right to dispose of their persons, their bodies, goods, and even of their lives, in some cases. The Hebrews had two sorts of servants or slaves, Le 25:44-45, &c. Some were strangers, either bought, or taken in the wars. The others were Hebrew slaves, who, being poor, sold themselves, or were sold to pay their debts; or were delivered up for slaves by their parents, in cases of necessity. This sort of Hebrew slaves continued in slavery but to the year of jubilee; then they might return to liberty again, and their masters could not retain them against their wills. If they would continue voluntarily with their masters, they were brought before the judges; there they made a declaration, that for this time they disclaimed the privilege of the law, had their ears bored with an awl, by applying them to the doorposts of their master, Ex 21:2,5-7, &c; and after that they had no longer any power of recovering their liberty, except at the next year of jubilee. Servant is also taken for a man that dedicates himself to the service of another, by the choice of his own will and inclination. Thus Joshua was the servant of Moses, Elisha of Elijah, Gehazi of Elisha; St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. Philip, and the rest, were servants of Jesus Christ.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If thou buy a Hebrew bondman, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
But if the bondman shall say distinctly, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free; then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall be his bondman for ever. read more. And if a man shall sell his daughter as a handmaid, she shall not go out as the bondmen go out.
And as for thy bondman and thy handmaid whom thou shalt have of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and handmaids. Moreover of the children of them that dwell as sojourners with you, of them may ye buy, and of their family that is with you, which they beget in your land, and they shall be your possession.