'Slave' in the Bible

Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me;

Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned.

So he said, “Now let it also be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be innocent.”

But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

“When he saw that a resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,And became a slave at forced labor.

and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well.

but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.

“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment.

But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’

“If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do.

“If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished.

“If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye.

And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth.

If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

“Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.

‘Now if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free.

But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food.

For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.

You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

“You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.

But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

“The small and the great are there,And the slave is free from his master.

“As a slave who pants for the shade,And as a hired man who eagerly waits for his wages,

He sent a man before them,Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

Luxury is not fitting for a fool;Much less for a slave to rule over princes.

The rich rules over the poor,And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

A slave will not be instructed by words alone;For though he understands, there will be no response.

He who pampers his slave from childhoodWill in the end find him to be a son.

Do not slander a slave to his master,Or he will curse you and you will be found guilty.

Under a slave when he becomes king,And a fool when he is satisfied with food,

“Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn servant?Why has he become a prey?

but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’

For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;

“Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?

Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’

the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.

Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.

and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.

But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.

And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.

When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.

For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;

the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes,

and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’

And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’

And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’

And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

“Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’?

He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?

And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’

He *said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?

At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.

Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.

Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that.

For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave.

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.

but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything,

Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;