_Gen._ xxvii. 29: “Let people serve thee (יַֽעַבְדּ֣וּךָ _be slaves to
thee_), be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to
thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that
blesseth thee.” Let us notice the conformity of this passage with _Gen._
xxv. 23: “And the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, and
two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one
people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall
serve (יַֽעֲבֹ֥ד _be a slave to_) the younger.” _Gen._ xxx. 43: “And the
man (Jacob) increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and
maid-servants, and _men-servants_ (וַֽעֲבָדִ֔ים the plural of _ebed_),
and camels and asses.” _Exod._ xx. 1, 2, 9, 10, 17: “And God spake all
these words, saying,” 2: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (עֲבָדִֽי֑ם out
of _slavery_): 5: “Thou shalt not _bow down_ (תִשְׁתַּ֥חֲוֶה֣ _worship
them_) thyself to them, nor _serve_ (תָֽעָבְדֵ֑ם _be a slave to them_)
them.” 9: “Six days shalt thou _labour_ (תּֽ֥עֲבֹ֔ד֘ _slave thyself_, or
do SLAVE-LABOUR) and do (_oso_, _labour or do work_) all thy work,”
(וְעָשִׂי֣תָ all thy accustomed labours.) This command embraces all
classes, the slave as well as the most elevated. All men, by the fall of
Adam, had become subject to slave-labour. 10: “But the seventh day is
the sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work, thou,
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy _man-servant_ (עַבְדְּךָ thy
_slave_), this commandment we are directed not to covet any thing that
is our neighbour’s, including his man-servant and maid-servant. Here the
same word עַבְד֤וֹ is also used. _Exod._ xxi. 1: “Now these are the
judgments which thou shalt set before them.” 2: “If thou buy a Hebrew
_servant_ (עֶ֣בֶד _ebed_), (יַֽעֲבֹ֑ד _shall slave himself_),” 5: “And
if the _servant_ (הָעֶבֶד _ha ebed_, _slave_) shall plainly say, I
love,” &c. _Exod._ xxi. 7: “She shall not go out as the _men-servants_
do.” (הָֽעֲבָדִֽים the plural is here used.) 20: “If a man smite his
_servant_ עַבְדּוֹ or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he
shall be surely punished: for he is his money.” 26: “If a man smite the
eye of his _servant_,” עַבְדּ֛וֹ. 27: “ If he smite out his
_man-servant’s_ tooth,” עַבְדּ֛וֹ. 32 “If the ox shall push the
_man-servant_ עֶבֶד or _maid-servant_, he shall give unto their master
thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”
_Lev._ xxv. 44: “Both thy _bond-men_ וְעַבְדְךָ and thy bond-maids which
thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you, of
them shall ye buy _bond-men_,” (עֶ֥בֶד _ebed_.) 45: “Moreover, of the
children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye
buy, and of their families that are with you, which they beget in your
land, and they shall be your possession.” 46: “And ye shall take them as
an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a
possession they shall be your _bond-men_ תַּ֖עֲבֹ֑דוּ for ever.”
_Deut._ v. 14: “But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God;
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
nor thy _man-servant_ וְעַבְדְּךָ, nor thy maid-servant, that thy
_man-servant_ and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou.” 15: “And
remember that thou wast a _servant_ (עֶ֣בֶ֥ד _ebed_) in the land of
Egypt.” 21 (18th of Hebrew text): “Neither shalt thou covet thy
neighbour’s house, his field, or his _man-servant_ וְעַבְדֵֹו, or his
maid-servant.” _Deut._ xii. 12: “And ye shall rejoice before the Lord
your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your _men-servants_
(וְעַבְדֵיכֶם a plural form of _ebed_), thy son, and thy daughter, and
_thy man-servant_,” וְעַבְדְּךָ. _Deut._ xv. 12: “If thy brother, a
Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and _serve_
וַעֲבָֽדְךָ֖ thee six years.” 15: “And thou shalt remember that thou
wast a _bond-man_ (עֶ֣בֶד _ebed_) in the land of Egypt.” 17: “And he
shall be thy servant (עֶבֶד _ebed_) for ever.” _Deut._ xvi. 11: “And
thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy
daughter, and thy _man-servant_ וְעַבְדְּךָ, and thy maid-servant, and
the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the
fatherless, and the widow, that are among you.” 12: “And thou shalt
remember that thou wast a _bond-man_ (עֶבֶד _ebed_) in Egypt.” 14: “And
thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter,
and thy _man-servant_ וְעַבְדְּךָ֣, and thy _maid-servant_, and the
Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow.” _Deut._ xx.
10: “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then
proclaim peace unto it.” 11: “And it shall be if it make thee an answer
of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people found
therein shall be _tributaries_ (לָמַ֖ס _lamas_, afflicted, cast down, to
pay tribute, &c.), and they shall _serve_ (וַֽעֲבָדֽוּךָ _be thy
slaves_) thee.” _Deut._ xxiii. 9–17 contains certain laws to be observed
in time of war with their enemies, &c., one of which is, that a slave
escaped to them from the enemy should not be restored, &c. _Deut._
xxiii. 16 (15th of the English text): “Thou shalt not deliver unto his
master the _servant_,” (עֶבֶד _ebed_, _slave_.) xxiv. 18: “But thou
shalt remember that thou wast a _bond-man_,” (עֶבֶד _ebed_, _slave_.)
wast a bond-man,” עֶבֶד _Gen._ ix. 25: “And he said, Cursed be Canaan, a
_servant_ of _servants_ (_ebed-ebedim_) shall he be unto his brethren.”
26: “And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be
his _servant_,” (עֶבֶד _ebed_.) Many more instances of a similar use of
this word might be selected from the holy books; some of which we hope
to notice in the progress of our study. Such, then, was the Hebrew use
of the word, to mean slave, a person purchased or otherwise acquired,
and the unquestionable _property_ of the master. Such then being the
condition of the _ebed_, slave, it is evident that he could not be
contented and happy, in case he had ambition to gratify, with hopes and
prospects before him adverse from those of his master; his whole earthly
felicities are bound up in his master’s welfare and prosperity; like an
individual of an army, he feels that the elevation, the brilliancy of
the commander is reflected upon him; and with a Christian spirit, he
obeys his master in all things, “not with eye-service, but with
singleness of heart, fearing God.” See _Col._ iii. 22. In such a state
of mind, the slave finds no unhappiness in his condition, but joy and
gladness; and with the slave of Abraham, he implores Jehovah: “_O Lord
God of my master Abraham! I pray thee send me good speed this day, and
show kindness unto my master Abraham_: Blessed be the Lord God of my
master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and
truth.” _Gen._ xxiv. 12 and 27. Expressive of a character of perfect
devotedness, humility, and obedience. The term _ebed_ might well be
borrowed to express the earnest devotion of a worshipper of Jehovah, and
is so often used in connection with the patriarchs, Moses, David, and
the prophets. The term thus used expresses the quality of their
devotedness and obedience, and not necessarily the quality of the
individual. In this sense, the apostles style themselves the (δουλοι,
_douloi_) slaves of Jesus Christ; not that they were personally
_douloi_, but in their devotion and obedience to him, they were what the
_doulos_ was or should be to his master. It is probable that, in some
sense, all men feel that in the hand of God they are as clay in the
hands of the potter; that the great Jehovah overrules and governs all
things; that, as existences, they are from and dependent on him: under
such a sense, we sometimes find the term _ebed_ applied, as in the name
_Obadiah_, _Obadyahu_, the slave of God, and used as a proper noun. But
such compound words are dependent for their meaning upon the complex
ideas of what their primitives signified; and, in a somewhat analogous
sense, the term _ebed_ is applied to Nebuchadnezzar, lie being in the
hands of the Almighty, as clay in the hands of the potter, the mere
instrument, the fabrication of his hand. There is, however, in the books
of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, a use of this word peculiar to them; but
we should recollect that they were educated in the Persian capital and
employed in high stations by the Persian monarch. We may therefore well
expect some variation in their dialect.
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