Before closing this subject we offer a few more examples of the Hebrew
use of this word. “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? There be
many _servants_ (עֲבָדִ֔ים _slaves_) now-a-days that break away every
man from his master.” 1 _Sam._ xxv. 10. Nabal pretended in his
drunkenness, that he might be a runaway _slave_. 1 _Kings_ ii. 29, 40:
“And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the
_servants_ (עֲבָדִים_ebedim_, _slaves_) of Shimei ran away unto Achish,
son of Maachah king of Gath; and they told Shimei, saying, Behold thy
_servants_ (עַבְדֶּךָ _slaves_) be in Gath. And Shimei arose and saddled
his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his _servants_ (עֲבָדָיו
_slaves_), and Shimei went and brought his _servants_ (עֲבָדָ֖יו
_slaves_) from Gath.” 1 _Kings_ ix. 20, 21, and 22: “And all the people
that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebuzites, which were not of the children of Israel, their children that
were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were
not able utterly to destroy, upon these did Solomon levy a tribute of
_bond-service_ (עָבֶד _obed_, _slavery_) unto this day. But of the
children of Israel did Solomon make no _bond-men_,” (עָבֶד _ebed_,
_slaves_.) 2 _Chron._ viii. 9: “But of the children of Israel did
Solomon make no _servants_ (לַֽעֲבָדִ֖ים _la ebedim_, no _slaves_) for
his work, (לִמְלַאכְתּ֑וֹ _his works_, _labours_.) But they were men of
war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and
horsemen.” 2 _Kings_ iv. 1: “Now there cried a certain woman of the
wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant, my
husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord,
and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be _bond-men_,”
(לַֽעֲבָדִ֖ים _la ebedim_, for _slaves_.) In 1 _Chron._ xxvii. 26, this
word is used in a sense quite analogous to slave-labour, thus: “And over
them that did the _work_ (_meleketh_, _i.e._ the particular work or
labour) of the field for _tillage_ (לַעֲבֹדַת _slave-labour_) of the
ground, was Ezra, the son of Chelub.” _Job_ i. 2, 3: “And there were
born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was
seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five thousand yoke
of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great _household_.” The
word “household” is here translated from וַֽעֲבֻדָּה a body of slaves,
_i. e._ a large family of slaves. _Job_ iii. 19: “The small and the
great are there, and the _servant_ (וְעֶבֶד _ve ebed_, master.” _Job_
xxxi. 13: “If I did _despise_ (מִשְׁפַּטַ _misjudge_) the cause of my
_man-servant_,” (עַֽבְדִּי my _slave_.) _Job_ xxxix. 9: “Will the
unicorn be willing to _serve_ thee?” (עָבְדֶךָ be a _slave_ to thee.)
_Ps._ cxvi. 16: “O Lord, truly I am thy _servant_ (עַבְדֶךָ _obedeka_,
_slave_); I am thy _servant_ (עַבְדֶּךָ _slave_), and the son of thy
_hand-maid_ (אֲמָתֶ֑ךָ _amatheka_, _female slave_): thou hast loosed my
bonds.” It is a little remarkable how similar is this sentiment of David
to one expressed by St. Paul. _Prov._ xii. 9: “He that is despised and
hath a _servant_ (עֶבֶד _ebed_, _slave_) is better than he that
honoureth himself and lacketh bread.” _Prov._ xvii. 2: “A wise _servant_
(עֶבֶד _ebed_, _slave_), shall rule over a son that causeth shame, and
shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.” _Prov._ xxx. 21,
22, 23: “For three things is the earth disquieted, and for four which it
cannot bear: For a _servant_ (עֶבֶד _ebed_, _slave_) when he _reigneth_
(יִמְ֑לוֹךְ _imlok_), and a fool when he is filled with meat. For an
odious woman when she is married, and a _hand-maid_ (וְשִׁפְחָה _female
slave_) that is heir to her mistress.” _Eccl._ ii. 7. “_I got me_
(קָנִ֨יתִי _kanithi_, _I purchased_) _servants_ (עֲבָדִ֣ים _male
slaves_) and _maidens_ (וּשְׁפָח֔וֹת _female slaves_), and had servants
born in my house.” _Eccl._ vii. 21: “Also take no heed unto all words
that are spoken, lest thou hear thy _servant_ (עַבְדְךָ _slave_) curse
thee.” _Jer._ ii. 14: “Is Israel a _servant_ (הָעֶבֶד _slave_)? is he a
home-born _slave_? why is he spoiled?” In the latter part of this
quotation, the word עבד _ebed_ is not expressed in Hebrew, but
_understood_, as is often the case in English: yet King James’s
translators did not hesitate to supply it in English with the word
_slave_, giving indisputable proof of what they understood the word
_ebed_ to mean, and also, that they used the English word _servant_ as a
synonyme of the word _slave_. The omission to express the word עֻבֶד
_ebed_ in Hebrew, in this instance, has the effect to make the idea
conveyed by the prophet more emphatic; and hence the translators seem to
have felt the necessity of using the most forcible synonyme, in order
that they might truly and beyond doubt convey the full import of the
prophet’s meaning. _Mal._ i. 6: “A son honoureth his father, and a
_servant_ (וְעֶ֣בֶד _slave_) his master.” This passage is a connecting
link in a chain of reasoning, and the prophet continues thus: “If then I
be a father, where is my honour? If I be a _master_, where is my fear?
saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests that despise my name. And ye
say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” As though they were astonished
at the accusation! And this is the answer—7: “Ye offer polluted bread
upon mine altar.” A figure, to show that they had become wholly
disobedient, and held in disregard the law of God. By their
disobedience, they were degenerating from the condition of the son to
that of the _ebed_. Instead of being influenced by love, they were about
to be operated upon by fear, and hence the prophet continues, ii. 1:
“And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not
hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name,
saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will
curse your blessings, yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not
lay it to heart. 3: Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung
upon your faces.” He would curse them with the hateful curse of Cain.
And we beg to notice this scriptural glancing at the doctrine that a
course of sin does produce some change upon the physical man,—some
change of countenance, which is continued, degenerating and
deteriorating the succeeding generations,—and ask, is not such a
doctrine alluded to in _Ezek._ xviii. 2, “The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” And, again, in _Ps._
lviii. 2, 3: “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as
soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of
a serpent.” Again, in _Jer._ vii. 19: “Do they provoke me to anger?
saith the Lord. Do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their
own faces?” And, in _Isa._ iii. 9: “The show of their countenance doth
witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it
not. Wo unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.”
_Jer._ xiii. 22: “If thou say in thy heart, wherefore have these things
come upon me? for the greatness of thine iniquities are thy skirts
discovered and thy heels made bare.” And ii. 22: “For though thou wash
thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked
before me, saith the Lord God.” We will not enter into the examination
of this doctrine at present, but hasten to close our view of the Hebrew
use of the word עבד _ebed_. In _Joel_ iii. 2 (ii. 29th of the English
text) is this remarkable passage: “And also upon the _servants_
(הָֽעֲבָדִ֖ים _ha ebedim_, the _male slaves_) and upon the _hand-maids_
(הַשְּׁפָח֑וֹת _hashshephahoth_, the _female slaves_) in those days will
I pour out my Spirit.” This passage was translated at Jerusalem by St.
Peter, into Greek. See _Acts_ ii. 18: “And on my _servants_, and _on my
hand-maids_ (δουλους και επι τας δουλας), will I pour out in those days
my Spirit,”—using those Greek words that most unconditionally mean a
_slave_, and showing as effectually as language can show, and proving as
distinctly as language can prove, that St. Peter well understood these
words of Joel to mean _male_ and _female slaves_. He translates the
passage, referring to it, and quoting it. There can have been no
mistake. Besides, the passage is rendered definite by its particularity;
for the preceding sentence avers that his Spirit should be poured out
“upon all flesh,” and goes on to particularize, “your sons” and
“daughters,” “your old men,” “your young men,” and then in this passage
includes the _slaves_, thus explaining whom he means by “all flesh.” It
was on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples of Jesus Christ “were
all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting; and there appeared upon them cloven tongues like as
of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost.” _Acts_ ii. 1, 2, 3.
Such were the circumstances under which this translation was made—just
after the death of Jesus Christ. Circumstances more solemn, more
imposing, more awful to the human mind cannot well be conceived. In the
immediate presence of God the Father, and the Holy Ghost operating upon
the mind of St. Peter!! Should any one, timorous, decline to believe
men, or mortals, permit us, in the name of that Jehovah whose work we
all are, to call their reflection on what may be the nature of that sin
which contemns, denies, or treats as untruth the very language of the
Holy Ghost.
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