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Servant
A servant is a person who owes his allegiance to another.
Terminology
Other Hebrew words include נַ֫עַר, H5853, young man; מְשָׁרֵ֥ת, a temple servant; שָׂכִיר, H8502, hired laborer (as distinct from a slave).
Other Greek words include διάκονος, G1356, minister or helper; μισθίος, or μισθωτός, G3638, hireling; and ὑπηρέτης, G5677, assistant, adjutant, or officer.
Usage
Old Testament
What is conspicuously lacking in the Old Testament is the idea that a “servant of God” who exercises leadership over Israel is in some sense also a “servant of the people.” Neither the modern notion of a “public servant” nor the Roman Catholic ideal of a “servant of the servants of God” has any explicit analogy in the Old Testament. The closest approach to such a concept is perhaps the advice of the old men to Rehoboam in
The range of meaning in the servant idea in the Old Testament is best illustrated in
Servant also refers to one who is distinguished as obedient and faithful to God or Christ (
Officials of every grade are called the "servants" of kings, princes, etc. (
Servant can also be used As a ’term of respectful self-depreciation referring to one’s self, "thy servant." or "your servant" is used in place of the personal pronoun of the first person:
New Testament
In contrast to the Old Testament, a “servant of Jesus Christ” is also explicitly seen as a servant to the whole community of believers (
Decisive for this development is the identification of Jesus with the suffering servant of
Servant vs. Slave
The most frequent usage is as the equivalent of "slave," with its various shades in position (
In more instances, however, “servant” is a better translation than “slave” because the words have to do with service or obedience in a far more general sense than what is known today as slavery. A servant can be anyone committed to someone more powerful than he: e.g. a trusted steward (
A servant-master relationship can be a kind of covenant (e.g.
"Slave to sin" terminology (especially עֶ֫בֶד, H6269) is used often in the Old Testament to refer to slaves, regarded as property, though possessing also certain rights (for laws pertaining to slaves see
Covenantal Use
“Covenantal” use of servant terminology is especially conspicuous in passages where the servant is a servant of God. Elijah proclaims his allegiance to God with the words “I am thy servant” (
In the widest sense the servants of God are the people of God, all the faithful of Israel regarded either as His “servants” (