“Servant” From Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(server). In a broad Bible sense, subject, assistant, person under tribute; in special sense, bondman or slave, by right of purchase, pledge for indebtedness, or indenture; which relationship was carefully guarded by Mosaic law (Lev. 25:39-55; Deut. 15:12-18). [SLAVE.]
“Slave” From Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(Sclavonian). Slavery came about under Hebrew institutions. (1) By poverty, when a man sold himself to cancel debt (Lev. 25:39); (2) by theft, when restitution could not be made (Ex. 22:3); (3) by parents selling their daughters as concubines (Ex. 21:7-11). It ended (1) when the debt was paid; (2) on the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:40); (3) at the end of six years of service (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12). This as to Hebrews. As to non-Hebrew slaves, by far the most numerous class, they were purchased (Lev. 25:45); or captured in war (Num. 31:26,40). They were freed if ill treated (Ex. 21:26-27); to slay one was murder (Lev. 24:17,22); they were circumcised and had religious privileges (Gen. 17:12-13).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
This word occurs in the AV only in Revelation 18:13, where it should read “bodies,” as in the margin. See SERVANTS.
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Genesis 41:41. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
This elevation of a slave to a position of high office, though uncommon among Western nations, was not so rare in the East. There, change of fortune was so sudden that the beggar of today might be the noble of tomorrow. Many of the most prominent characters in Oriental history were once slaves. The history of Joseph has in this respect often been paralleled. A most curious illustration of this is given by Harmer in his account of All Bey, who was stolen from his native place in Lesser Asia, near the Black Sea, in 1741, when he was thirteen years old, and was carried into Egypt, where, after varied fortunes, he reached a position next in power to the Pasha. (Observations, vol. 2, p. 520).
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