עבד

עבד¹ servant, slave

Pronunciation

• Tiberian: ʿeḇeḏ, pausal ʿāḇeḏ^[1][2]
• Samaritan reading tradition: ʿābəd^[3]

Forms

עֶבֶד (ʿeḇeḏ) noun, masculine, plural עֲבָדִים^[1][4] Pausal עָבֶד, with suffix עַבְדִּי, עַבְדְּךָ, plural עֲבָדִים, construct plural עַבְדֵי.^[5][6] There is no feminine: a female slave is אָמָה or שִׁפְחָה.^[6]

Etymology

The noun “servant” is inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕabd- (“slave”), as StarLing reconstructs it,^[7] though Kogan and Wiktionary find it only in the Central Semitic languages and so reconstruct it no further back than Proto-Central Semitic.^[8][4] It is Ugaritic ʿbd,^[9] Phoenician ʿbd, Classical Syriac ܥܰܒܕܳܐ (ʿaḇdā), Arabic عَبْدٌ (ʿabd) and Sabaean ʿbd;^[6][10] Ge'ez lacks it.^[6][10] Akkadian abdu is a rare loan from West Semitic, the native word being wardu.^[11][12][6]

The noun belongs to the root of the verb עָבַד (ʿāḇaḏ, “to work, serve”).^[8][13] Kogan notes that “to serve” is probably the old meaning of the root and that the qatl pattern seldom makes nouns of agent, so the verb may well be denominative, formed from the noun, rather than the noun from the verb, as Gerber and Nöldeke had already argued.^[8][10][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seals of royal officials read ʿbd hmlk, “servant of the king”, a title HALOT explains as minister or official.^[15][16][6] In the Lachish letters of the 6th century BC the writer calls himself ʿbdk, “your servant”, before his lord, the polite form of the Bible.^[17][18][6] In the archaic poetry it appears twice, in the Song of Moses: “the LORD will have compassion on his servants” (Deuteronomy 32:36).^[1][19]

Semantic evolution

HALOT distinguishes the slave owned for life, the servant for a time, the subject of a king or a vassal people, and the trusted officer of a king; from these come the courteous self-designation “your servant” for “I” and the religious use for the worshipper of God, the prophets and the kings as “servants of the LORD”, and the Servant of Isaiah 40–55.^[6][5] Israel in Egypt lived in the bêṯ ʿăḇāḏîm, the “house of slaves” (Exodus 20:2).^[6]

The Septuagint renders it about 340 times by Ancient Greek παῖς (paîs), 310 times by Ancient Greek δοῦλος (doûlos) and 42 times by Ancient Greek θεράπων (therápōn).^[6] It occurs 526 times in the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[20] It forms many names, among them עֹבַדְיָה (ʿōḇaḏyâ), “servant of Yahweh”.^[21][22] Modern Hebrew עבד (éved) means “slave”.^[4]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – ʿbdk “your servant” in the Lachish letters.^[18][17]
• Archaic Hebrew poetry – “his servants” in the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:36, 43).^[19][1]
• Classical Biblical Hebrew – more than half of the 800 biblical occurrences are in Genesis to Kings.^[1]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint translates it as παῖς and δοῦλος.^[23][6]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 526 occurrences in the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[24][20]

Meanings

Noun

1. a slave, bondman.^[6][5]
2. a servant for a time; a soldier under a commander; a subject of a king.^[6]
3. an officer or minister of a king.^[6]
4. (in polite speech) “your servant”, for “I”.^[6]
5. (religious) a worshipper of God; the servant of the LORD.^[6][5]

Word family

• עַבְדוּת (ʿaḇdûṯ)

Descendants

• Modern Hebrew עבד (éved)^[4]

עבד² to work, serve

Pronunciation

• Tiberian: ʿāḇaḏ^[2][25]
• Samaritan reading tradition: imperfect yēbbåd^[3]

Forms

עָבַד (ʿāḇaḏ) verb^[1] Imperfect יַעֲבֹד, infinitive construct עֲבֹד, imperative עֲבֹד, participle עֹבֵד.^[26][10] Qal about 271 times, with a niphal, a pual and a hiphil “to make work, enslave”.^[26]

Etymology

The verb “to work, serve” is the verb of the Central Semitic root ⟨ʿbd⟩: Ugaritic ʿbd (“to work, cultivate”),^[27] Arabic عَبَدَ (ʿabada, “to worship, serve”), Classical Syriac ܥܒܰܕ (ʿḇaḏ, “to do, make”) and Aramaic עֲבַד (ʿăḇaḏ, “to do, make”).^[10][26][8] In Aramaic and Phoenician it became the ordinary verb for “to do, make”, which Huehnergard and Kogan take to be a development of an older “to serve”.^[28][26] Kogan holds it likely that the verb is denominative, from the noun עֶבֶד (ʿeḇeḏ, “slave, servant”).^[8] Palache took “to work the land” for the basic meaning, a view HALOT gives with a question mark.^[26]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the archaic poems it occurs three times: Issachar “bowed his shoulder to bear and became ləmas-ʿōḇēḏ”, a labourer at forced work (Genesis 49:15), and the king of Psalm 18 says “a people I did not know serve me” (Psalm 18:44, 2 Samuel 22:44).^[1][19][26] In the prose its first use in the canon is the absence of anyone laʿăḇōḏ ʾeṯ-hāʾăḏāmâ, “to work the soil” (Genesis 2:5).^[1]

Semantic evolution

HALOT starts from toil: to till the ground or a vineyard, to work, to work for someone, to serve someone as a slave or a subject people, to serve in order to earn something (Jacob serving for Rachel), and in the cult to perform service and to serve God or other gods.^[26] Serving the LORD and serving other gods (56 and 41 times) are the two poles of Deuteronomy and the historical books.^[26] The noun of service, עֲבֹדָה (ʿăḇōḏâ), is formed from it.^[13]

The Septuagint chooses between Ancient Greek δουλεύω (douleúō) for serving a master and Ancient Greek λατρεύω (latreúō) for worship, with Ancient Greek ἐργάζομαι (ergázomai) for work.^[1] In Rabbinic Hebrew it means “to serve, worship”, while Modern Hebrew עבד (avád) is the ordinary verb “to work”.^[14][4]

Timeline

• Archaic Hebrew poetry – ləmas-ʿōḇēḏ in the Blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49:15) and “serve me” in Psalm 18:44.^[19][1]
• Classical Biblical Hebrew – most of the biblical occurrences are in Genesis to Kings.^[1]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint translates it as δουλεύω and λατρεύω.^[23][1]

Meanings

Verb

1. qal to till the ground; to work.^[26][10]
2. qal to serve someone, as a slave, a hired man or a subject.^[26]
3. qal to serve God or gods, to worship; to perform cultic service.^[26]
4. niphal of land: to be tilled.^[26]
5. hiphil to make someone work, enslave.^[26]

Word family

• עֲבֻדָּה (ʿăḇōḏāh)

Descendants

• Modern Hebrew עבד (avád)^[4]