Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-02-25
no. XIV.

Jer. 81 {: 18, Jeremiah said unto KING Led'
ekiab. What have offended against thee,
or against thy servants, or against this peo-
ple 81 These servants are contrasted with
domestic slsyes,1 Kings 8; ~, "Of the chill
dren of Israel, did Solomon make no bond
men; but they were men of war, and his
servants, and his princess" The ebed prop
er, whose master was private man, was a
bondman tie sbed Of the monarch might
be man of high fahk. The household at
tendants of the subject were slaves those
of the. sovereign were mobiles. Although
their situation was consiaertd al hohotable
one vet were they political slaves and the
distance in rank, between them and their
king, was often, greater than Detwen Inc o''
mestic slave and his master.
Sd. The same term is frequently appbee
to men in their relation to God, as SUBJECT
to his authority, and employed in accom-
plishing his;purposes. Men are indeed the
property of God, in strlcter sense, than
that in which servants were ever CLAIMED
to be the property 0f human masters.
Even the wicked man is sometimes. called
the servant of God as Nebuchadnezsar'
Jer. 1853. But this is unusual. Inc name
is commonly restricted to those whs are tne
oJedien servants OF their Master in heayeht
Neh. a. 20, "The God of !heater, ne vii!
PROSPER: us therefore we, his serrGufs, Will
arise and build" 1t is used in the same
manner as the expression "people OF God:
though all men really belongto to God, yeS
the pious are his property IN a PecuhaF
sense. They acknowledge his right to them,
and thew reRder. him actual service: while
the wicked, though held to service under
his;laws, yet act the part OF disobedIent ana
horah, translated SCREAM Of The Lord is
sometimes used in a special manner 10 des-
ignate the prophets and ministers OF God
as ebed meleeh. the ssrrant ofthe king, is the
title of political officers. 1t is applied 10
Moses and Joshua, Josh. 1: l, and "a: ~;
to the prophets generally, Jer. 26:
The word under consideration, like those
examined in the preceding letter, IS often
used fguratively, in the forp of respectful
address common among the Hebrews. Gen.
A: 81, Judah says to- Joseph, ;,"ihy ser
yants shall bring down the gray hairs Of thy.
servant our father with sorrow TO the grave.
In y. SO, we have an. example of both the
figurative and literal usage OF the word
"Let thy servant abide instead OF the iad'
bond-man to my lord" -. -
AS the result of our. Investigation, we as
certain that. .ebed, when not used as slm-
ple expression of humility means, 1st do
rmestic slave, I'd political subject, 80
servant re Cod who is not hireling but the
property of his master. In no instance, IS
there any evidence that the word means
hired servant. The most important Polnt
to be noticed in connexion with the Pres1
ent discussion ix, that ,rhenerer Il means
domestic servant, it means domestic slare.
There is no word in our language which
corresponds exactly with ebed. While SER
raut is too extensive in its meaning, SLAVE
and bond.men ale hot extensive enough, as
thew do not include the servants OF Cod
The word SERVANT, as used al Me Somn'
where il is not often applied to hrelIngs,
comes nearer the sense of the Hebrew word
than any other English term. This usage
is one cause, which has led the Southern
people, to more correct understanding Of
the Scripture testimony on slavery, than
that usually attained by the people Of the
Northern States.
In my next, ! will bring to close my
remarks on the meaning. Of Hebrew words;
and in the following letter, i will complete
what have to say respecting Greek words
1t is to be hoped, that the momentous lrr
portance of the general subject under re-
view, will lend interest to that detail OF yer,
bal criticism, which is absolutely essential
to its thoroug Oh investigation so that your
patience may not be exhausted.
Yours respectfully,
NOVANGLUS.