Metaphorical Uses of Slavery by James A. Brooks

[JB Horn]

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Metaphorical Uses of Slavery


In most ancient societies, few things were more despicable than to be a slave. In Israel , however, the idea emerged that it was a great privilege to be a servant or slave of God (the various Hebrew and Greek words could be translated either). Many of the heroes of the Old Testament are so called (Ex. 32:13 ; Deut. 34:5 ; 2 Sam. 7:5 ; 2 Kings 21:10 ). Very significant are the Servant Songs of Isaiah 42:1-4 ; Isaiah 49:1-6; Isaiah 50:4-9 ; and Isaiah 52:13-53:12, which originally referred to Israel but were reinterpreted by the early church to refer to Jesus. See Servant of the Lord.
Jesus adopted a servant’s role (John 13:4-5 ; Mark 10:45 ; compare Phil. 2:7 ) and indicated that His disciples should also (Matt. 6:24; Matt 10:24; Matt 24:45-46 ; Luke 17:10 ; John 13:12-16 ). Paul referred to himself as a slave or servant of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1 ; Gal. 1:10 ; Phil. 1:1 ), as did ( James 1:1 ), Peter (2 Pet. 1:1 ), and( Jude 1 ).
There are three other metaphorical uses of slavery in the New Testament. A life of sin is spoken of as slavery (John 8:34 ; Rom. 6:6 , 16-20 ; Heb. 2:15 ). Legalism is a kind of slavery (Gal. 4:24-25; Gal 5:1 ). Paradoxically, however, there is also a blessed slavery to righteousness (Rom. 6:16-22 ).


James A. Brooks

[Moss]

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The whole us of the word SLAVE in the Bible can be translated in many ways.  Many times it is used to mean bond servant, a person who works  to pay off the debt, or even just an employee of the master.

I have a debt that I can never pay,  fortunately God's grace does not require a payment of the debt.

[Fat]

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The whole us of the word SLAVE in the Bible can be translated in many ways.  Many times it is used to mean bond servant, a person who works  to pay off the debt, or even just an employee of the master.

I have a debt that I can never pay,  fortunately God's grace does not require a payment of the debt.

Ran across this Moss:

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors.”
- Romans 8:12

As God’s creatures, we are all debtors to him: to obey him with all our body, and soul, and strength. Having broken his commandments, as we all have, we are debtors to his justice, and we owe to him a vast amount which we are not able to pay. But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God’s justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt his people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love. I am a debtor to God’s grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to his justice, for he will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, “It is finished!” and by that he meant, that whatever his people owed was wiped away for ever from the book of remembrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled; the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God’s justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to our Lord in that sense, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been otherwise. Christian, pause and ponder for a moment. What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to his disinterested love, for he gave his own Son that he might die for thee. Consider how much you owe to his forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts he loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to his power; how he has raised you from your death in sin; how he has preserved your spiritual life; how he has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on your way. Consider what you owe to his immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, he has not changed once. Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast-yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.

Fat

[macuser]

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The whole us of the word SLAVE in the Bible can be translated in many ways.  Many times it is used to mean bond servant, a person who works  to pay off the debt, or even just an employee of the master.

I have a debt that I can never pay,  fortunately God's grace does not require a payment of the debt.

Parsons Bible Dictionary


Slave
Jer. 2:14 (AV), but not there found in the original. In Rev. 18:13 the word “slaves” is the rendering of a Greek word meaning “bodies.” The Hebrew and Greek words for slave are usually rendered simply “servant,” “bondman,” or “bondservant.” Slavery as it existed under the Mosaic law has no modern parallel. That law did not originate but only regulated the already existing custom of slavery (Ex. 21:20 , 21 , 26 , 27 ; Lev. 25:44-46 ; Josh. 9:6-27 ). The gospel in its spirit and genius is hostile to slavery in every form, which under its influence is gradually disappearing from among men.

[Moss]

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I think that we would find that the pay for an employee would come in the form of food, clothing, lodging and other things needed to live.