* On the humane treatment of slaves by Moslems see Lane's Araf/ian Nights, vol. i. p. 64 fl. (ch. i. note 13). Nevertheless, we are told that 'a master may even kill his own slave with impunity tor any offence, and he incurs but a slight punishment (as im|irisorunent for a period at the discretion of the judge) il he kills hini wantonly' (p. 63).
t Mangold, UumaniUit und ChrUtfnihum, Rede beim An- trit.t des Kectorats der Rheinischen Fricderich Wilhelms Uni- rersitat, tm 18 October 1S76. Bonn, Adolph MarcuA.
Nevertheless, the Church issued no authoritative mandate that masters were to liberate their slaves. On the contrary, obedience to masters was incul cated (Eph 6^ cf. parallels), as well as forbearance U- slaves (v.^).* The leaven was to work slowly and surely, witliout external compulsion by ecclesias- tical authority, through eighteen centuries, until in tlie 19th cent, slavery was abolished in all the ten'itories of Christian European peoples. In the 20th the leaven will work its course in society to yet larger issues !
10. Religious Use of theTerm'Slave'CSer- VANt'). — The word ' servant ' or ' slave ' is constantly employed in the etiquette of daily intercourse in ancient Semitic society and among Arab popula- tions at the present day. ' Thy servant' (or if a woman, *thy handmaid ) is the language of ordi- nary courtesy employed by an individual, w.hen he speaks of himself, in addressing a superior or even an equal. In relation to God, this term is universally used by the worshipper. The root inp expresses the dependent relation of subordination and obedience on the part of the individual to his Divine patron and Lord. And it has been sho^vn, under ii. 1, how constantly this expression enters into proper names compounded with the name of deity, whether Canaanite or Hebrew. That collective and idealized Israel was so desig- nated is especially apparent in Deutero-Isaiah. Tlie term had been already employed in Ezk 28^ 37^, and also in Jer SO^'^- 46-'7ff-.1- The passages in which the expression occurs in its most charac- teristic form within the collection designated by the term Deutero-Isaiah (chs. 40-56) are specially called the * servant' passages, and are regarded by most critics as distinct in authorship.^ via. 42^"* 491-6 504-9 52i3-53»^.
The portrayal of the servant in these four sections is distinct from that which prevails in the rest of Deutero-Isaii*h. In the former the servant is idealized, personal and sinless. He is Jehovah's disciple, chosen to minister to the heathen as well as to his own people (49t»), going about his own mission with quietness (42'^ J 53^, suffering like Jeremiah and Job through the scorn of the unfaithful, and so offering a propitiation for the guilt of his race (53^^). On the other hand, in the rest of Deutero-Isaiah, the 'serv'ant Jacob' is blind, deaf, a prisoner plundered, despised, full of sin, though chosen by God, pro- tected and destined for a glorious future. Yet these two por- trayals have their essential features in common. Accordingly, *ser\'ant (or slave) of Jehovah,' as a religious tenn applied to Israel, is a name of honour. Israel is chosen as God's messenger as well as servant. In fact the difference between Jacob as God's ^i<^? and as His own personal slave, called to a high and honourable mission, is very slight. The two expressions st-and in parallelism in 421^. The servant is the chosen one in whom God takes pleasure. We are reminded of the relationship of Abraham to God as the * friend of God ' (2 Ch 207, ja 223, cf. Konin, sur. 4124). See, further, art. Isaiah, and Smend, A Tliche Reli'jiongesch.^ p. 352 ff. In fact the expression is con- stantlv employed in the OT as a name for God's messengers, especially the prophets (Am 3"^. Jer 7^^ 25* 26^ etc.). cf. Rev 107 1118. It is used of Moses (Dt 34^, J03 V), of Isaiah ^Is 2o3). Furthermore, it is used of the Messiah in Zee 3*, and of the angels in Job4i8(on the other hand, in Ps 10321 1044 the terra employed is D'^lvP, which properly expresses honourable, voluntary, and, moreover, priestly service to God).
* It should not be forgotten that the distinction between bond and free is cancelled, according to St. Paul's conception, only in Chrut^ i.e. within the conhnes of the redeemed society— the Church. Outside the Church the <listinction might st ill prevail, and even be re^rded as valid. St. Paul hardly contemplate any reorganization of society that does not rest on redemption and sanctifi cation of individual life as a basis. In that outsid* world St. Paul might conceivably still regard Roman law ac ft quasi n-ajii«y*5-cf, and hold that slavery, as a human instituti'-n, under certain guarantees, might be under temporarv Di\ino sanction. Modern missionaries of the Cross in heathendom, with its more primitive social conditions, have been compelled to adopt this view.
t It can scarcely be held that either of these latter passage* is genuine. In Comill's text (SBOT) they ore relegated to the foot of the page.
t But see Budde, Die sogeTtannten Ebed-Jahwe-Lieder, 1900L Marti also argues against separating the coiii-eptions in the Servant-passages from the rest of Deutero-Isni;ih ; .'iee hiscora mentary, p^ 289 L ; wa also CoruiU in Theolog liundadiau, Nov IVUO.
The transition from this OT use to the NT apiilication of the corresponding term SodXot is very slight. It is applied to himself by Symeon (Lk 2'-'') in his prayer to God {Nunc DimittU), Who 13 consistently addressed as Scawinrt^ (a master of slaves, cf. Ac 4-", Rev 6'°), and similarly the Virgin Mary speaks of herself as God's SovKri (.■i:n), Lk 1».