Servant of Jehovah

Servant Of Jehovah (עֶבֶד יהוִֹה, δοῦλος τοῦ Κυρίου, "servant of the Lord," also in the phrase "my servant," etc.), a term used tropically in several senses.

1. A worshipper of God (Ne 1:10); so the Israelites in general (Ezra 5, 11), and Daniel in particular (Da 6:21). In this sense it is applied as an epithet to the pious: e.g. to Abraham (Ps 105:6,42), Joshua (Jos 24:29; Jg 2:8), Job (Job 1:8, etc.), David (Ps 18:1, etc.), Eliakim (Isa 22:20), Zerubbabel (Hag 2:23), and to saints in general (Ps 34:22, etc.; Isa 54:17, etc.). SEE SAINT.

2. A minister or ambassador of God, called and sent to perform any service (Isa 49:6), e.g. Nebuchadnezzar, whom God used as his instrument in chastising his people (Jer 27:6; Jer 43:10); but usually some favorite servant, as the angels (Job 4:18), or prophets (Am 3:7; Jer 7:25, etc.; Da 9:6; Ezr 9:11), especially Moses (De 34:5; Jos 1:1,13,15; Ps 105:26), and Isaiah (Isa 20:3). Sometimes the two ideas of a pious worshipper of God and a special messenger sent by him seem to have coalesced, as in the passages relating to Abraham and Moses, and particularly in those where Israel or Jacob, i.e. the people of Israel, is addressed by this honorable and endearing appellation (as Isa 41:8, etc.; Jer 30:10, etc.; Eze 28:25; Eze 37:25; comp. Ho 11:1).

3. Peculiarly the Messiah is thus typified, especially in the latter chapters of Isaiah (more particularly 42:1; 52:13; comp. Mt 12:13), as preeminently Jehovah's chosen servant for accomplishing the work of redemption. See Gesenius, Comment. in Jesa. ad loc.; Stier, Words of the Lord Jesus, 2, 566 [Am. ed.]; Steudel, De עֶבֶד י8 8י (Tüb. 1829); Umbreit, Der Knecht Gottes (Hamb. 1840); Schmutz, Le Serviteur de Jehovah (Strasb. 1858); Oehler, Knecht Jehovah's (Stuttg. 1865); Urwick, The Servant of Jehovah (Edinb. 1877). SEE DOUBLE SENSE.