Sense: servant
n. — a person working in the service of another.
That same day Isaac’s servants [עֶ֫בֶד] came and told him about the well that they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water!”
Genesis 26:32 (NRSV)
We could examine the most basic words for “servant” in the Bible and still lack a sense of what it was like to be a servant. This is due to the fact that there were many different kinds of servants in the Bible. In cases like this, the hierarchy of the Bible Sense Lexicon can be helpful. For example, the hierarchy shows us that cupbearers and doorkeepers were kinds of servants. It also shows us that servants were often distinguished by gender—referred to as male or female servants. There were also servants of specific places, like the temple or a household. Following out a taxonomy for such basic concepts can significantly improve our understanding of what it was like to be a servant. Consider exploring the hierarchy of a basic concept you are interested in today, like animals or people.
What is the Bible Sense Lexicon?
Sense of the Day is based on content from Logos’ Bible Sense Lexicon, which organizes biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words by meaning based on a variety of semantic relationships. Sense of the Day provides examples of senses in context, along with insight into their application for theology and interpretation.
The Bible Sense Lexicon is a Logos dataset available in Logos 5 Gold and higher base packages. If you’re enrolled in the Logos Academic Discount Program, you can also find the Bible Sense Lexicon in the Biblical Languages base package. Take your studies even further by exploring semantic domains, engaging the biblical text like never before.
Learn more about the Bible Sense Lexicon.