“Slavery” is a bad word, especially in 21st century America. Given our own nation’s gruesome history with a particular form of race-based chattel-slavery, it can be disconcerting to be reminded the the Scriptures permit, regulate, and seem to even approve of slavery. This semester, in my intermediate Hebrew class, I did a word study that examines every occurrence of the terms associated with עבד in the Pentateuch.
Here’s the pdf: Hebrew Slavery
(Photo by Tanner Mardis on Unsplash)
βιβλιοσκώληξ 
3 thoughts on “עבד: “work/service/slavery” in the Torah”