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( òֶáֶã éְäåִֹä , äïῦëïò ôïῦ Êõñßïõ , “servant of the Lord,” also in the phrase “my servant,” etc.), a term used tropically in several senses.
1. A worshipper of God (Neh_1:10); so the Israelites in general (Ezr_5:11), and Daniel in particular (Dan_6:21). In this sense it is applied as an epithet to the pious: e.g. to Abraham (Psa_105:6; Psa_105:42), Joshua (Jos_24:29; Jdg_2:8), Job (Job_1:8, etc.), David (Psa_18:1, etc.), Eliakim (Isa_22:20), Zerubbabel (Haggai 2:24), and to saints in general (Psalm 34:23, 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 (Amo_3:7; Jer_7:25, etc.; Dan_9:6; Ezr_9:11), especially Moses (Deu_34:5; Jos_1:1; Jos_1:13; Jos_1:15; Psa_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. Hos_11:1).
3. Peculiarly the Messiah is thus typified, especially in the latter chapters of Isaiah (more particularly 42:1; 52:13; comp. Mat_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 òֶáֶã é 8 8 é (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.