e, not in the Western sense, but in that of the ancient
East, where a slave was often a privileged member of society. In many a
Hebrew household the slaves, next to the children, enjoyed the protection
and consideration of the master of the household. He was under obligation
to guard their welfare and interests. On the other hand, slaves, like
Eleazar in the story of Abraham (Gen. 26) faithfully cared for the
interests of their master and spared no effort to carry out his commands.
Semitic usage had also given the term slave a significant meaning. The
faithful officials of all Oriental kings called themselves his servants
or slaves. It was the common term expressing, on the one hand, confidence
and protection, and on the other, devotion, loyalty, and service. Most of
Israel's patriarchs, kings, and prophets are spoken of as the servants or
slaves of Jehovah. Haggai, in his address to Zerubbabel, called him
Jehovah's servant. In Deuteronomy 32:36 the people of Israel are called
the servants of Jehovah, and, as has been noted, in the prophecies of the
II Isaiah they are frequently referred to as the servant of Jehovah.
The term, therefore, was well chosen to express that complete devotion
And loyalty to Jehovah which the prophet aimed to evoke from his
fellow-countrymen. It was also free from the kingly associations and
material interpretation that were connected with the word Messiah.

The prophet's aim was to present so vividly the task and methods of the
true servant of Jehovah that all would recognize a personal call to duty.
He emphasizes three distinct yet related elements in the mission of the
servant. They were: (1) To free the prisoners from their captivity,
whether imprisoned by walls of stone or brick or under the tyranny of
fears and false ideas. (2) To restore the scattered tribes of Israel and
thus to lay the foundations for a renewed national life that would furnish
concrete evidence to all the world of Jehovah's power to deliver. (3) To
go beyond the narrow bounds of their race and to bring to the nations that
were groping in the darkness of heathenism the knowledge and truth that
had been imparted to Israel. Thus the unknown prophet laid the foundations
for that Kingdom of God, that dominion of God in nature and in the minds
of men that was the guide and inspiration of all later prophets and the
goal for whose realization the Great Teacher and Prophet of Nazareth
labored and died.

The prophet places grea