Need to know one Hebrew word: ‘ebed (also transliterated as ‘eved). It is commonly translated 'slave'.
The King James Version of the Bible had two occurrences of the word slave: once in each Testament. The New King James Version in the twentieth century had 46 occurences. There has been a general increase over time in the use of the word 'slave' in translations of the Bible into various languages.
‘ebed is translated as 'slave' in some cases and 'servant' in others. Leviticus 25:42 in the English RSV translation has slave once and servant once, but both translate the same word ‘ebed.
'Servant' and 'slave' used to overlap much more in meaning, but now have different meanings. Servants are no longer seen as slaves.
The meaning of the word ‘ebed is not inherently negative, but relates to work. The word identifies someone as dependent on someone else with whom they stand in some sort of relation. Being an ‘ebed could be a position of honour. Everyone is a servant / slave of someone else.
The majority meaning of ‘ebed is 'servant', but can also be translated 'slave'. It is not an inherently negative term, and is related to work. The term shows the person is subservient to another. All subjects of Israel are servants of the king. The king himself is a servant of their God. So in the time of the Old Testament, no-one is free – everyone is subservient to, an ‘ebed of, someone else.
Translating ‘ebed as 'slave' is problematic because of its negative connotations, which were not originally there but we associate from other historical contexts. This generally leads to inconsistency in translation and it becomes hard for readers not to read into the word ideas from subsequent, very different systems of slavery (eg. in Greece, Rome and North America)
