My Servant

Yahweh describes only a handful of people as “My servant” – Abraham, Moses, and David. In 1-2 Kings, the title is almost exclusively reserved for David, and in almost every case the title is used in places where the Lord is reminding a king that His care for Israel is because of David (1 Kings 11:13, 32, 34, 36) or negatively comparing a king to the faithful David (1 Kings 11:38; 14:8). Once, toward the end of Kings, MOses is named as “My servant” (2 Kings 21:8).

Jeremiah continues this usage (Jeremiah 33:21, 22, 26). It’s remarkable, then, when Jeremiah later gives this title to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6). Nebuchadnezzar is, in effect, given a Davidic role.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Church in the Age of Therapy

Matthew Loftus

In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…

Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot

Anna Farrow

On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…

The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen

Mike Aquilina

Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…