Lexicon :: Strong's G1399 - doulē

“When a man sells his daughter as a concubine,[fn] she is not to leave as the male slaves do.

“Your male and female slaves are to be from the nations around you; you may purchase male and female slaves.

“although there’s straw and feed for the donkeys, and I have bread and wine for me, my concubine, and the servant[fn] with us. There is nothing we lack.”

“My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”

So he asked, “Who are you? ”

“I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Take me under your wing,[fn] for you are a family redeemer.”

Making a vow, she pleaded, “LORD of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”[fn]

“Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

“May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.[fn]

“He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best cattle,[fn] and your donkeys and use them for his work.

She knelt at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant.

“Let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.

“there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when the LORD does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.”

She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground, and said, “Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

“Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king? ”

“Speak,” he replied.

“Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request.

The king asked, “Did Joab put you up to[fn] all this? ”

The woman answered. “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say.[fn]

When he had come near her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab? ”

“I am,” he replied.

“Listen to the words of your servant,” she said to him.

He answered, “I’m listening.”

“Go, approach King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your servant: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne? So why has Adonijah become king? ’

She replied, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, ‘Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne.’

Elisha asked her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? ”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”

Elisha said, “At this time next year you will have a son in your arms.”

Then she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your servant.”

“Now you plan to reduce the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, to slavery. Are you not also guilty before the LORD your God?

The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

“As for the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD

to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,

and to become his servants —

all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it

and who hold firmly to my covenant —

I will even pour out my Spirit

on the male and female slaves in those days.

Beauty[fn] is stripped;[fn]

she is carried away;

her ladies-in-waiting moan

like the sound of doves

and beat their breasts.