Day 73 of 75 · Judgment and liberation
ʿ-B-D
ʿabda: slave
עבד · עבדא
ܥܳܒ݂ܶܕ݂ · ܥܰܒ݂ܕ݁ܳܐ
The feel
ʿ-B-D is the corpus workhorse: to do, make, act, bring something about by hand or will. It names both the work and the worker bound to another. An ʿabda is not merely a servant who can leave, but property with a face, defined by labor owed at the master’s word.
The root family
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|
| ʿbad | Peal verb | ʿābed (participle) | עבד ܥܳܒ݂ܶܕ݂ | to do, to make | do, make, act (329× in the corpus) |
| ʿabda | noun, m. | ʿabdā | עבדא ܥܰܒ݂ܕ݁ܳܐ | servant | slave: where the Greek reads doulos (117×) |
| ʿbada | noun, action pattern | ʿbādā | עבדא ܥܒ݂ܳܕ݂ܳܐ | work, deed | scaffold form: the deed as the thing done; standard Aramaic |
Paradigm forms are a teaching scaffold from standard Aramaic grammar; corpus-attested words above are drawn from the glossary.
The verb stems
| Stem | Form | Sense | In this corpus |
|---|
| Peal | ʿbad | do, make, act | attested: teʿbdunāh, Mt 6:1 |
| Ethpeel | etʿbed | be done, be made | scaffold form; the passive shape |
| Pael | — | — | not attested |
| Ethpaal | — | — | not attested |
| Aphel | — | — | not attested |
| Shaphel | šaʿbed | to enslave, to subject | scaffold form; standard Aramaic builds "enslave" directly from this root |
Stem table is a grammar scaffold: how Aramaic bends one root through voice and cause.
In his voice
Matthew 6:1 · interlinear
Be careful not to do what is right in front of others, just to be seen by them. If you do, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.
teʿbdunāh , "you do it." The everyday verb of the root: righteousness is something done, and it can be done wrong.
Matthew 13:27 · interlinear
The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did the weeds come from?'
ʿabdawy , "his slaves." Greek douloi; the corpus keeps the bound condition visible (standard: "servants").
Matthew 25:21 · interlinear
His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Come, share your master's joy.'
ʿabdā , "slave." The praise lands on a person who owns nothing, entrusted with everything.
Practice
Choose one ordinary task. Do it quietly as work given to you, then ask whose purpose your doing serves.
Say ʿabda plainly: slave, the one bound to do another’s work.
Connections
Witness note: the forms above rest on the Peshitta as the primary witness, with Palestinian Aramaic attestation marked where a Western source carries the word.