עֲבֹדָה

From the study of Isaiah 28:21

Range of meaning

Labour or work, especially hard or forced labour (Exodus 1:14; 2:23). Also service to a master or king, and cultic service, i.e. the work of priests and Levites in worship (Numbers 4; Exodus 12:25–26).

Against the English

'Act' (KJV, WEB), 'task' (BSB, NIV), 'work' (ESV). All are acceptable. 'Task' and 'labour' best keep the sense of real exertion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 14:3 and 28:21 are Isaiah's main uses. In Isaiah 14:3 ʿăbōdāh is the 'hard service' Israel endured, which Yahweh will end.

From the study of Exodus 27:19

Range of meaning

Work, labor or service of any kind, from the verb 'avad, 'to work, serve'. It covers slave labor in Egypt (Exod 1:14; 6:6), farm work and craft work, and also cultic service, meaning the duties and rites of the sanctuary.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have 'service'; BSB/ESV 'for every use'. 'Service' is accurate if it means work done on duty, not a worship gathering.

How it drifted

A modern reader hears 'service' as a church service. Here the word is about physical labor.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Num 3–4 the avodah of the Levite clans is to dismantle, carry and set up the Dwelling, its frames, its curtains, 'their pegs and their cords' (Num 3:37; 4:32). The same word is used for Israel's hard labor in Egypt, so the people move from serving Pharaoh to serving God.

From the study of Exodus 13:5

Range of meaning

The root means to work, to serve someone, or to be a slave to them. It also means to perform worship or ritual for a god. The noun avodah covers hard labour, the service a servant owes a master, the work of farming, the duties of priests and Levites at the sanctuary, and religious rites.

Against the English

Most English versions use 'service' (KJV, ESV, BSB, WEB), 'ceremony' (NIV) or 'rite' (NASB). 'Ceremony' and 'rite' make clear that this is a ritual. But they lose the link to Egypt. 'Service' keeps more of the root, though modern readers hear a church 'service' or 'customer service.'

How it drifted

English splits into separate words what Hebrew holds in one root: 'slavery,' 'work,' 'service' and 'worship.' Translators choose one of them in each place, so the deliberate echo across the Exodus story is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus uses this root for Egyptian bondage: they 'made the Israelites serve with harshness' and made their lives bitter 'with hard avodah' (Exod 1:13–14; 2:23; 6:6, 9). Egypt is 'the house of slaves' (beit avadim, 13:3). God's demand to Pharaoh is 'Let my son go, that he may serve me' (4:23; 7:16). The same phrase as our verse, 'you shall keep this avodah,' appears for the Passover in 12:25–26. Later it is the standard word for Levitical duties at the sanctuary (Num 4). The Septuagint here uses latreia, a word for religious service.