shifcha · female slave, servant

What it means

shifcha (שִׁפְחָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “female slave, servant”.

Female slave, maidservant in the service of the lady of the house.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A girl who works for the lady of the house.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Female slave: the woman who belongs to a household and serves above all the lady of the house; in courteous speech, a woman calls herself “your servant”. It is close to אָמָה (H519), of very similar sense.

• Hagar, Sarai's slave woman Genesis 16:1Genesis 16:8
• The slave woman given as wife to the husband Genesis 30:4Genesis 29:24
• Female slaves among one's goods Genesis 24:35Genesis 20:14
• “Your servant”: speaking humbly 2 Samuel 14:6Ruth 2:131 Samuel 25:41
• The eyes of the slave woman toward the hand of her mistress Psalms 123:2

Historical and cultural background

Sarai gave Abram her slave woman Hagar to have children through her (Genesis 16:1-2); Rachel and Leah did the same with Bilhah and Zilpah (Genesis 30:4, 9). The law of Leviticus 19:20 deals with the case of “a slave woman promised to a man” who had not yet been redeemed.

How we translate it

“Slave woman” 25 times, “female slaves” 12, “slave women” 8 when she is another's property: this edition renders it like עֶבֶד as property, “slave”. “Servant” 13 times when a free woman calls herself so out of courtesy before a superior (“Your servant had two sons”, 2 Samuel 14:6).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• slave woman ×25
• servant ×13
• female slaves ×12
• slave women ×8
• slave ×3
• maidservant ×1
• servants ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×28
• Exodus×1
• Leviticus×1
• Deuteronomy×1
• Ruth×2
• 1 Samuel×6
• 2 Samuel×7
• 2 Kings×3
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Esther×1
• Psalms×1
• Proverbs×1
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×2
• Jeremiah×6
• Joel×1

• Genesis 12:16

  He dealt well with Abram because of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male slaves, female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.

• Genesis 16:1

  Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him children; and she had an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar.

• Genesis 16:2

  Sarai said to Abram, “Look, YHWH has kept me from bearing children. Go in please to my slave woman; perhaps I will have children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

• Genesis 16:3

  So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, at the end of ten years of Abram’s living in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

• Genesis 16:5

  Then Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done to me be on you! I myself gave my slave woman into your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, I became of little account in her eyes. May YHWH judge between me and you.”

• Genesis 16:6

  But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your hand; do to her what is good in your eyes.” So Sarai afflicted her, and she fled from her presence.

• Genesis 16:8

  He said, “Hagar, slave woman of Sarai, where from have you come, and where are you going?” She said, “From the presence of Sarai my mistress I am fleeing.”

• Genesis 20:14

  Then Abimelech took sheep and cattle, and male slaves and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and he returned to him Sarah his wife.

• Genesis 24:35

  YHWH has blessed my lord greatly, and he has become great. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, camels and donkeys.

• Genesis 25:12

  These are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave woman, bore to Abraham.

• Genesis 29:24

  Laban gave her Zilpah his slave woman, to Leah his daughter as a slave woman.

• Genesis 29:29

  Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his slave woman, to her as a slave woman.

• Genesis 30:4

  So she gave him Bilhah her slave woman as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.

• Genesis 30:7

  Bilhah, Rachel’s slave woman, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

• Genesis 30:9

  Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, and she took Zilpah her slave woman and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

• Genesis 30:10

  Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman, bore Jacob a son.

• Genesis 30:12

  Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman, bore Jacob a second son.

• Genesis 30:18

  Leah said, “Elohim has given me my wages, because I gave my slave woman to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

• Genesis 30:43

  The man increased exceedingly, and he had many flocks, female slaves and male slaves, camels and donkeys.

• Genesis 32:5

  I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male slaves, and slave women; and I have sent to tell my lord, to find favor in your eyes.’”

• Genesis 32:22

  He rose that night and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

• Genesis 33:1

  Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and look, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women.

• Genesis 33:2

  He put the slave women and their children first, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last.

• Genesis 33:6

  Then the slave women came near, they and their children, and bowed down.

• Genesis 35:25

  The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s slave woman: Dan and Naphtali.

• Genesis 35:26

  The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s slave woman: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

• Exodus 11:5

  and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave woman who is behind the millstones, and every firstborn of the livestock.

• Leviticus 19:20

  And if a man lies with a woman with an emission of semen, and she is a slave woman promised to a man, but she has not been redeemed at all nor been given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not be put to death, for she was not free.

• Deuteronomy 28:68

  And YHWH will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, “You shall never see it again.” And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male slaves and female slaves, and there will be no buyer.

• Ruth 2:13

  And she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and because you have spoken to the heart of your servant, though I am not like one of your servants.”

• 1 Samuel 1:18

  And she said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

• 1 Samuel 8:16

  Your male slaves and your female slaves and your best young men and your donkeys he will take and put them to his work.

• 1 Samuel 25:27

  And now, this blessing that your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who go about at the feet of my lord.

• 1 Samuel 25:41

  She arose and bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Look, your servant is a slave to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”

• 1 Samuel 28:21

  The woman came to Saul and saw that he was very terrified, and she said to him, “Look, your servant has listened to your voice; I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words that you spoke to me.

• 1 Samuel 28:22

  Now then, please listen also yourself to the voice of your servant: let me set before you a morsel of bread; eat, so that there may be in you strength when you go on your way.”

• 2 Samuel 14:6

  Your servant had two sons, and the two of them fought in the field, and there was no deliverer between them; and the one struck the other and put him to death.

• 2 Samuel 14:7

  And look, the whole family has risen against your servant, and they have said, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, and we will destroy the heir too.’ So they will quench my coal that is left, so as not to leave to my husband name or remnant on the face of the ground.”

• 2 Samuel 14:12

  The woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”

• 2 Samuel 14:15

  Now then, that I have come to speak this word to the king my lord is because the people made me afraid; and your servant said, ‘Let me speak, please, to the king; perhaps the king will do the word of his servant.

And 23 more times.