WHAT IS A “SERVITOR?”

by Shawn Brasseaux

A “servitor” is found just once in the King James Bible. “And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD” (2 Kings 4:42-44).

While archaic, its meaning is not difficult to figure out. We can discern a well-known word in “servitor,” can we not? A “servitor” is someone who serves, of course. In this context, it is a waiter or food attendant. The “servitor,” using limited human wisdom instead of Divine thinking, was quite astonished when he was ordered to use such a limited amount of food to prepare a meal for 100 people. Yet, because this was “the word of the LORD,” God was not limited. They all had enough to eat because the LORD multiplied the bread and corn (grain). By the way, in case you are wondering, this miracle of the Prophet Elisha is indeed a foreshadow or preview of Jesus Christ miraculously feeding the multitudes with so little food in Matthew through John. These are all miracles pointing to the blessings of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. See our related study linked below.

Also see:
» Feeding the 4,000 and feeding the 5,000—same or different?
» How should we handle the objection, “If only I saw a miracle, then I would believe!”?
» What is “cleanness of teeth” in Amos 4:6?
» Is “corn” a mistake in the King James Bible?