animals needed, and sometimes they were probably paid also for the extra trouble of keeping the animals. If an animal died of itself, was torn by a wild beast or was taken by a band of marauders, the bailee was free from blame. The loss was beyond his control. This might happen to his own animals, but if it was stolen (by someone whom the bailee could have prevented, or through his negligence) the bailee was responsible and was required to make compensation.—Ex. 22:7-13; see Genesis 31:38-42.

A man who borrowed an animal from another person for his own use had to compensate for any damages incurred. (Ex. 22:14) If its owner was with it, no compensation was required, on the principle that the individual would be watching his own property. If it was a hired item, the owner would stand the loss because he supposedly would consider the risk in setting a hiring price.—Ex. 22:15.

COMPULSORY SERVICE

The Hebrew word for “compulsory service” is seʹvel, which has to do with a literal or figurative load, an enforced burden, or burdensome labor. It can apply to corvée, that is, unpaid or partially unpaid work that an authority imposes on certain people, such as residents of a particular area.

The psalmist, in reflecting on the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, represented Jehovah as saying: “I turned aside his shoulder even from the burden” or “even from compulsory service.” (Ps. 81:6; compare NW, 1957 edition; Ex. 1:11.) King Solomon conscripted men for forced labor for various building projects and placed foremen over them. (1 Ki. 5:13; 9:15, 23) When Solomon observed that the young man Jeroboam was a hard worker, “he proceeded to make him overseer over all the compulsory service of the house of Joseph,” that is, over the men conscripted from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.—1 Ki. 11:26-28.

Associated with the Hebrew word seʹvel is sab·balʹ, meaning burden bearer. After taking a census of the men who were temporary residents in Israel, Solomon put them in service, and seventy thousand of their number became burden bearers. (2 Chron. 2:2, 17, 18) Many years later King Josiah repaired the temple, and “the burden bearers” were among those doing the work.—2 Chron. 34:12, 13.

The Hebrew word tsa·vaʼʹ, which often applies to military service or service in war, also means “compulsory labor,” that is, to pay off debt or guilt. Thus Jerusalem was to be told that her “military service” had been fulfilled and her error had been paid off. (Isa. 40 1, 2) When under test, distressed and pain-wracked Job likened life to hard, fatiguing service or “compulsory labor,” asking: “Is there not a compulsory labor for mortal man on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired laborer?” (Job 7:1) With similar sentiment, he later said to God: “You will make your vexation with me greater; hardship after hardship is with me,” or “one shift of compulsory labor after another is with me.” Job evidently felt that God was adding to his affliction by bringing one new hardship after another upon him. Nevertheless, Job said: “All the days of my compulsory service I shall wait, until my relief comes.”—Job 10:2, 17; 9:1; 14:13-15.

CONANIAH

(Con·a·niʹah) [Jehovah has established].

1. The Levite in charge of the contributions for temple service during Hezekiah’s reign.—2 Chron. 31:4, 12, 13.

2. A Levite chief among those generously contributing sheep, goats and cattle for the great Passover Celebration held in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.—2 Chron. 35:9, 19.

CONCUBINE

Among the Hebrews a concubine occupied a position in the nature of a secondary wife, and was sometimes spoken of as a wife. It appears that concubines were slave girls, one of three kinds: (1) a Hebrew girl sold by her father (Ex. 21:7-9), (2) a foreign slave girl purchased or (3) a foreign girl captured in warfare. (Deut. 21:10-14) Some were the slave girls or handmaids of the free wife, as in the cases of Sarah, Leah and Rachel.—Gen. 16:3, 4; 30:3-13; Judg. 8:31; 9:18.

Concubinage was in existence before the Law covenant and was recognized and regulated by the Law, which protected the rights of both wives and concubines. (Ex. 21:7-11; Deut. 21:14-17) Concubines did not have all the rights in the household that the regular wife had, and a man might have a plurality of wives along with concubines. (1 Ki. 11:3; 2 Chron. 11:21) In cases where the wife was barren she sometimes gave her handmaid to the husband as a concubine, and the child born of the concubine would then be considered as the child of the free wife, her mistress. (Gen. 16:2; 30:3) Sons of concubines were legitimate, not bastards, and could inherit.—Gen. 49:16-21; compare Genesis 30:3-12.

It seems that in the days of the kings one of the first acts of a usurper was to violate the concubines of the king, as did Absalom, who demonstrated the greatest disrespect for David and tried to strengthen his efforts to get the kingship by having relations with the ten concubines of his father David. (2 Sam. 16:21, 22) After King Solomon was enthroned, Adonijah, an older brother of Solomon, who had already made an attempt for the kingship, approached Solomon’s mother, Bath-sheba, saying: “You yourself well know that the kingship was to have become mine,” and then asked her to request of Solomon Abishag the Shunammite, who appears to have been viewed as a wife or a concubine of David. Solomon angrily answered: “Request also for him the kingship,” and then he ordered that Adonijah be put to death, indicating that he construed Adonijah’s request as an effort to get the kingdom.—1 Ki. 1:5-7; 2:13-25.

God did not see fit to restore the original standard of monogamy as he had established it in the garden of Eden until the appearance of Jesus Christ, but he did protect the concubine by legislation. Concubinage logically worked toward a more rapid increase of the population in Israel.—Matt. 19:5, 6; 1 Cor. 7:2; 1 Tim. 3:2; see MARRIAGE.

FIGURATIVE USE

The apostle Paul likens Jehovah to the husband of a free wife, the “Jerusalem above,” who is the “mother” of spirit-begotten Christians, as Abraham was husband to Sarah. He compares the relationship of Jehovah to the nation of Israel represented by its capital city Jerusalem to that of a husband and a concubine. Through the Law covenant Jehovah was ‘married’ to Jerusalem as a “servant girl,” a ‘concubine,’ analogous to the marriage of Abraham to the slave girl and concubine Hagar.—Gal. 4:22-29; compare Isaiah 54:1-6.

CONGREGATION

A group of people gathered together for a particular purpose or activity. The Hebrew word usually rendered “congregation” in the New World Translation is qa·halʹ, which is from a root meaning “assemble together.” It is frequently used for an organized body, being found in the expressions “congregation of Israel” (Lev. 16:17; Josh. 8:35; 1 Ki. 8:14), “congregation of the true God” (Neh. 13:1), “congregation of Jehovah” (Deut. 23:2, 3; Mic. 2:5), and “Jehovah’s congregation.” (Num. 20:4; 1 Chron. 28:8) Qa·halʹ designates various kinds of human gatherings, as for religious purposes (Deut. 9:10; 18:16; 1 Ki. 8:65; Ps. 22:25; 107:32), for dealing with civil affairs (1 Ki. 12:3) and for warfare. (1 Sam. 17:47; Ezek. 16:40) In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon is identified as the “congregator” (Heb., qo·heʹleth). (Eccl. 1:1, 12) As the king he congregated or assembled the people to the worship of Jehovah, one notable instance being when he gathered his subjects to the newly constructed temple in Jerusalem.—1 Ki. 8:1-5; 2 Chron. 5:2-6.