Lexical Summary
sakir: Hired worker, hireling, laborer
Original Word: שָׂכִיר
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: sakiyr
Pronunciation: sah-KEER
Phonetic Spelling: (saw-keer')
KJV: hired (man, servant), hireling
NASB: hired man, hired servant, hired, man hired, wage earner
Word Origin: [from H7936 (שָׂכַר סָכַר - hired)]
1. a man at wages by the day or year
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
hired man, servant, hireling
From sakar; a man at wages by the day or year -- hired (man, servant), hireling.
see HEBREW sakar
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
sakarDefinitionhired
NASB Translationhired (1), hired man (11), hired servant (2), man hired (1), wage earner (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
; — absolute
Exodus 14:45 +, feminine
Isaiah 7:20; construct
Leviticus 25:53; suffix
Leviticus 25:6; plural suffix
Jeremiah 46:21; —
hired, of beast Exodus 22:14 (E), razor Isaiah 7:20 (figurative).
hireling, hired labourer Deuteronomy 15:18; Deuteronomy 24:14; Leviticus 19:13; Leviticus 22:10; Leviticus 25:6,40,53 (all H), Exodus 12:45; Leviticus 25:50 (both P), Malachi 3:5; Job 7:1,2; Job 14:6; Isaiah 16:14 years like a hireling's years (reckoned strictly), so Isaiah 21:16; mercenaries Jeremiah 46:21.
see above
Topical Lexicon
Scope of the Term שָׂכִיר designates a person temporarily engaged for wages. The word does not describe a lifelong slave or a covenant household servant but someone whose relationship is contractual and time-bound. Scripture presents this figure in civil, cultic, economic, and prophetic settings, allowing the reader to trace how Israel’s law, worship, and worldview intersected with the concept of paid labor.
Civic and Household Employment
The Torah assumes that ordinary households will at times need outside help. When a borrowed animal dies under a renter’s care, “the fee covers the loss” (Exodus 22:15), illustrating that a hireling operates under agreed terms rather than permanent ownership. Harvest laws likewise anticipate day-laborers (Deuteronomy 24:14). The presence of such workers in the community demonstrates that Israel’s economy was not entirely subsistence-based; it included a cash-wage sector that demanded clear regulation.
Ethical Mandates Concerning Wages
Covenant law insists on prompt, full payment: “Do not defraud your neighbor… Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight” (Leviticus 19:13). Failure to pay becomes grounds for divine litigation: “those who oppress the hired worker in his wages” are among the accused when the LORD “comes to you in judgment” (Malachi 3:5). By linking wage injustice with sorcery and adultery, the prophets elevate economic exploitation to a spiritual offense, reminding the covenant community that love of neighbor stands beside ritual fidelity.
Access to Sacred Privileges
Although valued, the hireling is not automatically granted family status. “A temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat the Passover” (Exodus 12:45), nor may he share in priestly food (Leviticus 22:10). These exclusions underscore the distinction between contractual association and covenant membership. Participation in holy meals requires either birthright or full incorporation; mere wage-based presence is insufficient.
Servitude, Jubilee, and the Value of a Life
Leviticus 25 employs שָׂכִיר to set humane limits on debt bondage. An Israelite who sinks into servitude “is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident” (Leviticus 25:40). His redemption price is calculated “based on the wages of a hired worker” (Leviticus 25:50), and in any case he goes free at Jubilee (25:53). The same term that defines an employee thereby becomes a protective category, preventing the reduction of a brother to chattel status. Jubilee theology reframes hired labor as a safeguard of dignity during economic distress.
Wisdom Literature: The Toil of Mortality
Job likens human existence to that of a hireling: limited, strenuous, and hoping for payday. “Are not his days like the days of a hired man? … like a hired servant awaiting his wages” (Job 7:1-2; cf. 14:6). Here the term captures the transient, goal-oriented nature of life under the curse: one works until the allotted time expires, yearning for rest. The imagery resonates with Psalmist and Pauline reflections that view believers as laborers awaiting reward (though the Hebrew term itself appears mainly in Job).
Prophetic Time-Frames and Mercenary Troops
Isaiah twice uses the phrase “as a hired worker would count” to mark precise, unalterable judgment periods (Isaiah 16:14; 21:16). A hired man works neither longer nor shorter than the contract, so the appointed years for Moab and Kedar will not be extended. Jeremiah applies the noun to Egypt’s “mercenaries” (46:21), soldiers motivated by pay rather than loyalty. Their swift desertion contrasts with covenant faithfulness, foreshadowing later warnings against shepherds who serve only for wages (John 10:12-13).
Eschatological Hints and Messianic Contrast
By Scripture’s close, the unpaid hireling becomes a marker of injustice awaiting final reckoning (Malachi 3:5). Against this backdrop stands the coming Shepherd who “lays down His life for the sheep,” not a wage-seeker (John 10:11). Thus the motif prepares the way for the Gospel’s distinction between mercenary caretakers and the self-giving Messiah.
Contemporary Ministry Insights
1. Fair Compensation: Congregations and ministries must honor contracts promptly, modeling Leviticus 19:13 in payroll practices and vendor relations.
2. Value Without Covenant: Volunteers and staff who have not yet come to faith should be respected but also invited beyond “hireling” status into the family of God, paralleling Exodus 12:45.
3. Sabbath Economics: The Sabbath-year provision (Leviticus 25:6) reminds leaders to budget time and resources so that employees, interns, and temporary staff share in seasons of rest.
4. Preaching Justice: Prophetic denunciations (Malachi 3:5) warrant regular teaching on economic righteousness, reminding believers that oppression of laborers provokes divine response.
5. Pastoral Care: Job’s portrayal of life as hireling toil legitimizes feelings of fatigue among workers; pastors can point sufferers to the promised “wages” of grace and eternal rest.
In sum, שָׂכִיר threads through the Law, Prophets, and Writings as a mirror of human labor, a measure for social justice, and a foil for covenant love, culminating in the New Testament revelation of the Good Shepherd who serves not for hire but for love.
Forms and Transliterations
וְלִשְׂכִֽירְךָ֙ וְשָׂכִ֖יר וּ֝כְשָׂכִ֗יר וכשכיר ולשכירך ושכיר כְּשָׂכִ֥יר כִּשְׂכִ֥יר כיר כשכיר שְׂכִרֶ֤יהָ שָׂ֠כִיר שָׂכִ֔יר שָׂכִ֖יר שָׂכִ֛יר שָׂכִ֣יר שכיר שכריה chir kə·śā·ḵîr kesaChir kəśāḵîr ḵîr kiś·ḵîr kisChir kiśḵîr śā·ḵîr saChir śāḵîr śə·ḵi·re·hā sechiReiha śəḵirehā ū·ḵə·śā·ḵîr uchesaChir ūḵəśāḵîr velischireCha vesaChir wə·liś·ḵî·rə·ḵā wə·śā·ḵîr wəliśḵîrəḵā wəśāḵîr
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