1. The word παῖς is
found 24 times in the NT, but only in the writings of Luke (Gospel and Acts)
and Matthew. It is a collective term for all members of a household subordinate
to the master of the house and can have the corresponding meanings: In Matt
2:16; 17:18 par. Luke 2:43; Acts 20:12 παῖς designates a young boy, one
younger than an adolescent; in Luke 8:51, 54 a young girl is intended; Matt
21:15 groups children under pl. παῖδες. In typical fashion Matt 8:6–13 par. Luke
7:2–10 / John 4:46–53 interchanges παῖς with δοῦλος,
υἱος and παιδίον. While Matthew consistently uses παῖς, boy
/ child (of the centurion, cf. on the
background Derrett 174f.), Luke interprets the παῖς as a δοῦλος in order to express the nonfamilial
relation between the one who commands and the one who obeys; John emphasizes υἱός as a generic term: It should be kept in
mind that in Palestine the servant belonged to the family and the “son of the
household” did not have to be a natural-born son (cf. Lohmeyer 3). In Luke
12:45 παῖς and παιδίσκαι refer to male and female household
servants; Luke 15:26 appears not to distinguish between παῖς and δοῦλος, although here, too, belonging to the οἶκος is fundamental to the distinction between
παῖς and μίσθιος. In Matt 14:2 Herod expresses his opinion
of Jesus to his παῖδες
(“members of the court / counselors,” i.e., his “cabinet”; cf. the ‘aḇḏey hammeleḵ / παῖδες τοῦ βασιλέως in 2 Sam 11:24; 15:15; cf. Riesener
150–59). (J. -A. Bühner,
“παῖς, παιδός, ὁ (ἡ) pais servant; child,” in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, 3 vols. [Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1992], 3:5-6)
