There are two parallel verses, of which we are very familiar with one in particular:
(Mt 24:45) Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?
(Lu 12:42) And the Lord said: "Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time?"
The words used, however are quite different.
Mt 24 'slave':
Strongs G1401 δου?λος ( doulos)
From G1210; a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant.
Lu 12 'steward':
Strongs G3623 οι?κονο´μος ( oikonomos)
From G3624 and the base of G3551; a housedistributor (that is, manager), or overseer, that is, an employee in that capacity; by extension a fiscal agent (treasurer); figuratively
In one instance we have a slave and in the other a steward or manager. Which is correct?
Both are correct, depending on the viewpoint used.
We can say that this is a slave if they are slaving for a master, Christ in this instance.
We can say they are a manager or overseer if they are managing the household.
To get a scriptural equivalent of this we need to look at an account of Abraham:
(Ge 24:2) Hence Abraham said to his servant, the oldest one of his household, who was managing all he had...
Here, Abraham mentions a servant/manager which closely corresponds to the Gospel slave/steward.
So as a slave/overseer, how should they refer to themselves, as the slave or as the overseer?
Splash