In the times of Moses Hebrews did not have slaves. The root word Evd in Hebrew means work or labor. OVaiD means working. EVeD means servant as in Eved Elohim - Servant of god. Or in Arabic ABDullah (v is softened to b)
Hebrews would sellthemselves into indentured servitude if they were poor and the court would sell thieves into servitude to earn money to pay restitution to their victim.
The very first of the civil laws in the Books of Moses (Pentatauch) is to treat the servant as good or better than oneself. A lesson we learn from this prominence is that Civil Law must begin with justice for the lowest and poorest of us and not influenced in favor of the privileged few. In fact it is the duty of the privileged to care for the poor as the "privileged" master cares for the servant.
I should listen to you? You don't have a leg to stand on
