836. Servant and Son

“Anyone who buys a servant, buys his master.”

There is the discernment of “servant” and there is the discernment of “son.” A servant means that a person says that he has no authority of his own. This is called “He who buys a servant, buys his master,” meaning that he has no authority of his own, but his sole aim is to please his master. At that time, it is considered that he is working only with the good inclination.

A son means that he is rewarded with serving the Creator with the evil inclination, too, meaning that he is rewarded with receiving abundance from the Creator. At that time, he is rewarded with the Creator giving him as a father who is concerned only with satisfying his sons’ will, as it is written, “As a father has mercy on sons.” It follows that a son means that the person receives, but in order to bestow.